- Interests
- The THG - Join!
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- Links
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Interests
The Telecommunications Heritage Group has subscribers whose interests range from the earliest telegraph systems and equipment, through electro-mechanical switching systems and electronic systems, coming right up to the modern offerings of ISDN, modems and IP Telephony.
Whilst the sections below cover some of the interests of the group they are not limited to the named topics. Some of the articles here are from previous copies of the Journal or have been written by active members of the group for web publication. If you have a topic you would like more widely publicised to the group there is the option of writing a piece for this website or for the Journal itself. All contributions will be considered, either by electronic means, audio tape/CD or hand written articles. The team will be pleased to convert your submission into an appropriate format for publication on your behalf. This ensures that our members who are unable to access or use electronic methods are not disadvantaged or excluded from bringing their own interests to the wider membership.
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The THG and how to join....
The Telecommunications Heritage Group (THG) is a club or society, not a trading organisation, and we cater for researchers, collectors, historians, operators of restored apparatus and all people just interested in the subject for its own delight. What we do Interests covered by the Telecommunications Heritage Group (UK) include old telephones, telegraphs, phone kiosks and other hardware. The complete heritage of telecommunications - civil, military, transport, public, private, ancient and modern, British and foreign - is studied across the membership. A number of members offer help on particular subjects such as kiosk restoration and railway telecommunications. Some enthusiasts own restored vehicles or telephone kiosks, whilst others are responsible for running complete multi-exchange telephone systems on preserved railways, using vintage telephone equipment. Quite a few museums and preservation bodies have close links with the group and these can be discovered in the Days Out and Links sections.
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Why The THG aims to educate future generations as to the marvellous inventions of the past and to retain knowledge and skills that might otherwise be lost while having some fun in the process. THG members do collect obsolete exchange equipment and all kinds of telephones, telegraph and related apparatus but all of these are simply static exhibits without the vital knowledge, the processes and procedures of how and why they achieved what they did.
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How can I join? Founded in 1986, we are now some 400-strong, with members all over the world, joining is simple and membership is open to everyone. To join the THG via our secure on-line site, please Click here... |
THG Publications
The THG produces its own publication, the Telecommunications Heritage Journal. For a look back in time to see how the journal has evolved from its early days as a photocopied leaflet through to its current incarnation, a professionally published quarterly magazine, check out the journal history below.
Don't forget, the older journals have interesting articles and information in them. If you are considering purchasing some back issues, use the index feature below to identify the issues of interest to you.
Our members can suggest books, films or DVDs that they feel might be of interest to the wider audience. If you have a suggestion, please contact the webmaster with as much detail as possible and we'll consider adding your review here. Use the links below to find out what our subscribers have suggested recently.
THG Events.
The THG has a long standing history of holding very popular swapmeets in a variety of good locations, the pictures below may be just what you need to tempt you into joining us. Over the years some venues have been more popular so we tend to gravitate towards these, but if you have any suggestions for other locations then please do get in touch.
Several times lately we've had new members asking this question, along with others like "I don't have anything to swap, can I buy instead?" and "I'm new to the THG, I don't know anyone else. How will I know who to swap things with?"
One of our members, Paul Seward, explains....
These were questions I very nearly asked before my first swapmeet. I like to think of swapmeets as "car boot sales, but with more telephones" (and more interesting people to chat to as well). Some stall holders may be open to swaps if you've got something they want, but cash is more flexible and more widely accepted.
One thing I would advise though is to bring some change and some smaller notes as sometimes change can get a bit thin on the ground, especially if people are trying to break a £20 note to buy that widget they've been after for ages, which is priced at 50p!
Paul
You can usually find a good choice of antique telephones, from the wooden era, through candlesticks and into the bakelite ranges, both black and coloured.
Reproduction cords of very good quality are available at good prices too, just what you need to finish off that loving restoration. A good variety of tools are usually around, from screwdrivers to specialised crimping tools and telephone exchange maintenance tools.
Talk to people who can restore broken phones like this to a standard where it is hard to detect their work.
A good selection of spares for telephones of all eras........
You'll also find good quantities of the more modern plastic telephones if that's what you're after along with test equipment used by the GPO and Post Office Telephones. If telephone exchanges are your 'thing' then there are often spare parts for strowger equipment and manual switchboards too, and we have several members who are expert on modern electronic PABX systems. Good numbers of magazines journals and other telephone related paperwork also surface regularly which can be a boon to those doing research. If you can't find what you are looking for, get chatting to people, ask who you need to speak to to find the bits you need.
