Editing Belmont transmitting station (section)

==Construction==
[[File:Belmont TV Mast From The Air - geograph.org.uk - 625310.jpg|thumb|right|View from the air in July 1990]]

A planning application was made in October 1963 to [[Louth Rural District]].<ref>''Grimsby Evening Telegraph'' Thursday 17 October 1963, page 12</ref> Work had started by April 1964.<ref>''Skegness Standard'' Wednesday 22 April 1964, page 11</ref>

The foundations were laid on 30 June 1964.<ref>''Grantham Journal'' Friday 3 July 1964, page 16</ref> The concrete foundation was built by the end of October 1964, with tube sections being added from November 1964 at the site, near [[Benniworth]].<ref>''Louth Standard'' Friday 30 October 1964, page 23</ref>

It would be the seventh highest mast in the world. The first 900 ft would be a 9-ft diameter steel cylinder, with the rest a steel lattice. There would be a 12 ft cylinder around this lattice, with the top 150 ft being 9 ft wide. 1200 cubic feet of concrete was poured into its 32 square feet foundations. 12 people would work on the site.<ref>''Grimsby Evening Telegraph'' Wednesday 1 July 1964, page 7</ref><ref>''Horncastle News'' Friday 3 July 1964, page 6</ref>

The mast was constructed in 1965 and it came into service on 20 December of that year. As built it was a tubular pipe {{convert|900|ft|m|1}} long by {{convert|9|ft|m|1}} in diameter, surmounted by a {{convert|365|ft|m|1}} lattice upper section (an identical mast was constructed in 1964 at [[Emley Moor transmitting station|Emley Moor]] near [[Huddersfield]] in [[Yorkshire]], but the other mast collapsed due to guy failure caused by icing and high winds on 19 March 1969). Its ropes weigh 85 tons, made by [[British Ropes]], with steel from [[Steel, Peech and Tozer]] of [[Templeborough]] in South Yorkshire. The column weighs 210 tons and has 375 segments, with steel from [[United Steel Companies]] at [[Scunthorpe]] in northern [[Lincolnshire]].<ref>''Times'' Friday 10 September 1965, page 9</ref>

In September 1967, meteorological equipment was added to the {{convert|1265|ft|m|1}} mast extending its height to {{convert|1272|ft|m|1}}. The imperial measurement was the accepted value quoted by publications including the 1993 edition of the ''[[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book of Records]]''.<ref name="Guinness 1993">Guinness Book of Records 39th Edition (1993), page 93 – {{ISBN|0-85112-978-1}}</ref> The metric measurement quoted by the current owners is {{convert|0.2|m|in|0|abbr=on}} shorter.

Between October 2009 and April 2010, the mast was shortened as part of the Digital Switchover works. Most of the top section above [https://www.aerialsandtv.com/knowledge/transmitters/belmont-transmitter#belmont-transmitter-shortened the fifth stay level was removed] (along with the sixth stay level) and the mast now stands {{convert|1154|ft|m|1}} high.