The Development of Telecoms - Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury with its castle-crowned hill and its ancient black-and-white timbered houses stands on a peninsula formed by a sinuous bend of the River Severn. This town, which is entered from England by crossing the English Bridge and from Wales by crossing the Welsh Bridge, has always been famous as a gateway to Wales and is symbolic of the interplay between the Welsh and English people through the centuries. First came the period of struggle and combat, as witnessed by the walls and ramparts that still exist: later the unifying of the two races symbolised by the Anglo-Welsh character of Shrewsbury.

Like the town from which it is administered, the Shrewsbury area has a strong Welsh flavour, for here England gradually changes from the robustness of the Midlands to the lilt and fantasy of the Welsh hills as one travels from the Border Counties through the heart of Wales by Plynlimon and Cader Idris to the coast of Cardigan Bay. From industrial East Shropshire to Aberystwyth, from Denbighshire to Monmouth via the Shropshire hills, Hereford and the Wye Valley – here, surely, is some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.

A feature of the 4,400 square miles of hill, dale and coast is the isolation of so many of the houses and farms and the scattered districts. One result of this is the abnormally high wire mileage per subscriber and the large number of small exchanges.

There are 226 exchanges in the area, 176 of which are automatic. They serve about 35,500 exchange connections with some 55,000 stations. 

Many of the 1,200 staff are out-stationed mainly at Wellington, Hereford, Newton, Llandrindod Wells, Machynlleth and Aberystwyth.