But above all, the opportunity to meet and chat with so many like-minded fellow collectors in a friendly and informal environment. Make friends, find out where you can get hold of that elusive item that you have been searching after for years, join one of our relaxed training courses like the one below which covered the old A/B Coin Collecting Box, get the opportunity to visit restoration companies like Unicorn Kiosks and ask questions of the experts.
And no, that's not boredom, it's concentration and sheer fascination as Ron takes the time to show us how the mechanism works.
Pictures courtesy of Sam Hallas.
Now if that doesn't make you want to join then I don't think anything will, if it does tickle your fancy then please visit www.thgmembership.org.uk and click the "Join Us" button or contact our membership secretary using the "contacts" tab at the top of this page and he will be pleased to set up your membership. Don't forget, as well as the swapmeets you will get four journals every year and access to our members only web and mailing groups where you will find lively discussions on all things telephone related.
Please note, THG events are open to members only. Due to various conditions applied to us by some of the venues that we use and also the requirements placed on us by our insurance policy, the THG's events are not open to the public. New members are welcome to join at any time and will be admitted to our events as soon as their membership has been approved.
Reservations for tables must be made in advance with our events organiser as some venues are very well attended, with more than 30 tables.
Lately our swapmeets have been giving even better value to our members. After the swapmeet has finished, and allowing a suitable break for a little light refreshment, we have held a small workshop. We have held free training sessions covering topics such as dial repair, reading and understanding N-diagrams and planset working and David Walton has held a session on the repair and re-termination of cloth cords. Details of the training sessions will be announced in the journal. You do not usually need to book a place but you will need to let the organiser know in order that you can be told what to bring. You can use the form in the Contacts section.
Laurence kindly organises our events for us and he can be reached by using the form in the Contacts section.
Up to date information regarding all forthcoming THG events and meetings, including the AGM is available to members by logging on to the THG's secure members site.
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Days Out
There are several places that THG subscribers like to visit in relation to their own branch of the interest. Here are a few that are both popular and interesting, not just for telecommunications devotees but for all the family.
Covert Activities. |
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Bletchley Park former home of ULTRA, Britain's best kept secret! |
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Camp X - Featuring: SOE -SIS -COI - OSS - CIA - BSC - OWI - FBI STS 103 - Canada's on-line World War II intelligence, history site! |
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Cold War Research Study Group-secret underground bunkers |
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Crusty Old Joe's Place- Little Known And Marginally Useful Information- With some interesting pages about the Radio and Telephone History of Kodiak, Alaska. |
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Garat's HaY-Home to the "Y" (Wireless Intercept) Services- An essential link in the code-breaking chain. |
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Hack Green-Secret Nuclear Bunker NORAD-The United States and Canada established the North American Air Defense Command more than 40 years ago and gave it the job of defending both nations against attack by Soviet bombers. An international headquarters and combat operations center were set up at Colorado Springs, Colorado. |
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North American Air Defense Online Radar Museum-This site is dedicated to the thousands of U.S. Air Force "Cold Warriors" who served, mostly without recognition, during the Cold War period following the Second World War.
RAF Air Defence Radar Museum has two display rooms of telephone system exhibits at: Royal Air Force, Neatishead, Norfolk NR12 8YB. Tel: (01692) 633309 . The museum is open to the public on Tuesdays from April to end September. Also second Saturday in month throughout year. 10-00 AM to 15-00 PM. The World War Two Memories Project World War Two was perhaps one of the most traumatic times in recent history. The fighting and hardships affecting the whole of Europe, the Pacific and having a knock on effect throughout the world. If you were at home during the war, posted abroad with one of the services, helped in the home guard, were evacuated or in a reserved occupation. No matter how small please add your memories to the collection and help preserve the wartime spirit forever, in the hope that it will never happen again. |
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Alexander Graham Bell-on Compact Disc from the Fitzgerald Studio. |
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Alexander Graham Bell Institute-gateway to a resource of books, photographs and notes. |
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CERN-The European Laboratory for Particle Physics & Birthplace of the World Wide Web. |
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ERLANG, Agner Krarup -Mathematician & telephone traffic theorist. |
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Michael Faraday (1791-1867) -Discoverer of electromagnetic induction - page from Wikipedia |
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The Royal Institution of Great Britain -Remember those Christmas lectures ? |
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Nikola Tesla -inventor of the polyphase induction motor and more... |
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Wolfgang von Kempelen's speaking machine-early speech synthesis |
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Russell Whitworth's Collection of Telecom Quotes- Find out who said it ? |
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Atlantic-Cable.com -History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy-From the first submarine cable, laid in 1851, to the present day fiber optic connections circling the world. |
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The Dean Forest Railway is served by an internal exchange system (UAX13) which can be seen in the museum at Norchard. |
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DF30E's Teleprinter Museum collection by Henning Treumann-Dedicated to the history of Baudot-code teleprinters.
