Telephone Poles or Phone Masts 120 Years Apart!

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thamesweb	Telephone Poles or Phone Masts 120 Years Apart!	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1053 (05/01/08 13:51:10) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None You know these 3G masts springing up everywhere? The really big ones that you can see from hundreds of yards away? The ones that the government (in their wisdom) said didn't need planning permission? The ones that the phone companies erect willy-nilly? Like this one in Clewer Hill Road. . Lots of people complain about them of course, but only when it is too late! So what do you think it was like 120 years ago when the original phone poles were first erected? Not a difficult question, I admit. Take the article written by Thomas E Luff, founder of the stationery and printing company in St Leonards Road, in 1886. Mr Luff used to publish a little pamphlet known as 'The Sentinel'. In the July 1886 edition he wrote about 'Those Objectionable Telephone Posts'. 'Posts' mind you, not poles! Mr Luff reports that posts had been erected all the way along the Datchet Road 'for the conveyance of telephone wires for the use of private individuals who have such an immense amount of business that communication, at all hours of the day, between their business and country houses is absolutely necessary.' It seems that Mr Luff was not impressed with the 'posts', nor with the Mayor Joseph Lundy, for it was he who hastily granted permission for the posts to be erected without consulting his council colleagues. It is true that the permission was only provisional, but Mr Luff had little confidence in the 'temporary' nature of the permission. Mr Luff goes on to state that the posts are 'unsightly', that the Datchet Road has been 'defaced for the convenience of gentleman (no matter how estimable) who desire to take Father Time by the forelock.' He suggests that underground wires would be desirable when the disfigurement of a public road is at stake. No surprise then that telephone posts or telegraph poles, call them what you will, spread throughout the land at a rate of knots, presumably without much consideration for the view! For the record, the first Windsor Telephone Exchange was at 9 Datchet Road in the building now occupied by The Amalfi Restaurant.
thamesweb		#1	[-]
Posts: 1054 (05/01/08 14:00:18) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	BTW the Amalfi is now the Mango Lounge and looks rather different, but the building is the same.
thamesweb	Telephones in London around that time	#2	[-]
Posts: 1055 (05/02/08 07:13:28) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I don't want this thread to become a discussion about the telephone system outside Windsor, but it is worth noting the comment of a certain Herbert Spencer who wrote in 1882, just four years before Arthur Luff's article, "The telephone is scarcely used at all in London, and is unknown in the other English cities." It can be claimed that Royal patronage at the castle probably accelerated the coming of the telephone to Windsor ahead of other medium sized towns although I guarantee that by the time the telephone posts were erected in Datchet Road, most major cities had a telephone system, though perhaps not that many customers. Even in the 1950s, and perhaps even the 60s and 70s, there were still a large number of homes without a telephone, relying on the 'phone box on the corner of the street which are of course now rapidly disappearing and will be almost unknown by 2020.
thamesweb	The Original Article from 'The Sentinel' July 1886	#3	[-]
Posts: 1062 (05/02/08 09:23:22) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Those Objectionable Telephone Posts Thomas E. Luff THE great pressure upon our space last month prevented the making of a few remarks upon the erection of posts between Windsor and Datchet-along the Datchet Road-for the conveyance of telephone wires for the use of private individuals who have such an immense amount of business that communication, at all hours of the day, between their business and country houses is absolutely necessary. Considerable stir has been made upon this subject, and our worthy Mayor does not appear to have adopted the best means by which to smooth matters, for the rather hasty manner with which he took upon himself to grant the necessary permission without consultation with his colleagues has been subjected to severe censure, and comments have been made not comforting to the well-meaning mind of Mr. Lundy. Perhaps Mr. Simpson would have suffered inconvenience, and loss of time and money, if the telephone had not been in working order by the Ascot week, as, probably, at no other tıme during the whole year does he receive a larger number of commissions and consultations. But, at the same time, it must be remembered that he had had plenty of time and opportunity to deal with the matter at an earlier period, and so have prevented the unfortunate misunderstanding which has arisen. Truly the Mayor only gave a provisional permit, but we well know that possession is a large number of points in such & question, and too many important considerations in connection with other affairs of the Royal Borough have often been ignored, which prevents us placing much confidence in an arrangement of this "temporary" character. The Town Council will, doubtless, fully deal with all the various phases, and we think it highly desirable that, in these days of vandalism, efforts should be made to prevent this now beautiful neighbourhood from degenerating into a locality with the glories of nature viewed only by the light of utilitarianism. We agree with Mr. Councillor Cartland as to the unsightly character of the posts, and utterly fail to see any necessity that the Datchet Road should be defaced for the convenience of gentlemen (no matter how estimable), who desire to take Father Time by the forelock. Underground wires would, undoubtedly, be a considerable expense, and we should not advocate them if the interests of any large section of ratepayers were at stake, but, surely, when the disfigurement of one of the public roads is concerned, individual convenience should not be considered to the detriment of the general good. The evil resulting from the present concession, if allowed to be continued, will extend far beyond the existing arrangement, as a precedent will have been created, which will naturally be taken advantage of by other people who desire to secure certain privileges not usually conceded for the benefit of private enterprise. The inconvenience of making exceptions is already proved by the letter the Town Clerk has received from the General Post Office, complaining that the Corporation should have refused to permit the erection of over-house wires for the use of the Post Office, whilst granting a similar boon in the case under notice. Clearness of perception does not seem to have been evinced in the matter, and we trust that steps will at once be taken to consider the whole question of overhead wires in the hope that a settlement may be effected, which (while endeavouring to conciliate all parties) will treat all applicants upon an equal footing.
