History
Claxby is now home to an air traffic control radar station but the concrete structure includes four "galleries" with supporting metalwork for SHF dishes. The radar station was subject to a planning application in 1981 and became operational around 1984. From the information available it seems the Post Office site was built around 1967 for the Linesman radar scheme, providing links between the sites at Staxton Wold and Neatishead and from Staxton Wold to London (West Drayton). The use of twin dishes may have been to provide resilience. It is understood the links operated in the 2 GHz band. It seems unlikely the site carried any traffic other than the radar links - the site is no longer used by BT.
The radar installation at Claxby did not require a wideband link and Linesman was replaced during the late 1980s by a system which also used "plot extraction" rather than video links. The BT links via Claxby would have closed by around 1987. It is unclear whether a separate building was retained once the concrete tower was completed. The current building is to the northern side of the Post Office compound and the area occupied by the original building has not been landscaped. Claxby radar was upgraded by 2005 and the antenna is now enclosed within a "golfball" radome.
