My Account
Who could have imagined the changes to telephone services since their arrival in this district in 1913? The Port Albert exchange was in the house of my grandparents, Will and Agnes Vickery, in Wellsford Valley Rd. They took it on to provide employment for their daughter who had just finished her schooling.
The job entailed answering all incoming calls and connecting them as required, initially on two lines. Later it stretched to a 10-plug board, with one line to each of the post offices in Port Albert, Wharehine and Wellsford. Apart from emergencies, the exchange only operated in daytime and repairs to the lines were the responsibility of the users. Powered by batteries, they preceded electricity by many years.
The Wellsford Valley Rd exchange replaced the Telegraph Office which was built at Port Albert in 1878, although use necessitated long and arduous journeys by foot or rowing boat. Some years later, the Wharehine exchange also began, in a building adjacent to the home of James Halfpenny, operated by Mrs Halfpenny until her death in 1923. It was from this office an extension wire ran down to the “homestead” on the Okahukura Estate, Tapora.
Wharehine people were still having to make visits to their post office to be connected, so with great enterprise in 1916, they erected their own lines, bought their own phones and even managed the installation. The Port Albert exchange was transferred to the Treadwell home after the marriage of Winnie Vickery in 1929, before eventually being amalgamated into the Wellsford exchange.
While the operations changed somewhat, “party lines” remained in use for about another 70 years. We were originally on a party line of nine homes in 1965 and it was another five years before this was reduced to four. Finally, around 1985, we got the joy of a phone all to ourselves.
For those who never struggled with a party line, it operated on a system of morse code rings (for example ‘s’ was three short rings). It was possible in time to only recognise your own signal, even though the phone would often ring all day.
Twice a week all the phones on the line would ring one after another as the local store (Bennetts) or Wellsford Stores would be on their rounds for the grocery orders and anything else which was needed. This saved so much time for busy farmers as there was little the store couldn’t supply or be able to locate for its customers.
The second series of phone calls was the local butcher. He would supply and package the meat which was delivered by all the rural mail carriers. For people living further out from the stores it was an essential service, as many wives didn’t drive and often had no opportunity to travel to Wellsford or Port Albert for their shopping.
Getting a chance to actually use the phone could be a challenge. First, you had to pick up the receiver and see if anyone was talking. “Working thank you” meant waiting for the small ring-off to indicate the line was free and hoping to get on before anyone else. Once, our call sign was changed while I was away and it took several weeks after my return before I recognised and answered the new ring.
To young folk these days who can’t move without their cellphones, this may seem extreme hardship. However, you don’t miss what you’ve never had and even now we have no cellphone due to the demise of Telecom’s 025 service. None of the other providers have any reception in our area. To have to search for the right spot outside to make a call is just not worth the effort. So much for progress — although I would be lost without broadband.
