Goonhillly

I decided to finish my holiday in Cornwall with a visit to Goonhilly Satellite Station. According to the brochure, Goonhilly is responsible for relaying television transmissions from around the world into most of our homes.

I wonderd whether I could sabbotage a dish or two and save the world from the next Celebrity Big Brother.


I stared up at Arthur, the oldest working antenna in the world.

According to this information Arthur was the first dish to be opened at Goonhilly in 1962. It weighs 1118 tonnes and has a diameter of 25.9 metres. Designed to work with the fastest orbitting Telstar satellite #, Arthur can turn a complete circle in under 3 minutes and can move from the horizontal through 90 degrees to the vertical.

I wonder where they plug it in?


I counted over 60 dishes at Goonhilly which makes it the largest satellite earth station in the world.

Able to transmit to every corner of the globe via space and through undersea fibre optic cables, Goonhilly simultaneously handles millions of international phone calls, emails and television broadcasts.

Unable to identify exactly which dish would transmit Celebrity Big Brother, I didn't want to take the risk of sabotaging the wrong disc and endangering next month's MDCC.

The entire world would just have to continue to suffer.

I consoled myself by buying a Goonhilly key ring from the gift shop.