The site is collectively recognised as the Milton Keynes Museum for which a major development plan has been formulated to make it a premier attraction for the Millennium and beyond. 

Took place on a dry (yes, no rain !) Saturday 7th November at Milton Keynes Museum (MKM) which has recovered well since the fire of 1996. The Museum of Rural Telecoms is working closely with MKM and representatives of BT and Bletchley Park to add to it's growing collection of artifacts and to ensure that interesting new 'finds' go to the most appropriate home. As an example, a recently recovered Mobile Automatic Exchange (MAX) is shortly to be placed on site.

The 'Afternoon Events' programme was warmly welcomed...

Dave Occomore spoke about his Oral History Project and the need to capture (on audio tape and in writing) the daily routines of a GPO/Post Office worker, e.g. a telephonist, maintenance engineer, telegram boy, e.t.c.. He asked for volunteers to help him as some of the people he needs to visit are not so local and would involve a lot of travel.

Michael Polus displayed his Special Jubilee Edition Trimphones which had the 'E.R.' crest. It was thought that STC may have produced these for use on their own switchboard rather than for use on the PSTN. If you know otherwise, drop us a line.

Professor John Griffiths showed a 16mm film 'Telecoms in the Nineties' which was made in 1969 and presented a view of the (1990's) future. This included a prediction of the use of fax machines, videophones and supplementary (star) services.

Don Skeggs gave a detailed report on the progress of restoration at Bletchley Park including, Colossus, the Bombe and the Tunny machine rebuilds. BP is an excellent place to visit and all THG members should find something of interest. See also Station X.

If you enjoyed the AGM or would like to comment or help with any of the above, please get in touch and let us know...

However, it did allow some members from further afield to attend and the overall result was a lively day filled with quality presentations from members with a real enthusiasm for their subjects.

The Science Museum covers a vast area and is well laid out with many different specialisms of technologies both old and new, which really warrants a separate visit of it's own.  

Xerxes Mazda-The Science Museum Collection and visit to the Telecommunications Gallery.

Click here for a special review

Annual General Meeting

Members number about 418, with a turnover of 50 members per year as some do not renew and others join. To keep finances at break-even, the subscription has been increased by £2.00 which still does not really cover all the work and effort that many members put in to running the group. Citrine's Rules have been adopted for use in the event of any dispute within the group. A full report will appear in the Newsletter/Journal in due course.  

Afternoon Speakers

Peter Walker (Director of Technology from OFTEL) gave a slide show/talk about the history of the telephone from 1876 to 1912 which drew interesting parallels between today's competition and interconnection policies in comparison with the developments of the past. This produced a lively discussion as to the historical reasons behind regulation, but had to be shortened to fit in the remaining afternoon events. 

Alan Gildersleve whom had worked for Telephone Rentals, talked about the many versions of PAX (Private Automatic Exchanges) that he'd had the pleasure to maintain. He gave a detailed description of the technical intricacies of each one, including the hunting, stepping, and switching. You could almost imagine yourself standing next to the switch, both seeing and hearing it operate, such was the vividness of Alan's words.

Monty Ellis, retired Telecoms Superintendent, presented a number of slides depicting the remaining sites of various optical and electrical telegraphs. These included many present day 'pub signs' such as 'The Telegraph.' This was entirely relevant to Monty as he was a telegraph operator during the war, however when asked if he had sampled the beverages at these modern day establishments, he replied, " Alcohol doesn't agree with me." 

Sam Hallas, presented the railway communication slides of Mike Tyrell (who was unable to attend). Entitled, "It's not so different, is it?" Sam went on to show the telecoms practices within the railway, such as cable laying, level crossing and station area phones, switching equipment and subscribers' instruments.This was quite interactive as the audience helped Sam identify the apparatus and to recall the varied signalling types.

The Sea Has Many Voices- was a Post Office Telecommunications film illustrating the many types of communication aids for keeping in touch at sea. These included, 'Ship to Shore', the coastguard and radiotelephone sites throughout the UK. Spotted was a young Richard Thorpe in his days before Emmerdale.

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