Reason 999 was chosen for emergency calls was due to an issue known as o/h galloping. Where over head (o/h) wires would ‘gallop’ in high winds. These were often bare and touched so would ‘dial out’ numbers like 111,112 which was the original choice of emergency call numbers
Thanks. That choice of number has always intrigued me. Especially on a rotary dial where dialling in an emergency takes longer to connect than, say, 111
@@TheUndergroundMap It had to be easy to find, but couldn't be zero because operator, but couldn't be 1 because of galloping. The official name for pulse dialling was "loop disconnect" so as @MrCobo04 said if the pair touched during galloping it would short out and briefly disconnect the line (which is exactly what the phone dial does) with the number 1 being 1 disconnect, up to zero being 10. So the higher the number the better, 9 was very easy to find in the dark, find the finger stop on the dial (adjacent to zero) and go back one. The galloping phenomena is still common in high winds on overhead power lines. If you google galloping conductors, you can see the effect.
There were also “semi-automatic” exchanges where you just dialled the three “letters”. The exchange answered and you passed the four numbers verbally. WALlington and SANderstead for example, which two I believe happened to be the last two exchanges in London to become fully automatic. Around 1963 as I remember.
Elstree exchange was never in Elstree. It's on the Borehamwood side of the railway line but named after the then slightly larger village, and perhaps no 2xx codes available? When the film and TV studios in Borehamwood opened they ended up being named after the telephone exchange and we are left with BBC Elstree being in Borehamwood.
I remember that Borough in Southwark used the prefix HOP. I understand that the name was derived from the Hop Exchange, near to Borough Market where the price of Brewing Hops were traded. As an interesting point, later telephone dials were of course alphanumeric, so you could identify either the earlier either there letter codes or the later corresponding three digit equivalent numbers. You could as a result work out from the number if you had on the letter codes and vice-versa, simply by referring to the dial markings. At least in my experience people usually answered their phone in London, by stating just the last four digits and not the entire phone number.
The 'Strow' of Strowger is pronounced rhyming with plough or owl, it's not Stroeger. It comes from Almon Brown Strowger an American undertaker who devised the first automatic telephone switching system.
Re:Acton. 'Acton' is a derivation of 'Oak Town'. The Borough of Acton, from 1921 to 1965, had an oak tree on the shield of it's coat of arms, and oak leaves and acorns on the top of it (an oak tree now appears on the coat of arms of the London Borough of Ealing - the Borough of Acton was incorporated into the London Borough of Ealing in 1965). So, while Acorn Gardens may well be a reference to Acton, the telephone exchange certainly isn't named after Acorn Gardens, as they are nowhere near each other (and I would think the exchange name pre-dates Acorn Gardens)! Clearly, 'Acorn' has considerable local meaning in Acton. One I've always wondered about was HUDson (572). Located within HOUnslow (570) exchange, the name Hudson doesn't seem to have any local connection, so I can only think they chose '572' and then made the name up to fit it. SKYport (on the Bath Road at Heathrow) was a new post-war exchange, and was added to take pressure off the existing nearby exchanges, as there was bound to be a lot of new traffic generated.
Most interesting! My first work/flat numbers were MUSeum 1666 and DREadnought 1437. 'Museum' is self explanatory, Tottenham Court Road, near to the British Museum. 'Dreadnought' Queens Gate, not sure of the origin there, a pub perhaps?
@@TheUndergroundMap Dreadnought a type of navy ship. The exchange connected to Earls Court Exhibition Centre which used to house the Royal Tournament where you would have the navy field gun race.
I dunno how this came to be but today I have vowed to myself to find out why my exchange HOWard (in Ponders End) came to be known by that name. At first I thought it was named after the former nearby Howard's Hall but that name only came into existence in the 50s. Can anyone help me in my quest?
You said no one knows why 999 was created. You mean YOU don't know. If you were on a small rural exchange you had to dial 9 to reach the main exchange of the area or if you were on a private branch exchange you dialed 9 to get an outside line so it made sense to start the emergency number with 9. so 99 at the main exchange was the emergency number. Indeed if you just dialed 99 at a main group switching center you would get the emergency switchboard. So if you just keep dialling 9 you would get to the emergency services. It's as simple as that.
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160 dial a disc, dad went ballistic on receiving the next bill.
Reason 999 was chosen for emergency calls was due to an issue known as o/h galloping. Where over head (o/h) wires would ‘gallop’ in high winds. These were often bare and touched so would ‘dial out’ numbers like 111,112 which was the original choice of emergency call numbers
Thanks. That choice of number has always intrigued me. Especially on a rotary dial where dialling in an emergency takes longer to connect than, say, 111
@@TheUndergroundMap It had to be easy to find, but couldn't be zero because operator, but couldn't be 1 because of galloping. The official name for pulse dialling was "loop disconnect" so as @MrCobo04 said if the pair touched during galloping it would short out and briefly disconnect the line (which is exactly what the phone dial does) with the number 1 being 1 disconnect, up to zero being 10. So the higher the number the better, 9 was very easy to find in the dark, find the finger stop on the dial (adjacent to zero) and go back one. The galloping phenomena is still common in high winds on overhead power lines. If you google galloping conductors, you can see the effect.