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Ffestiniog Railway- not to be confused with the Welsh Highland Railway ! |
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Glass Insulators Reference Site - Glass insulators were first produced in the 1850s for use with telegraph lines. Today there are over 2000 collectors and this site is packed with information. |
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Mid Hants Telephones - Providing telephone services to the Mid Hants Railway. |
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NADCOMM -The North American Data Communications Museum-With a collection of machines spanning the entire history of teletype and the transition to contemporary digital modem technology. |
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Sam's Telecomms Index-Packed with information, quality photographs and numerous links. |
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The Signal Box -Semaphore, Block Working, Railway Companies and more... |
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The Signal Corps Association (1860-1865) would be honour'd to have you visit their website at: www.civilwarsignals.org Be sure to check out the telegraph sounder under the Telegraph section. |
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Le télégraphe Chappe -en Français |
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Telegraph Instruments of Europe by Fons Vanden Berghen- Lots of pictures. Also of interest, articles and exhibition reports by Fons |
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Telegraph Lore -The American way. |
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The Watercress Line -AKA The Mid Hants Railway |
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Welsh Highland Railway -'The Railway that time forgot'... |
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AERO'S Web Page -Quality pictures of old phones Abdyantiques - A family company who carry out servicing, restoration and sales of old phones Simon Mitcalfe's www.antiquegpophones.co.uk specialising in sales of antique GPO telephones |
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Antique Telephones <http://www.antiquetelephones.co.uk/> Run by Neil Carpenter a THG member and collector of telephones. I specialise in quality fully restored telephones and give a lifetime of ownership guarantee. |
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Bill's Phones-check out the wall of phones! |
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Birmingham Anchor Exchange - A detailed study by Sebastian Ballard |
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BOB's Telephone File-A quick and easy reference to www.britishtelephones.com At last, a site big enough to host ALL of the Telephone File which is absolutely packed with diagrams, T.I.s, E.I.s, Marketing Leaflets, pictures and loads of information about the majority of GPO/ Post Office telephones & Sub's Apps. |
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BT Museum Memorial Pages by Sam Hallas-A fitting tribute to a wonderful collection of telegraphs & telephones. |
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Cyber Telephone Museum created by Ron Christianson |
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The Dutch Online Telephone Museum Some nice pictures and lots of links. |
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Fred's Old Phones Page - A French collector's site (with passion). Now with English translation! |
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Historische Fernsprecher -A German site with some clear illustrations and pictures of phones. |
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L2L1-Old French Phones Collections-French [with English translations] site with lots of beautiful phones & schematics. |
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Martin Snaith's Phones A lively site for 'Strowger Maniacs and TXE4 freaks' looking at the BT atomic clock, phones, UAX13's, ophthalmology and 70's social history. |
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The Noisy Line Pages of Mark Cook -A Personal Telephone Collection. |
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Old Telephones As Entertainment-including telephones in the 'Movies and on TV'. |
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Ove's Telephone Pages- looking at LM Ericsson phones. |
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Phoneman.org - A collection of telephone related photos and associated information, courtesy of THG member, Kevin. |
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Phone-Pages.org.uk -Peter Walker's excellent site about phones both old and new. |
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PRIVATELINE MAGAZINE-A journal of inquiry into the telephone system-with topical links and some humor. Retrowow- the recently revamped site from Steven Braggs with loads of telephone information and a price guide as well as updated links to telephones for sale online. |
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Rob Grant's Telephone Pages-Telephone tones galore ! |
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STC New Southgate - (The Standard) If you worked for Standard Telephones & Cables, this site will bring back some memories. |
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The Strowger Appreciation Site of Martin Loach -has an extensive collection of high definition photographs that will satisfy most aficionados. Complete with a few sounds too! |
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TCN - The Communications Network (previously The IBTE - Institute of BT Engineers) |
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Strowger Net - An archive of trailing-edge communications, originally compiled by Andrew Emmerson. |
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The Strowger Telecomms Page (The first Strowger site with sound !) The Telephone Code Locator, a useful site for researching telephone codes, the areas they cover and their allocation status. |
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Telephone Exchanges of the South Midlands traces the dialling codes and exchange buildings covering part of the UK. |
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Telephone History Website - By Chuck Eby - American site bringing together world-wide telecom links. |
