1940's GPO Telephone Switchboard PMBX-1A

I saw it, I tasted it, I had to have it.

1981 - I was a British Telecom Apprentice engineer when I left school. I learnt all kinds of practical skills and studied BTEC Telecommunications at Southgate Technical College. So I was around very old Strowger type telecoms kit in Telephone Exchanges in North London. I wired in circuits and hung out with the engineer's helping them fault find....

The old telephone exchange equipment dates back to the 1920's, as far as I know, and was electromechanical. Telephone Exchanges were purpose built, had massive racks of expensive mechanical switching equipment, which needed to be maintained by the engineer's. I wired in many switches etc and have nice memories of that time. Telephone Exchanges had their own sound and smell. When I saw this switchboard for sale I was transported back to when I was 16 years old, I think we still saw the odd one of these in telephone exhanges...and I think the last recorded one in a small business was probably in the 1990's tho' you never know where one is lurking and still being used! One hopes!

I now use this lovely piece of gear as my patch-bay for when I record music,

GPO stylee.