Fenny Stratford Repeater Station

Initial Repeater Installations at Fenny Stratford

Watling Street, Fenny Stratford. The Test and Intercept Hut can be seen in the centre of the picture.

In 1921, a further cable was laid between London and Manchester, and further repeaters were installed in the test hut. This cable was brought into service in 1922 and consisted of 160 pairs of 1.27mm diameter conductors. 56 pairs were used for telegraph circuits and, by deriving phantoms, the remaining pairs gave 156 trunk telephone circuits.

To give the same number of trunk circuits between London and Manchester using an overhead open wire route, it would have involved purchasing a strip of land 20ft wide, all the way from London to Manchester, and erecting 6 lines of poles carrying 4mm diameter open wires.

Fenny Stratford Repeater Station was a two storey brick building with reinforced concrete floors. The flat roof was designed for future extension upwards, although this was never realised. The building was completed in 1924 was designed to accommodate 1000 repeaters.

The layout of the building was as follows:

Basement: Consisting of the Cable Chamber where the underground cables entered the building, and Boiler Room for heating.

Ground Floor: Power Room, Battery Room, Linesmans Room and Toilet.

First Floor: Apparatus Room, Inspectors Office, Further Linemans Room and Welfare Room.

The existing underground trunk cables were transferred into the new building in June 1925.

View of Fenny Stratford Repeater Station soon after completion. Main line test and interceptor can be seen on the right.	Repeater Station Staff c. 1925. Back Row (left to right): J. Sundewall, W. Hughes, A. Peerless, Unknown, Jack Salmon, Horace Mason, Tom Barnes, Bob Evans; Middle Row (left to right): Unknown, George Lines, E. Jones (officer in charge), E. Young, Fred Fenely; Front Row (youths in training): Unknown.