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Birmingham Telephone History

The Early Days of the Telephone in Birmingham

In the summer of 1879 Henry Piercy of Broad Street Engine Works had the very first telephone in Birmingham sitting on his desk. By the time the first telephone exchange in Birmingham opened, Mr Piercy had persuaded 12 customers to subscribe at a special introductory rate of £10 a year. The location chosen for the headquarters of the Midland Telephone company was a room in Exchange Chambers at the corner of New Street and Stephenson Place.

Within a year of this another exchange opened in Wolverhampton, followed quickly by others in Aston, Smethwick, and the Jewellery Quarter. By 1882 the company had attracted it’s first 100 customers and had moved into a new home in the attic of a music shop at the corner of Bennetts Hill and Colmore Row. A top floor location was useful, since all the calls came from overhead lines, dropping down like spaghetti through the roof of the exchange. This arrangement was not especially appealing to the eye, and Birmingham was the first city in the world to install an underground cable in 1883, which led from Bennetts Hill up to Great Charles Street.

Central ATE

To call the system was not straightforward, first it was necessary for the subscriber to press a white button on the wooden box hanging on the wall. This connected him or her to the operator at the exchange. Having confirmed that one wished to make a call it was then necessary to give the name or number of the person you wished to contact. The operator then made the connection, waited for the person at the other end to pick up the earpiece, and then told the caller to proceed. After the conversation was over the subscriber once again had to speak to the operator.

Birmingham’s first telephone directory was published in 1886 and contained a list of 614 subscribers. The majority were business customers, but they did include Joseph Chamberlain, an aspiring politician. By 1887 the telephone company moved again, this time to the magnificent Central Exchange, at 19 Newhall Street which still stands today. It accommodated around 60 operators, at a starting salary of eight shillings (40p) a week.

Taken from an article by Chris Upton, published in the Birmingham Voice

Old Dialling Codes & Call Charges for the Birmingham Area

Birmingham Director Area 1931

In 1931 the Birmingham Director Area opened, which initially included four exchanges: Birchfield, Harborne, Northern and Victoria. By 1938 a further 34 local exchanges were included, as illustrated by the map on the left.  Subscribers in the Director areas would dial the first three letters of the exchange name followed by the subscribers number, usually three or four digits.

In 1966 all-figure number (AFN) dialling codes were introduced in Birmingham, as illustrated by the map on the right. There are presently 47 telephone exchanges in the Birmingham Director Area.

Birmingham Director Area 1969
1 no letters

2 ABC
3 DEF
4 GHI
5 JKL
6 MN
7 PRS
8 TUV
9 WXY
0 OQ 

Because of expansion and the reorganisation of exchanges into sectors many of the exchange numbers were changed, however some stayed the same. For example to dial someone on the Four Oaks exchange with the number 0200 you would have dialed FOU 0200, nowadays it would be 308 0200.

A leaflet (shown here) produced in the mid 60’s explains the introduction of All-Figure Telephone Numbers for London (01-), Birmingham (021-), Edinburgh (031-), Glasgow (041-), Liverpool (051-) & Manchester (061-). These were known as the Director Areas. The changeover began in March 1966 and was completed in 1969. Further information on Director Area Codes can be found at: Letters for digits in UK telephone numbers

