History
Manningtree was not a core Post Office site but has been included for completeness. A BBC VHF television transmitter opened in 1962 with the programme feed provided via Post Office SHF link from Wickhambrook. Coverage to the south east from the main Tacolneston (Norwich) transmitter was restricted, hence the need for a further transmitter and the indirect feed. The equipment installed at Wickhambrook and Manningtree was previously used for the 1955 link between Depden and Tacolneston - the first 2 GHz link operated by the Post Office. Archive documents suggest the arrangement at Manningtree was single dish on the BBC mast.
A file in the National Archives suggests a small budget had been provided for the renewal of the Post Office equipment in 1966-67 however the BBC added a further relay at Aldeburgh in December 1967 and was permitted to use its own SHF link for the new station and extend this from Aldeburgh to Manningtree. This "self-provided" arrangement continued until the VHF transmitter at Manningtree closed in January 1983. Conversion from 625 to 405 lines is believed to have been at Tacolneston, with the BBC SHF feed to Aldeburgh and Manningtree operating on the "old" standard. Manningtree was not used as a UHF television site.
