GPO Dialphones (4) : 722 Trimphone

The Trimphone was introduced by the General Post Office in the 1960s as an alternative to standard telephones such as the 706. The Trimphone had a number of features that made it stand out from the standard telephones, and hence customers had to pay extra for one!

The Trimphone had a more fashionable, slimmer design compared to the likes of the 706 and 746, and was much lighter. However, the lighter weight did end up causing issues with customers with the telephone sliding about when being used, especially when dialing.

The most notable change though was the sound, the Trimphone had a distinctive warble for it's ringer using electronics rather than the bell on earlier telephones. The Trimphone also has an illuminated dial (thanks to some mildly radioactive substance in the dial!) The Trim in Trimphone is in fact an acronym for Tone Ring Illuminator Model. The Trimphone was released as the 712 and 712L (with a lettered dial) in the mid-1960s in limited areas, and nationwide in 1968.

Production switched to the 722 and 722L models which had a number of improvements and refinements. Production of the Trimphone continued until 1982. We have two Trimphones, a grey 722 and a green 722L with a two colour dial.

Heading through Codsall

This one is not stopping, hopefully the next one is!

Churches (270) : St Martin, Alfreton

The parish church of St Martin in Alfreton, Derbyshire dates to the 13th century with additions and changes in the following two centuries and also the 19th century when the chancel was expanded. The church has a five bay nave with a clerestory on the southern side of the church. The church has north and south aisles and a vestry. The tower is 15th century and has three stages. The church was restored in the mid-19th century. A hall was added to the church in 1930.

The church is built from ashlar stone with a lead, slate and tile roof.

Both sides of Aylesbury

At the weekend i headed back down to Buckinghamshire, and the Princes Risborough area again (well it is one of my favourite parts of the world so i am not complaining!) I wanted to visit the two stations either side of Aylesbury which took the number of new stations i stopped at in 2025 up to 50, my target.

Firstly, i went to Aylesbury Vale Parkway then two stops down the line to Stoke Mandeville, where i also had a look around the village. You can see my photos here.

GPO Dialphones (3) : 741

The wall-mounted counterpart to the 706 was the 711. Naturally, when the General Post Office switched to the updated 746 telephone there followed a wall-mounted version of this updated telephone.

This was the 741, which was introduced in 1968 and replaced the 711. It had a similar case to the earlier wall-mounted telephone but had the internals of the 746 including the built-in regulator.

Compared to the 746, the 741 had a quite different case (see below for side-by-side comparison). The 746 is designed for desk use so needs to present the dial at an angle to aid dialing, the 741 needs to present it's dial "flat" to the user for the same reason.

The 741 has an integral bracket for mounting securely on the wall. The handset rests atop the modified case. Our 741 has "KS" scratched on the case, perhaps these were the initals of a previous owner, presumably not Keir Starmer!