Western underground cable : the early trunk network

The first ever underground trunk telephone cable went from London to Birmingham. The cable from London to the west was part of the second batch of cables that were laid following that success.

The trunk network initially joined cities together, before being branched out to local networks. The Western route originally went from London to Bristol and was later extended to Plymouth. Rather like the railways it was routed via major centres on the way, such as Reading and Swindon.

The wires were wrapped in paper before being bound together, however the cable was structured so that every wire was individually identifiable for separate uses. Finally the lengths were sheathed in lead casing to keep it water proof and the paper dry and the cable was laid underground.