St. Hilary is home to the first ITA transmitting station in Wales, located alongside the A48, a few miles to the west of Wenvoe. From 14-Jan-1958 the station provided a service for Wales and the West of England on VHF channel 10. This was followed in February 1965 by an additional Welsh service on VHF channel 7 using a second, lower aerial. Nearby Wenvoe was chosen as the main site for UHF transmissions for South Wales and the then newly-built Mendip was used for transmissions to the West of England.
The 405-line transmissions ceased in January 1985. There were then no public broadcasts from this site until October 2000 when the Radio Authority awarded a franchise for the Cardiff and S Wales area to Real Radio, transmitting on 105.4 MHz.
DAB service dates are: SE Wales, 31st October 2000; Swansea, 26th January 2004.
The site is also an Arqiva Service Centre serving all their relay stations in the South Wales valleys, and consequently there is a notable presence of personnel. Previously, the site was also one of the IBA's four national Regional Operation Centres (ROCs). |
