Brief History
Standing on the high ground of Cheshire on the hill known as Pale Heights at 176 metres AOD in the Delamere Forest is this now virtually naked BT-Radio Tower. It was once one of the long distance microwave sites before fibre optics took over and use to have massive drum shaped 3.6 metre microwave dishes all over it (as shown in the photo below). Now most of the kit is that of local operators and the mobile phone networks so its basically used as an cell tower these days.
NB: The quality of my photos seems to have worsened, unfortunately I can't find the original quality, but still wanted to make a report on this climb.
Copyright Stephen Charles (Geograph)
Ref: Older photo from 2009 when the tower used to have its microwave dishes.
Due to it being an old radio tower it has a reasonable height, not to the extent as some of the big f'ers, but compared to many cell towers this one is fairly large. Therefore me and my friend decided to climb it. As a side note for anyone looking to climb this tower, or something similar, there is a risk with climbing cell towers, not just the height and potential of falling but also RF radiation risks, so do your own research on any tower you want to climb and make sure you know what you could potentially be signing up for. I'll try to include relevant history throughout the post, alongside my experience.
As we looked up to what many have past described it as a mini Eiffel Tower, we saw the long climb ahead and the star night sky lit up behind the steel giant.
Bit more history
Pale Heights was the subject of planning applications in December 1974 and December 1975 and probably entered service during 1977. The site formed part of a route from Dublin via Holyhead, linking to the main UK network at Manchester. In the 1980s a new site was added at Fazakerley (Liverpool), providing a local spur to relieve cable routes and possibly to provide television links for Granada's studios in Liverpool. A 1980s network diagram suggests there was a link from Derby House - adjacent to the original studio. This may have run direct to Pale Heights but the details are unconfirmed. A further television link was provided for HTV's studio at Mold, the circuit routing via Manchester en-route to Cardiff. The tower is similar in style to those used for a new route in Cornwall, also built in the 1970s. The building is of the standard pattern; a further planning application was made in 1984 for an extension, presumably in connection with the new route via Llangollen.
As we approached the base of the tower, we saw the long and dark climb we had ahead of us, so high up we couldn't see the end of the ladder. The daunting climb began to set on us.
This was my second time climbing this tower, the first time was a lot more sketchy, with very gusty and strong winds and recent snow fall in the past week, wasn't the smartest of climbs, but this time we made sure the weather was appropriate and there was little to no wind. This made the climbing experience a lot more enjoyable and peaceful, also allowing for shots like this and better quality shots as we weren't scared of dropping our phones!
After a long climb we did eventually make it to the top of the tower, I didn't get many pictures at the top of the tower, this being one of them on the top platform of the tower. The ladder did go higher than the top platform which we did climb however I didn't fancy dropping my phone just to take a photo! The top of the tower was very peaceful, there isn't much human activity around this tower, especially at night, I've genuinely never experienced silence like it, in the area and in my mind.
Just like that, we managed to get back down the tower in one piece, what a great climb!
I just like to quickly note again, anyone who is new to this element of Urbex please do your research of the tower, failure to do so could lead to death, I know this has been covered on 28DaysLater before, but just want to reinforce it
If anyone would read further on the history of this tower these two links were quite useful: Pale Heights: BT Microwave Sites
Standing on the high ground of Cheshire on the hill known as Pale Heights at 176 metres AOD in the Delamere Forest is this now virtually naked BT-Radio Tower. It was once one of the long distance microwave sites before fibre optics took over and use to have massive drum shaped 3.6 metre microwave dishes all over it (as shown in the photo below). Now most of the kit is that of local operators and the mobile phone networks so its basically used as an cell tower these days.
NB: The quality of my photos seems to have worsened, unfortunately I can't find the original quality, but still wanted to make a report on this climb.
Copyright Stephen Charles (Geograph)
Ref: Older photo from 2009 when the tower used to have its microwave dishes.
Due to it being an old radio tower it has a reasonable height, not to the extent as some of the big f'ers, but compared to many cell towers this one is fairly large. Therefore me and my friend decided to climb it. As a side note for anyone looking to climb this tower, or something similar, there is a risk with climbing cell towers, not just the height and potential of falling but also RF radiation risks, so do your own research on any tower you want to climb and make sure you know what you could potentially be signing up for. I'll try to include relevant history throughout the post, alongside my experience.
As we looked up to what many have past described it as a mini Eiffel Tower, we saw the long climb ahead and the star night sky lit up behind the steel giant.
Bit more history
Pale Heights was the subject of planning applications in December 1974 and December 1975 and probably entered service during 1977. The site formed part of a route from Dublin via Holyhead, linking to the main UK network at Manchester. In the 1980s a new site was added at Fazakerley (Liverpool), providing a local spur to relieve cable routes and possibly to provide television links for Granada's studios in Liverpool. A 1980s network diagram suggests there was a link from Derby House - adjacent to the original studio. This may have run direct to Pale Heights but the details are unconfirmed. A further television link was provided for HTV's studio at Mold, the circuit routing via Manchester en-route to Cardiff. The tower is similar in style to those used for a new route in Cornwall, also built in the 1970s. The building is of the standard pattern; a further planning application was made in 1984 for an extension, presumably in connection with the new route via Llangollen.
As we approached the base of the tower, we saw the long and dark climb we had ahead of us, so high up we couldn't see the end of the ladder. The daunting climb began to set on us.
This was my second time climbing this tower, the first time was a lot more sketchy, with very gusty and strong winds and recent snow fall in the past week, wasn't the smartest of climbs, but this time we made sure the weather was appropriate and there was little to no wind. This made the climbing experience a lot more enjoyable and peaceful, also allowing for shots like this and better quality shots as we weren't scared of dropping our phones!
After a long climb we did eventually make it to the top of the tower, I didn't get many pictures at the top of the tower, this being one of them on the top platform of the tower. The ladder did go higher than the top platform which we did climb however I didn't fancy dropping my phone just to take a photo! The top of the tower was very peaceful, there isn't much human activity around this tower, especially at night, I've genuinely never experienced silence like it, in the area and in my mind.
Just like that, we managed to get back down the tower in one piece, what a great climb!
I just like to quickly note again, anyone who is new to this element of Urbex please do your research of the tower, failure to do so could lead to death, I know this has been covered on 28DaysLater before, but just want to reinforce it
If anyone would read further on the history of this tower these two links were quite useful: Pale Heights: BT Microwave Sites
