I joined BT in 1966 as an engineering apprentice based in Evesham in Worcestershire. Evesham was the second telephone exchange in the country after Bristol to have STD, which meant that subscribers could dial long-distance calls direct without the need for assistance from the operator. Much later in my BT career, in December 1998, I was involved in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the introduction of STD in Bristol. That's a great memory for me but the most striking aspect of the development of communications in my lifetime has to be the phenomenal speed of introduction of digital exchanges and the replacement of systems such as Strowger which was the backbone of the network for so many years.
Date: 02-12-1988
Sent by: Chris Wynne-Davies
Category: Communication systems
