Wrexham-Rhos
Grid reference: SJ301536
Co-ordinates: 330158, 353620
Bearing: NNW
Wrexham-Rhos television and radio transmitter stands above Brynmalley Park in Pentre Broughton, and broadcasts to about thirty thousand homes.
It was put up in something of a hurry in the late Spring of 1977, when it was realised that the National Eisteddfod was due to visit Wrexham that summer, but that signals from the Moel Y Parc transmitter between Mold and St Asaph couldn't reliably reach most of the area, so that people living right next door to the Maes wouldn't be able to see any television coverage of it.
And so panic ensued, and the mast was erected in a matter of a few weeks. In fact, I could see it going up from my bedroom window across the valley.
Because of the haste involved and because it was in an area of high signal overlap, the transmitter initially only carried two channels rather than the usual four. To start with, these were BBC1 Wales and the commercial contractor HTV Wales. However, when the Welsh-language channel S4C started broadcasting in November 1982, it took HTV's place. This, as you can imagine, did not go down well in some quarters. It wasn't until 1997 that full four-channel operation began.
It also currently transmits three radio services: BBC Radio Wales, Heart FM (formerly Marcher Sound, formerly MFM, formerly Marcher Sound (!)) and Capital FM.
The first picture (above) shows the mast from the footpath which runs from Brynmalley Park to the Moss.
Grid reference: SJ300537
Co-ordinates: 330010, 353792
Bearing: SE
Above is the view from the track which leads to the transmitter building.
Grid reference: SJ295539
Co-ordinates: 329518, 353917
Bearing: ESE
This view is from Railway Road, Brymbo, on the opposite side of the valley.
Grid reference: SJ294538
Co-ordinates: 329422, 353850
Bearing: ESE
© Nigel Stapley