Emergency dialling instructions

Exchanges in the Birmingham Director Area in 1965

Old Number Old Exchange Name New Number Area (if different)
220 ACOcks Green 706, 707 n/a
274 ASHfield 351 Walmley
278 ASTon Cross 359 Aston
232 BEArwood 429 n/a
247 BIRchfield 356 n/a
252 BLAckheath 559 n/a
270 BROadwell 552 Oldbury
225 CALthorpe 440 n/a
227 CAStle Bromwich 747 n/a
236 CENtral ± unchanged City Centre
327 EASt unchanged Washwood Heath
334 EDGbaston 454 n/a
373 ERDington 373, 350 n/a
308 FOUr Oaks  § unchanged n/a
470 GPO  § 262 British Telecom
473 GREat Barr 357, 358 n/a
425 HALesowen 550 n/a
427 HARborne unchanged n/a
444 HIGhbury unchanged Kings Heath
445 HILlside  § unchanged Barnt Green
526 JAMes Bridge  § unchanged Darlaston
546 KINgs Norton 458 n/a
627 MARston Green 779 n/a
629 MAYpole  § 474 n/a
643 MIDland ± unchanged City Centre
607 NORthern 554, 523 Handsworth
774 PRIory 475 Northfield
782 RUBery  § 453 n/a
735 SELly Oak 472 n/a
743 SHEldon unchanged n/a
744 SHIrley unchanged n/a
763 SMEthwick 558 n/a
705 SOLihull unchanged n/a
708 SOUth 449 Moseley
777 SPRingfield unchanged Hall Green
783 STEchford unchanged n/a
780 STOne Cross 588 (West Bromwich)
787 STReetly  § 353 n/a
788 SUTton Coldfield 354, 355 n/a
847 TIPton 557 n/a
843 VICtoria 772 Small Heath
927 WARstock #
933 WEDnesbury 556 n/a
937 WESt Bromwich 553 n/a
900 WOOdgate 422 Quinton

There are now over 275 exchange codes in the Birmingham 0121 STD area compared to the 44 listed above. 
§ – 
this denotes exchanges added after 1938 and before 1965. 
± – 
Prior to 1956, CENtral included COLmore and MIDland included CITy.
# – WARstock was renamed MAYpole in 1953

Birmingham Sectors

STD Code Area of Birmingham
0121-2XX City Centre
0121-3XX North
0121-4XX South
0121-5XX West
0121-6XX City Centre
0121-7XX East

Services

DIR Directory Enquiries
ENG Faults
INF Telephone Enquiries
TEL Inland Telegrams
TIM Time
TOL Toll Calls
TRU Trunk Calls
UMP Test Match Score

List of local dialling codes to be used when dialling from the Birmingham telephone area

