Sutton Common BT Tower is a 72-metre (238-foot)
radio tower built of
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...
at
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its eas ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...
, England. Sutton Common was originally conceived as part of the
1950s 'Backbone' chain designed to provide the UK and NATO with survivable communications during nuclear war.
[''Backbone radio link and radio standby to line links for safeguarding vital communications''. GPO paper for the Official Committee on Civil Defence, July 1956. ]The National Archives (UK)
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CAB 134/1207
The tower stands near the summit of
Croker Hill on the western edge of the
Peak District
The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, whe ...
national park. Sutton relays signals to
Heaton Park
Heaton Park is a public park in Manchester, England, covering an area of over . The park includes the grounds of a Grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall. The hall, remodelled by James Wyatt in 1772, is now only ...
in the north and
Pye Green
Pye Green is part of Hednesford, Staffordshire, England, running from Chadsmoor and Hednesford, across the Pye Green valley and to the edge of The Chase. It is situated between the A34 and A460 roads.
The area consists mainly of mixed private an ...
to the south. For survivability during a nuclear war, the Backbone towers are some of the few communication towers in the United Kingdom built of reinforced concrete.
A wind farm was proposed on land adjacent to the transmitter but was objected to for various reasons, including the possible effects of turbine blades on the fixed link.
Channels available from this site
Analogue radio
Digital radio
See also
*
British Telecom microwave network The British Telecom microwave network was a network of point-to-point microwave radio links in the United Kingdom, operated at first by the General Post Office, and subsequently by its successor BT plc. From the late 1950s to the 1980s it provided a ...
*
Telecommunications towers in the United Kingdom
Telecommunications towers in the United Kingdom are operated mainly by Arqiva. Arqiva operates the transmitters for UK terrestrial TV and most radio broadcasting, both analogue and digital. BT also operates a number of telecommunications tow ...
*
List of towers
Several extant building fulfill the engineering definition of a tower: "a tall human structure, always taller than it is wide, for public or regular operational access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are ''self-supporting' ...
References
External links
Sutton Common's entry at mb21
Buildings and structures in Cheshire
Transmitter sites in England
British Telecom buildings and structures
1960s establishments in England
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