I took this picture this afternoon (east-south-east from our bedroom window) and while I did do some work on it it’s reasonably faithful to the original scene. The structure in the centre of the picture is Emley Moor television mast, the tallest unsupported structure in the UK (1083 feet). This one – the third mast on this site – was constructed in 1970 after its predecessor collapsed in March 1969. The second mast was cable-supported (and collapsed through a combination of strong winds and the build up of ice) but the latest version has a steel core encased in concrete.

In this picture it looks quite delicate, but close up it’s a massively impressive structure that dominates the landscape for miles around. If you ever travel on the M1 you may have noticed the tower near to the junction for Huddersfield.

A friend of mine used to work for BT and once did some work at the top of the tower. Apparently there isn’t much by way of a guard rail and his estimate was that the tower was swaying by approximately eight feet. Perhaps that’s why it looks a bit blurry in this picture ;-)