SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Brunel wrote: How old is it? It doesn't look that old as it has a full LS postcode but a pre-STD phone number, so between about 1968 and 1990. From the typeface and printing I'd say late 70s - early 80s.

simong wrote: Brunel wrote: How old is it? It doesn't look that old as it has a full LS postcode but a pre-STD phone number, so between about 1968 and 1990. From the typeface and printing I'd say late 70s - early 80s. I was just going to post a very similar response. The packaging has a 6-digit Leeds phone number on and they only came into regular use in the mid / late 70's (it was quite common to see business premises with the additional digit squeezed onto an existing sign well into the 80's - Alstan Garage on York Street springs to mind as a prime example). As an aside, if anyone can confirm when the six digit numbers came into use in Leeds I'd be interested to know as I can't find anything about it on Google.

Hi raveydavey,When I was a child, I lived in Woodhouse and until 1958 our telephone number was 23029. In 1958, we moved to a brand new house in the Moseley Woods, at Cookridge, and the number was 672051. I joined the Leeds City Police in 1965 and the number was 35353 so the five figure numbers and the six figure numbers must have existed together. In 1969, I moved to Oulton and we had a four figure number but it changed to a six figure number in the early 1970's by placing 82 at the beginning. I moved to Otley in 1977 and the number had four figures but after a few years it went to a six figure number by placing 46 at the beginning. I think that the four figure numbers went to six figure numbers by adding the local area codes to the original number. Obviously, the national area codes have changed a few times, e.g. Leeds - 0532 to 01532 to 0113. There's some stuff about it on Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_ ... KingdomIan    

iansmithofotley wrote: Obviously, the national area codes have changed a few times, e.g. Leeds - 0532 to 01532 to 0113. There's some stuff about it on Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_ ... KingdomIan     Also Ian when the brilliant STD system was invented around 1963/4 Leeds was 0LE 2

Leeds' area code went directly from0532 to 0113. 01532 was never used.

drapesy wrote: Leeds' area code went directly from0532 to 0113. 01532 was never used. Quite so Drapesy, at which time we also gained a '2' prefixing the existing local numbers to increase the extent of the available number range.The annoying thing was the misunderstsanding of this with people publishing their numbers to include the 2 in the area code - 01132.Many problems caused when people think an additional 2 was the also needed ( understandablry). before the remainder of the number, particularly so now that we have number ranges starting with a '3'.Sadly even BT show an ignorance here, frequently showing numbers with the 2 tacked onto the area codeAs the telephone system only recognises the first 11 digits input - scores of 'wrong numbers' are dialed     

I'm sure I remember some shenanigans with Leeds phone numbers in the early seventies. Five figure numbers had to become six figure, and those that began with 2, you had to replace the 2 with 45. Thus 22264 would be 452264. Also, around the same time, a relative of mine in Pudsey had a five figure number beginning with 6, and a 5 had to be put in front. So instead of 62xxx it became 562xxx [and still is, albeit with the added 2 in front, after 0113].        Oh - and the Yorkshire Post went from 32701 to 432701 at that time too.    

drapesy wrote: Leeds' area code went directly from0532 to 0113. 01532 was never used. Whilst agreeing with the above it appears to have been used in various placeshere (Donald hardy)http://www.hdtforum.co.uk/discus/messag ... 7509514and here (haywards of leeds)http://www.relderton.co.uk/links.htmand here (great northern wine co)http://www.germanbeerguide.co.uk/yorks_w.htmland here (wildlife rescue)http://www.birdforum.net/archive/index. ... 0944.htmlI have found lots more of the same,if Leeds never used that code why so many examples?Weird!        

The bus operator Samuel Ledgard ceased to be on October 14th 1967, and before that their number at the Armley headquarters (junction Armley Road/Branch Road/Canal Road) simply had a "6" added - formerly 38661/2 and became 638661/2.

due my my dad's illness, my family splashed out on our first phone back in the early 70's. It was a Pudsey number 77555, but was changed after a year or so to 577555 .... still a catchy number! And we had a dual tone green trimphone, if I remember correctly! One of the features was that its (rotary) dial glowed in the dark (I think!).