Lichfield transmitter mast at its 305.2 metres standing on one of the highest points in the West midlands is an omnipresent landmark for miles around. Apparently it can be seen from Wolverhampton and from personal experience, it’s the landmark that announces your arrival in the vicinity especially at night with its unflinching 6 red lights, so if you are passing through the area look out for it. I wonder where’ s the furthest point it can be seen from? It would be great to hear about any stories(with photos) of seeing it from the Welsh border at night, Staffordshire moor, or who knows where.
According to wikipedia it was built in 1961 to replace the original mast, there’s more links on the wikipedia page. It’s a TV transmitter mast and is part of the Lichfield Transmitter station, the mast is a great functional structure of towering height. Taking a look around the internet its got a good couple of links. One is a video of engineers working relatively close to the top of the mast with the nearby quarry dizzingly far below. Aptly there’s a recent post on BrownhillsBob’s Brownhills Blog praising people who work at heights, take a look.
The other link is a graph comparing the tower to world landmarks such as the Eiffel tower. I love the audacity of the graph and I thought it would be a great t-shirt so I´ve done a mock-up for the benefit of Tamworth or Lichfield souvenir shops.
Below is a photo of the looming ominous structure from one of its stay lines accompanied by suitably threatening weather. Close up its got something of the tripods, the 80’s bbc series about it,albeit a little more anorexic. Also as you might see from the photo it´s very difficult to grasp its size. I get this feeling of a lack of sense of scale with the mast from close or far away. Its location on a rural hillside means it has no immediate comparison( hence the t-shirt!) It’s the visibility of the mast from so far away which does it the real justice(apart from the t-shirt).
Its present in the background means that it’s a common victim for daydreaming. This captures a brief daydream about the tower being used by mexican voladores to jump down from. Would be a great sight but they would probably get tangled up in the staylines, anyway…..
Tamworth Time Hikes 