(Source: Dorset Echo via Dave Porter)
It helped the BBC broadcast its radio programmes across Europe.
Now the vast site of the former radio transmission station in the west Dorset countryside is set for a new lease of life.
The Rampisham Down site next to the A356 Maiden Newton to Crewkerne road, which extends to more than 180 acres, is on the market with a guide price of £2.5 million.
It includes commercial land, and a huge area for grazing – which could be used for a ‘recreational business’.
Rampisham Down was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 2014 for its special grassland and heathland habitats.
British Solar Renewables (BSR) wanted to build a huge solar park there, but after a lengthy planning battle – in which the decision was ‘called in’ by the government’ – the company shelved its plans.
A site nearby not deemed of high importance for wildlife was instead chosen for the solar park and given planning permission.
This solar park could help to power the new venture at Rampisham Down, it is said.
All but one of the original telecommunications towers, which helped to broadcast the BBC World Service in Europe until the station was decommissioned in 2011, have been removed.
The remaining tower has become a nesting platform for peregrine falcons, as part of work by BSR, in conjunction with Natural England, to restore the land and make it a home for wildlife.[…]