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Telephone Man -From Kansas USA where phone collecting runs in the family. Some great phones to see. |
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Telephones UK - Mike Fletcher's resource of photos, pictures and information about UK telephones. |
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Telephone World -Information on Telephones, the Telephone Network, and related Telecommunications systems. (American Site) |
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The UAX Project - Everything you (probably) wanted to know about Unit Automatic Exchanges. |
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Vince's Cavalcade of Phones-Some unusual types, fancy graphics and clear photos. Vintage Mobile Phones - Great pictures with retro mobile phones and accessories for sale. Send a retro telegram to someone special! With over 30 different greetings to choose from and a selection of colours, telegrams4u certainly have a telegram to suit the occasion. www.telegrams4u.co.uk |
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Andy 'Valves' Homepage A site dedicated to the restoration of old electrical and electronic technology, containing phones, 405 TV, & lots of other old stuff. |
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British Vintage Wireless Society who participate in the National Vintage Communication Fairs. |
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Kaleidoscope - Classic British Television |
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Meldrum Home Page (MHP)- Test cards, Programmes and much more! American site OTRCAT offers vast resources about nostalgic radio shows. As well as hear thousands of old time radio episodes online, visitors to OTRCAT can stream or download full episodes in Mp3 format as well as read detailed descriptions of the performers and series broadcast in the era (1920's 1959). In the 'daily downloads', there are the broadcasts of the day throughout history (from the last |
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Portishead Radio/GKA -Follows the history from 1920 to its closure in 2000. |
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Radio-Electronics.Com - Books, tutorials and technology news makes an interesting mix of topics for the electronics enthusiast. |
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BRITISH BITS, Restored K6 kiosks, comprehensive range of new and refurbished spare parts, help and advice. 175 Swift Close, Deeping St James, PE6 8QS. Telephone (01778) 345968 www.britishbits.co.uk John FERRIS, Hartlepool. (01429) 223922. Kiosk backboards, notice frames, notices and adverts, also cash tray locks. FURNACE END FIRES sell Ex GPO/Royal Mail Post Boxes and associated equipment and collectables. Contact for lists and availability by email to info@fefbadges.com or in writing with sae to Furnace End Fires, Ersthaus, Atherstone Road, Furnace End, Birmingham B46 2LP stating interest. Also suppliers of collectable enamelled badges including ranges of Real Ale Breweries, Nostalgic Street Furniture (Post boxes, Telephone Box, RAC, AA etc), Nostalgic Advertising and Traction Engines. Can be viewed on www.fefbadges.com . Again contact as above with SAE stating interest. GLEN CALL INTERNATIONAL, SCOTLAND UK., Tel; + 44 1592 840853 Fax; + 44 1592 840005 e-mail enquiries@glencall.co.uk Suppliers of letter boxes and other novelty items. Web site www.glencall.co.uk MACHAN ENGINEERING, 103 Broad Street, Denny, Stirlingshire, FK6 6EL. (01324) 824309. Contact: Mr W. McMullan. SALVOWEB's Thornton Kay recommends www.salvoweb.com for information about dealers in architectural and garden antiques, which include old K6 phone boxes, pillar boxes, wall-mounted and post-mounted post boxes. Ford Village, Berwick TD15 2QG, England Telephone: +44 1890 820333 FAX: +44 1890 820499 Mike SHORES, Dale House, Carlton Miniott, Thirsk, Yorks. Tel/fax (01845) 522381. Phone kiosks, internal fittings and letter boxes.
9-00am to 5-00pm Monday to Friday and by appointment at any other time. Reg Lewis writes " For your members information, we supply and restore Telephone Kiosks and other items of Cast Iron Street Furniture together with most Kiosk Components from the K2 to the K8, Kiosk Models, Kiosk Interiors, Bakelite Telephones, A & B Boxes, Period Payphones, Post Boxes, Lamp Columns, Street Signs and Cast Benches. Hire to the Film & TV Industries is also a speciality." "We are a Quality Assured Company registered with NQA to comply with BS EN ISO 9002, and have carried out many prestigious restorations for BT, Local Authorities, Museums and Town Twinning Associations.We are closely associated to the National Kiosk Collection at Avoncroft and was one of the original sponsors and have recently helped by supplying new castings for the A.A. Box project." [February 2000]
White Contracts is a company that has restored, converted, changed dismantled, and installed Red Telephone Boxes across the World since 1986. We can supply our customers with fully restored K6 or K2 kiosks in any guise, be it a shower, aquariom, loo, or drinks cabinet. No idea is too wacky. We even let them go out in magnificent red paint only. White Contracts, Fyfield Hall, Fyfield, CM5 OSA www.redphonebox.com Telephone Lines Ltd: Complete interiors for kiosks but parts can be sold individually. Shop 304 High St., Cheltenham. Glos GL50 3JF. Tel 01242 583699 Fax 01242 690033 email info@telephonelines.net website http://www.telephonelines.net>
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The Antiquarian Horological Society includes an Electrical Horology Group with references to Post Office clocks. |
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Retrowow is an online resource which features articles about life in Britain in the 50s, 60s and 70s. |
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AltaVista translations by Systransoft. Do you struggle trying to make sense of those well presented international telephone sites which aren't written in English? Take a look at the on-line translation system at http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn
Findon Village A growing database of life in a typical 'olde' English village. |
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Search the whole web with...
