The Wrekin transmitting station

The Wrekin transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on The Wrekin, a hill in the county of Shropshire, England. It includes a 52m tall free-standing lattice tower with transmitting antennas attached at various heights. The DTT transmitting arrays add about another 10m to this. It broadcasts digital television, alongside digital and FM (analogue) radio. The station was first proposed in 1966. As The Wrekin is a local beauty spot, many objections had to be overcome and alternative sites analysed before planning consent was given. The transmitter opened in 1975. The building is semi-underground and the tower stands on its roof.TelevisionLike the neighbouring Granada transmitter, Winter Hill, The Wrekin serves a large part of North and Mid Wales, despite being the incorrect regional variation. The reason for this was because of the obvious carriage of Channel 5 at the same quality as channels 1-4, and also it carried the English Channel 4 as opposed to the Welsh equivalent, S4C. Since the digital switchover, The Wrekin carries all six multiplexes while local relays only carry three. This is a problem, as the Welsh terrain disables many Welsh viewers from receiving DTT from the nearest Welsh transmitter, Moel-y-Parc, so the relays of the transmitter to "fill in the gaps" only carry half the channels.