By the mid-90s the UK was fast running out of phone numbers. The telephone exchanges couldn't cope. Something had to be done. So one day a telecom boffin in a white coat with a load of pens sticking out of his top pocket said ''Stick a '1' after the zero and you'll be sorted.'' So that's what they did - Norwich went from 0603 to 01603, Northampton 0604 to 01604 etc. But that wasn't the end of it. Oh no. On PhONEday - yes the UK had its very own switchover date (16 April 1995 - I'm surprised Oasis never wrote a song about it) - not only did everyone 'stick a 1 in front' but five cities were assigned totally new codes altogether. And I should know, I was living in one of 'em: Nottingham had to bin off its erstwhile 0602 and learn a whole new way of going on. We became 0115 and we had to stick a 9 in front of the old number; there never were such times.
Someone else who joined us in these phone shenanigans was Leeds. They became 0113 (from their trusty 0532) and they had to stick a '2' in front of their old number. Looking at some of the painted junction boxes in Leeds last week I wouldn't be surprised if there are people still in therapy over this.
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They also served
Sheffield: 0114 (0742)
Leicester: 0116 (0533)
Bristol: 0117 (0272)
I remember the change in Scotland which I feel was earlier than the mid-90s but I might be wrong. We had to insert the 1 and then put an 8 in front of our number if memory serves. Back in the days when you used to remember all your friends landline numbers. I don't store any numbers in my head now so if my mobile goes missing I'm stuffed.
ReplyDeleteI wondered what they were all about! Thanks for clearing it up - plus they make fab pics. Like Alyson - and others of similar age - I remember storing all those phone numbers quite effortlessly in my head; now I can only just about recall my own.
ReplyDeleteI had wondered why you were photographing the boxes, I should have known you had a bigger theme in mind.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone remembered to update their numbers. When I was in Rochester recently I found a place that claimed to still be on the old Medway exchange:
https://flic.kr/p/2shNWB4
The change from 061 to 0161 was big enough news round here- but new numbers entirely!
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