| The Webring | ||
The THG is a member of the Antique Telephone Collecting Ring. |
Contacts
Any administration or general enquires should be directed to the THG Admin Team using the contact form below.
The Membership-Secretary can be contacted using the contact form below and will be pleased to deal with your membership or subscription enquiries.
Journal Submissions and Suggestions. The THG is always looking for new contributors to the highly popular journal. If you would like to submit an article or have a suggestion for a topic to be covered, please contact the Journal Team using the form below.
Use the form below to contact the THG events organiser with requests for table bookings or to suggest a new venue.
Have you found a problem with this website, a broken link or have a suggestion for content etc?
The THG Web Master would be pleased to hear from you.
The THG offers this service to allow members to register an interest in items that may be offered for disposal, or to aid the disposal of equipment you no longer wish to keep. If there is anything in particular that you want, please get in touch with the salvage co-ordinator. He will hold the details of your request, along with contact information, and get in touch with you if anything becomes available. This service operates on a "first come, first served" basis. If you have items to dispose of then please contact the salvage co-ordinator. Please be aware that the salvage co-ordinator does not exist to clear rubbish and his remit is not to travel around collecting items but to liase between the donor and the recipient.
The salvage co-ordinator aims to distribute items among the membership of the THG, we cannot arrange donations to museums. Should you wish to donate to a museum then please feel free to contact them directly but you should be aware that the collecting policies of museums are quite strict and they may be unable to take your items.
When contacting the salvage co-ordinator with offers please include your county in the message. Your message will go to the salvage co-ordinator but will normally be dealt with regionally.
You may write to the THG at;
THG,
Dalton House,
60 Windsor Avenue,
London
SW19 2RR
If you wish to contact another member by post, please put your letter in a stamped envelope marked with the recipient's name, enclose this in another envelope and post to the above address.
The THG teams are contactable by telephone on 0330 321 1THG (0330 321 1844). The system is menu operated and will guide you through leaving a message for the appropriate area.
This is also the THG information line, and will give details of forthcoming events, subscription rates etc.
THGR
The Telecommunications Heritage Group Resource (THGR) is a database that has been built by one of our members and contains a huge amount of information on all things of interest to our members. There is limited public access to the database but THG members can ask the THGR administrator for a login password which will give full access.
Members Only...
Click here to go directly to the members only area.
Why do we have a members only area?
As well as the secure payments area and joining facilities for new members, the members only area contains several sections that are not appropriate for public viewing. Details of forthcoming events are regularly updated here, there is a members only discussion forum and a private member directory, the amount of information you choose to display is up to you. The area is protected by password, you will be issued with one as a member and may change it once you have logged in.
Other facilities will be added to the members only section in the near future.
Welcome to the **NEW** THG Shop
THG Badges
The THG Committee have commissioned a limited edition set of Enamel Badges in the shape of the THG Logo. These are only available to THG members.
You will be asked to specify your THG Membership Number in the box on the order form. Each member may order up to one of each colour of the badges in the first instance. We may make more available once all members have had an opportunity to purchase at least one badge.
You may purchase these badges as a set of 4 for £5.50 including packaging and postage (to the UK only at the moment).
They are also available individually @ £2.50 each, or £3.50 for two, or £4.50 for three, including packaging and postage.
You may order securely on-line by clicking on this link (hosted on Jotform, and you pay securely using PayPal), or send your Cheque for the full amount to:
THG
Dalton House
60 Windsor Avenue
London
SW19 2RR
(Please state which colours if you are ordering less than four - maximum of one of each colour, and also state your THG membership number) While stocks last.
Please allow 28 days for delivery.
Other products will be added to the THG shop when available.