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Posted by Marty Lyons on July 15, 2008, 7:01 pm
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The BBC has an interesting story [1] on the UK's Burlington facility,
built as a cold war bunker in 1957:
Of particular interest to telecom historians is the large plugboard
system, which by size may well be one of the largest intact
installations left in the world. The BBC article claims that it was
"the second largest telephone exchange in Britain". The system is
built of good old-fashioned analog electronics, to hopefully continue
functioning after an electromagnetic pulse.
The photos of the communications area show the facility in detail [2],
as well as a 360 degree panoramic view [3] (requires Java browser plug-
in).
The Guardian also has an article with considerably more detail [4]
which notes there were 54 telephone operator positions.
Since the facility has been decommissioned, hopefully the plugboard
can find a home in an appropriate science or telecom museum.
[1]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2005/12/14/burlington_nuclear_bunker_feature.shtml
[2]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/image_galleries/area_8_telephone_exchange_burlington_site3_gallery.shtml
[3]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/panoramas/telephone_exchange_1_burlington_nuclear_bunker_corsham_360.shtml
[4] http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/feb/05/past.features11
| ![Plugboard at cold war UK defense site [Telecom]](/images/header.jpg)
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