There were also “semi-automatic” exchanges where you just dialled the three “letters”. The exchange answered and you passed the four numbers verbally. WALlington and SANderstead for example, which two I believe happened to be the last two exchanges in London to become fully automatic. Around 1963 as I remember.
Didn’t know that!
Location at 0'51" looks like the Brighton Road in Coulsdon
Elstree exchange was never in Elstree. It's on the Borehamwood side of the railway line but named after the then slightly larger village, and perhaps no 2xx codes available?
When the film and TV studios in Borehamwood opened they ended up being named after the telephone exchange and we are left with BBC Elstree being in Borehamwood.
Not sure they were named after the exchange but the larger village. Two of the studios predated the Director system
I remember that Borough in Southwark used the prefix HOP. I understand that the name was derived from the Hop Exchange, near to Borough Market where the price of Brewing Hops were traded. As an interesting point, later telephone dials were of course alphanumeric, so you could identify either the earlier either there letter codes or the later corresponding three digit equivalent numbers. You could as a result work out from the number if you had on the letter codes and vice-versa, simply by referring to the dial markings. At least in my experience people usually answered their phone in London, by stating just the last four digits and not the entire phone number.
My Dad used to say the exchange name and then the number: Valliant 2410 on answering the phone
The 'Strow' of Strowger is pronounced rhyming with plough or owl, it's not Stroeger. It comes from Almon Brown Strowger an American undertaker who devised the first automatic telephone switching system.
And, in a nutshell, a problem with making TH-cam videos. Once you've made such a mistake, there's no going back! Oops!
I miss the days of '01 for London'
And the "all lines are engaged" message
Acton was given ACOrn because of the derivation of the name of the parish after which the road was also named.
Ah. Slight inaccuracy there then in my commentary
Re:Acton. 'Acton' is a derivation of 'Oak Town'. The Borough of Acton, from 1921 to 1965, had an oak tree on the shield of it's coat of arms, and oak leaves and acorns on the top of it (an oak tree now appears on the coat of arms of the London Borough of Ealing - the Borough of Acton was incorporated into the London Borough of Ealing in 1965). So, while Acorn Gardens may well be a reference to Acton, the telephone exchange certainly isn't named after Acorn Gardens, as they are nowhere near each other (and I would think the exchange name pre-dates Acorn Gardens)! Clearly, 'Acorn' has considerable local meaning in Acton.
One I've always wondered about was HUDson (572). Located within HOUnslow (570) exchange, the name Hudson doesn't seem to have any local connection, so I can only think they chose '572' and then made the name up to fit it.
SKYport (on the Bath Road at Heathrow) was a new post-war exchange, and was added to take pressure off the existing nearby exchanges, as there was bound to be a lot of new traffic generated.
Obscurely, I’m in HUDson as I type this!
Most interesting!
My first work/flat numbers were MUSeum 1666 and DREadnought 1437. 'Museum' is self explanatory, Tottenham Court Road, near to the British Museum. 'Dreadnought' Queens Gate, not sure of the origin there, a pub perhaps?
Roger W. Haworth - the authority on the subject - doesn't put forward any theory about Dreadnought
@@TheUndergroundMap Dreadnought a type of navy ship. The exchange connected to Earls Court Exhibition Centre which used to house the Royal Tournament where you would have the navy field gun race.
I dunno how this came to be but today I have vowed to myself to find out why my exchange HOWard (in Ponders End) came to be known by that name. At first I thought it was named after the former nearby Howard's Hall but that name only came into existence in the 50s. Can anyone help me in my quest?
I’ve just done an extensive “Howard Ponders End” search only to find a lot of men called Howard who live in Ponders End and no telephone exchanges
Excellent video but the regular bass thuds and thumps on the audio making it hard to listen to on my main TV/surround system ;-(
Sorry about that!
@@TheUndergroundMap no probs, a pop filter/mic screen & move back from the microphone will fix that (ex studio engineer speaking!)
Thanks Colin. I upgraded my audio since that video was made so hopefully less popping!
You said no one knows why 999 was created. You mean YOU don't know.
If you were on a small rural exchange you had to dial 9 to reach the main exchange of the area or if you were on a private branch exchange you dialed 9 to get an outside line so it made sense to start the emergency number with 9. so 99 at the main exchange was the emergency number. Indeed if you just dialed 99 at a main group switching center you would get the emergency switchboard. So if you just keep dialling 9 you would get to the emergency services. It's as simple as that.
The first 999 service was set up in London not on a rural exchange