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I had a friend who worked in the Post Office Research centre in Dollis Hill in london. He was in one of the big London exchanges one evening doing some experimental work there.

At the time the equipment was all Strowger - relays and selectors all of which are in frequent motion and made exchanges - especially big ones very noisy places. You have to shout to make yourself heard in some parts.

Suddenly, he said the more or less constant noise increased, rose to crescendo, and then went completely silent. Every line was in use and there was no switching going on. There was panic with people running about trying to work out what had happened, but then the news trickled through that President Kenedy had been shot.

It seemed that everyone's first reaction to the news was to pick up a telephone and ask a friend if they'd heard the news overloading the exchange. He reported that it took about an hour for the traffic to revert to its normal level of noise.

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Wirral History

Re: Telephone Exchange Closures diggingdeeper 31st Mar 2026 6:04pm

Originally Posted by Excoriator

I imagine almost all phone traffic now goes via the internet i which case you don't need exchanges at all. Its all done by small routers. I image exchanges now d little more than translate your phone number to an email address, digitise the speech and break it into packets.sith the email address of who you are calling.
There will be no switching going on at all there.

You still need computer centres to act as the equivalent of concentrators, switches and routers, that is mostly why they are keeping 1000 exchanges open.

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Wirral History

Re: Telephone Exchange Closures Excoriator 30th Mar 2026 9:18am

I imagine almost all phone traffic now goes via the internet i which case you don't need exchanges at all. Its all done by small routers. I image exchanges now d little more than translate your phone number to an email address, digitise the speech and break it into packets.sith the email address of who you are calling.
There will be no switching going on at all there.

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Wirral History

Re: Telephone Exchange Closures diggingdeeper 28th Mar 2026 12:13am

Thought I'd add a bit of detail include the old exchange dialling code and numbers

Arrowebrook
Church Road, Upton
ARR 051 277

Birkenhead
Built 1914
Marlon Street, Birkenhead
BIR 051 247

Bromborough
Built 1948
Croft Avenue East, Bromborough
BRO 051 270

Burton
The Rake, Burton
Closed 1968

Caldy
Built 1964
Yew Tree Lane, West Kirby
CLA 051 225

Claughton
Roland House, Palm Grove, Prenton
CLA 051 252

Eastham
Bridle Road, Eastham
EAS 051 327

Ellesmere Port
Oxford Street, Ellesmere Port
ELL 051 355

Heswall
The Mount, Heswall
HES(?) 051 342
Closed

Heswall
Pensby Road, Heswall
0151 342

Hooton
Built 1968
Chester Road, Little Sutton
HOO 051 400

Hoylake
The Quadrant, Hoylake
Closed 1966

Hoylake
Built 1966
Birkenhead Road, Hoylake

Irby
Built 1946
IRB 051 472

Liscard
Built 1914
Zig Zag Road, Wallasey
Closed 1917

Mountwood
Built 1948
Prenton Road West, Prenton
MOU 051 608

Neston
Leighton Road, Neston

New Brighton
Built 1954
Became Wallasey 1964
Kenwyn Road, Wallasey
NEW 051 639
WAL 051 638

Rock Ferry
Rock Lane West, Rock Ferry
ROC 051 702

Thornton Hough
Built 1930s
Neston Road, Thornton Hough
Closed 1968

Wallasey (also see New Brighton)
Built 1921
Liscard Village, Liscard
WAL 051 925
Closed 1964

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Wirral History

Telephone Exchange Closures diggingdeeper 27th Mar 2026 12:02pm

Openreach currently has 5600 telephone exchanges, they aim to close 4600 of them, initially 108 exchanges will be closed by 2030 then the rest after that, no Wirral exchanges are to close before 2030.

The exchanges to remain open are called enduring exchanges, here is a list of those Wirral ones which will be kept.

Arrowebrook
Bromborough
Claughton
Ellesmere Port
Rock Ferry
Wallasey

Those to close are:-

Birkenhead
Caldy
Eastham
Heswall
Hooton
Hoylake
Irby
Mountwood
Neston

I was surprised to see Liverpool Central, the massive Lancaster House building on Old Hall Street is to close as an exchange.

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Wirral History

Re: Tranmere Water Tower Gmurphy1892 19th Mar 2026 6:34pm

Im tring to access pics of tower but wont allow me to download. Can i ask you email them to me?

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History Information Request

Re: Wallasey bus accident 1950s bert1 19th Mar 2026 3:52pm

Hi Brenda,
You may have some of this information, hopefully you may find some of it useful.

May Elizabeth Tyms married Frank Jones, 1939, Birkenhead. The records show Civil marriage or registrar attended which means Registry office or Catholic Church.

3 children were registered to the marriage between 1939 and 1959, all at Wallasey.
Freda M, 1944
Stanley G, 1946
Brian, 1953

I'll keep looking but couldn't find the burial of May, perhaps the records are yet to be released. Her death was the 25th March 1959.

Her mother, Mary Tyms was buried at Landican cemetery, Section 13, grave 1087, 17th October, 1962, address, 143 Market St, Birkenhead.

May's father, Walter Tyms died in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, 1973.

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History Information Request

Re: Wallasey bus accident 1950s Brendajones 19th Mar 2026 10:32am

I am also a family member May is my grandmother as one of her son's Stanley who is my dad. I am trying to get information for him as to were his mum was buried have a little info regarding accident but no info on his brother's and what happened to them.

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Reliable Recomended Builder Required Reno2 18th Mar 2026 7:38pm

Hi! all you knowledgable people out there. Can any one recomend a reliable builder / handy person please who can offer a quote . I require a new lintle aprox 3 feet in length fitting to my breeze block garage just above the window and the cement render re-instated. Plus the provision of a paved concrete base aprox 6ft x 4ft for the erection of my garden shed. I live in Wallasey Wirral. Please PM me. Many Thanks. Tony

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