Exchange 1965 1968 1987 2002 Exchange 1965 1968 1987 2002
Albrighton (4f) AL 9 259 090 722 n/a Heath Hayes 0LH 37 054 37 0543 01543
Albrighton (6f) n/a n/a 090 2 01902 Hednesford (4&5f) HE 9 439 054 38 n/a
Aldridge AL 25 25 01922 Hednesford (6f) n/a n/a 0543 01543
Aldridge (6f) n/a n/a 9 01922 Henley-in-Arden ( 4 f) HE 8 438 438 n/a
Armitage 0LH 341 054 341 054 3 01543 Henley-in-Arden (6f) n/a n/a 0564 01564
Astwood Bank (4f) AS 2 272 052 789 n/a Hurley 0TA 781 082 781 0827 01827
Astwood Bank (6f) n/a n/a 052 7 01527 Kidderminster (5f) KM2 56 56 n/a
Atherstone AT 4 284 082 7 01827 Kidderminster (6f) KM n/a 2 01562
Belbroughton 0KM 284 056 284 056 2 01562 Kingswinford KG 9 549 2 01384
Berkswell (4f) BE 7 237 25 n/a Kinver KV 4 584 0384 01384
Berkswell (6f) n/a n/a 067 6 01676 Knowle (4&5f) KN 0 560 056 45 n/a
Bilston (4f) BN 26 26 n/a Knowle (6f) n/a n/a 0564 01564
Bilston (6f) n/a n/a 5 01902 Lapworth (4f) LA 8 528 528 n/a
Bloxwich BL 25 9 01922 Lapworth (6f) n/a n/a 0564 01564
Bobbington 0DU 488 038 488 038 488 n/a Lichfield (4/5f) LH (2) 54 (2) 7(2) n/a
Bobbington 038 488 038 4 01384 Lichfield (6f) n/a n/a 7 01543
Brewood 0WO 725 090 725 090 2 01902 Lye (4f) LY3 593 038 482 n/a
Brierley Hill BR 27 038 4 01384 Lye (6f) n/a n/a 0384 01384
Bromsgrove BR 3 273 26 n/a Meriden 0MR 62 067 62 20676 01676
Bromsgrove n/a 26 7 01527 Newton Regis 0TA 784 082 784 0827 01827
Brownhills BR 9 279 3 01543 Pattingham 0WO 726 090 726 0902 01902
Burntwood 0LH 36 054
36
054 36 n/a Pelsall PE 4 734 0922 01922
Burntwood n/a n/a 054 3 01543 Polesworth 0TA 782 082 782 0827 01827
Cannock CA2 222 054 35 n/a Redditch (4/5f) RE (9) 73(9) 75 n/a
Cannock n/a n/a 0543 01543 Redditch (6f) n/a n/a 7 01527
Chaddesley Corbett (3f) 0KM 283 056 283 056 283 n/a Romsley 0KM 281 056 281 0562 01562
Chaddesley Corbett (6f) n/a n/a 056 2 01562 Sedgley (4&5f) SE (8) 73(8) 090 73 n/a
Cheslyn Hay 0WA 288 092 288 092 2 01922 Sedgley (6f) n/a n/a 0902 01902
Clifton Campville (3 figs.) 0TA 786 082 786 082 786 n/a Shenstone 0LH 343 054 343 0543 01543
Clifton Campville (6f) n/a n/a 082 7 01827 Standeford 0WO 727 090 727 0902 01902
Codsall (4f) CO 9 209 090 74 n/a Stourbridge SB (2) 72(2) 2 01384
Codsall (6f) n/a n/a 090 2 01902 Studley (4f) ST 4 785 052 785 n/a
Coleshill (4/5f) CL 3 253
/28
28 n/a Studley (6f) n/a n/a 0527 01527
Coleshill (6f) n/a n/a 6 01675 Tamworth (4/5f) TM9 869 0827 01827
Cradley Heath CR 27 038 4 01384 Tamworth (5&6f) TM 86 0827 01827
Curdworth 0MR 52 067 52 067 5 01675 Tanworth-in-Arden (4f) 0KN 44 834 834 n/a
Dudley (5f) DU 38 38 n/a Tanworth-in-Arden (6f) n/a n/a 0564 01564
Dudley (6f) n/a n/a 2 01384 Walsall (5f) WA 92 92 n/a
Earlswood ( 4 f) 0KN 46 728 728 n/a Walsall (6f) n/a n/a 9 01922
Earlswood (6f) n/a n/a 056 4 01564 Whittington 0LH 342 054 342 0543 01543
Fillongley 0MR 64 067 64 067 6 01676 Willenhall WH 94 0902 01902
Fordhouses FO 9 309 n/a n/a Wolverhampton (5f) 90 90 90 n/a
Furnace End 0MR 54 067 54 067 5 01675 Wolverhampton (6f) 5 5 5 01902
Hagley HA 3 423 056 2 01562 Womborne WM 2 962 5 01902
Hampton-in-Arden (4f) HA 4 424 424 n/a Wychbold (3f) 0RE 97 073 97 052 786 n/a
Hampton-in-Arden (6f) n/a n/a 067 5 01675 Wychbold (6f) n/a n/a 0527 01527
Hanbury 0RE 96 073 96 052 784 01527 Wythall WY 8 998 0564 01564
Harlaston  0TA 785 082 785 082 785 01827 Yoxall OLH 344 054 344 0543 01543

KEY: 3f = 3 figure numbers, 4f = 4 figure numbers, 5f = 5 figure numbers, 6f = 6 figure numbers

There are few differences between the 1965 and the 1968 dialling codes, apart from the fact that the 1968 codes are shown as numbers, rather than letters (see top of the page). By 1987 many exchanges had lost their local codes in lieu of STD codes. These days all the codes are in STD (01XXX format), although they are still charged at the local call rate, if calling from Birmingham. My thanks to Roger Harris, Andy Emmerson and John Chenery for supplying much of the information on this page.

Hold The Line Please

Hold the line please

The book ‘Hold the Line Please’ tells the story of the ‘Hello Girls’. The author Sally Southall, herself a former Birmingham GPO telephone operator from 1949, believes this is the first book of its kind compiled by a ‘Hello Girl’. She describes the development of the telephone service in the Midlands from Birmingham’s first telephone exchange in 1879.

It tells of the training and the duties of the operators, which were basically the same nationwide, and concludes with the operators’ own stories of their experiences as telephonists during WW2 and ensuing years.

I have reviewed the book myself and can highly recommend it, it makes an excellent read and is very informative. The 70 pages include many interesting photographs which gives a fascinating insight into how the GPO operated all those years ago.

The ISBN number for the book is 1-85858-239-3.