Storm Dennis decided that the Vicarage needed a bit of break. So our phone line stopped working two weeks ago. The winds had whipped around the Vicarage and dislodged the wire precariously attached to the side of the house as it makes its way into our junction box and wifi hub.
The phone fixer chap arrived this evening and made some interesting observations:
- We had two defunct cables hanging off the house.
- The current cable had frayed as it swayed in the wind – which is why we had occasional wifi but no phone.
- The wires to the house have been there for about 40 years.
- The wire inside the junction box was of a type made during the First World War – the insulation is a giveaway apparently.
The information about the wire reminded me of a snippet I read just the other week in a bound collection of church magazines I found in the churchwardens’ vestry. These magazines were published in 1925, and so I can tell you that the first phone line was installed in our house in October 1925. Don’t forget our number: West Bromwich 172. Sadly, our telephone number, unlike the wiring, has no continuity with the original. And I doubt the Church of England will give you advice if you’re moving overseas either. And alas, we have no choir, for ladies or anybody else, but any offers of help in the matter of church music would still be most welcome.
The Vicar's Wife 