Winter Hill (12:24)

Winter Hill is a hill on the border of the boroughs of Chorley, Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton, in North West England. It is located on Rivington Moor, Chorley and is 456 metres (1,496 ft) high. Part of the West Pennine Moors, it is a popular walking area, and has been the setting for mining activity, aeroplane disasters and murders.

The song “Winter Hill” on A Certain Ratio’s 1981 album “To Each… “, consists of drumming, whistling and a low pitched drone alternating between two notes a tone apart for its entire length. On a visit to Winter Hill in 1988, a piece of electronic equipment was found which made a high-pitched drone and alternated between two notes a tone apart.

Customers review taken from amazon.com
“Winter Hill is a real hill near A Certain Ratio’s home town of Manchester, England. On top of Winter Hill is a huge television transmitter mast. Close to the transmitter is a small hut full of electrical equipment. This hut makes a droning noise which changes every ten seconds or so between two different notes about 2 semitones apart. The changing drone on the song is not a recording of this hut, and is not the same notes, but it is a musical reminder of the sound the hut makes. How do I know? Because I walked to the top of Winter Hill in approximately 1987, and as soon as I heard the hut, I knew that this was the inspiration for the song. I don’t know if the hut is still there, or if it still makes the same noise.