Instructions for use
Select an object to view from the list below. To rotate either click on the rotate icon located in the bottom right hand corner of the image or click and drag within the object window.
Dawn Telephone, BT Northern Telecom (UK) Ltd, 1981
Wheatstones automatic telegraph perforator, patented in 1858
Telecom Bronze portable phone with battery pack, mid 1980s
Carrier pigeon and message container, c. 1915
Bells gallows telephone, 1875
Wall Telephone made by Cox Walkers, Darlington and Edinburgh, c. 1885
Bells liquid transmitter, 1876
Model of a shutter telegraph invented by Lord George Murray in 1796
Ericofon 700. Ericsson, Sweden, 1976
Ebony mobile phone with charger and battery, 1990
Telephone made by James Pollock, Glasgow, c. 1900
The Admiralty ran a line of telegraph stations from London to Portsmouth in 1808. It took 15 minutes to send a message to Portsmouth and back (115 kilometres). One operator watched the next station through a telescope, whilst another worked the shutters with ropes to spell out messages.