The Development of Telecoms - Exeter
Exeter area is wholly contained in glorious Devon of contrasting loveliness. This pleasant county stretches from the rain and wind-swept Atlantic seaboard in the north to the southern shore over moorland, tor and fell, down the sylvan valleys of Exe, Teign and Dart and then to the rich, red alluvial farmlands whose meadows seem perennially lush-green in the mild, equable climate.
It is essentially a dairy farming county. Devon's agricultural industry makes a most important contribution to the nation's food supply.
Devon's southern coastal resorts attract hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers each summer. Small wonder, therefore, that Torquay, Queen of the English Riviera, has been chosen as the venue this year (1950) of the International Conference on Tariffs and Trade. This will involve the provision of 1,000 new telephones.
The Exeter area takes in 1,580 square miles. It employs a staff of just under 1,000 and it has 116 exchanges (99 of them automatic) with 39,000 exchange connections and 55,000 stations. The installation of telephones for Devon farms has been a major post-war task. During the past two years (1948-50), over 1,400 telephones have been connected, involving the erection of nearly 8,500
poles.
