The Lots Road site was not an easy one to photograph - there was no mast or tower, just a T-wire aerial strung between the chimneys of London Transport's power station in Chelsea.
The first broadcast services to be transmitted from this site were the Independent Local Radio stations LBC and Capital Radio on 417m (719kHz) and 539m (557kHz) respectively. These stations were broadcast from here from their October 1973 launch until May 1975, by which time the IBA had completed the permanent site at Saffron Green near Barnet, Herts.
Following the November 1978 BBC Radio frequency changes, where Radio 4 moved to 200 kHz Long Wave, the BBC received many complaints of poor reception, mainly from residents of high rise, steel framed buildings. Consequently Lots Road was brought back into use on 15-Nov-1979, transmitting Radio 4 on 720 kHz. With the addition of Spectrum Radio in June 1990 on 558 kHz, Lots Road had returned to the air waves on the two original ILR frequencies, albeit incremented by 1 kHz. Spectrum Radio was relocated to a sloping wire aerial at Crystal Palace in 1994. The Radio 4 transmitter on 720 kHz was finally switched off at 1045 on Tuesday
25-Sep-2001, with the service also relocated to Crystal Palace. The power station closed in 2002. The building is being redeveloped into shops, restaurants and apartments. |