thamesweb	The 'aroma' of old books !	#4	[-]
Posts: 1068 (05/03/08 01:02:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	While scanning/OCRing the article above I was struck by the smell of the booklet. We all know the smell of old books, a sort of musty smell. Well this little collection smells of smoke; the warm, comforting smell of a coal fire. Every time I open up one of the booklets, there it is again! Not that anyone under about 30 would remember the smell of a roaring coal fire!
Pat Larkin	The 'aroma' of old books and wood fires.	#5	[-]
Posts: 112 (05/04/08 07:20:15) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The home of the late Christopher Lloyd, 'Great Dixter', The Manor House, in Northiam, East Sussex, is the place to go for the 'aroma' of old books and woodsmoke....his study, full of books and with a huge fireplace, was totally saturated with these 'aromas'......it's the first thing you notice when you enter the room.....we visited this beautiful manor house when the owner was still living and when we asked if he was 'at home', the answer was 'he's out in the garden, somewhere, probably talking to the visitors who think he's the gardener'...lovely part of the country and worth a visit too.
thamesweb		#6	[-]
Posts: 1072 (05/04/08 07:29:55) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I am planning a few tours around the country... one day when I get some time... and Great Dixter has to be a destination!
Pat Larkin	Prince Harry	#7	[-]
Posts: 113 (05/04/08 23:46:19) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Just seen on t.v. news that Prince Harry will receive a Campaign Medal, today, from his Aunt, The Princess Royal. Then he'll march with the rest of the troops 'in Windsor'....the newsreader didn't state which part of Windsor it will be, but I think you mentioned they might be going to Trinity Church? Another beautiful day for it too. Any pics/videos, or are you having a day off??
thamesweb		#8	[-]
Posts: 1073 (05/05/08 00:30:42) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I'll be there!
Pat Larkin	A 'thankyou'	#9	[-]
Posts: 116 (05/06/08 00:33:55) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	thamesweb, however you may travel, by fast car, racing bike, roller skates, or even skate board, you're always 'there' with your trusty cameras and we two Windsorians both thank you, very much.
Pat Larkin	'thamesweb'	#10	[-]
Posts: 155 (05/19/08 05:37:38) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I watched a programme the other evening about The Duke of Edinburgh and his life before and since joining the Royal Family. There was a scene where they discussed the arrival of the President of France and his Wife, at the Riverside Station. The cameras scanned the whole scene, spectators, visitors and cameramen....I thought I'd see if I could 'spot' thamesweb - then realised - I don't know who 'he' is??? Did thamesweb spot this camera crew at all? and, were you 'caught' on their camera? Or, aren't you saying and shouldn't I be asking?
thamesweb	The Original Telephone Exchange	#11	[-]
Posts: 1254 (07/02/08 03:52:45) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Earlier in this thread I referred to the original telephone exchange now being a restaurant. The term 'original' might not be accurate! I have since come across the above photo which we can assume to be about 1900. Certainly the large telephone pole above the exchange, and the sign outside that reads 'Public Telephone and Call Office', confirms the use of the building. But hey, look, the windows are different! This requires further investigation...
thamesweb		#12	[-]
Posts: 1255 (07/02/08 04:10:49) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	...oh, and the licensee of the South Western Hotel, displayed over the doorway, was a certain 'A Outlaw'. By 1934 Kelly lists Miss A H Outlaw at 52, 53, & 54 Thames Street, (the Old House Hotel), and also as tobacconist at no. 55. From memory there were two Outlaw sisters. By this time The South Western Hotel was owned by a Mr. Harry Rogers with next door at no. 61 listed as Hotel Outlaw (annexe).