In time our house was connected to the GPO with a telephone. As was common money was saved by installing the phone as close as possible to the front door. My dad had talent as a woodworker and created an oak wood shelf that had room for several telephone directories as well as a pen and notepaper.
Use of the phone was essentially public in that other family members could hear what was being said. So for many calls this might not matter, but asking for a date meant we had to use others methods. To begin with we had to book calls overseas, so speaking to Canadian family required planning, advance notice to them by post, then booking the call that was usually time limited. And because the phone shelf was set at adult shoulder height one stood up to use it, or were stood on a chair if too short. The dial was not difficult to use and there were various noises whilst being connected. Originally the number was preceded by the short version of your exchange name then a 4 digit number, a total of 7 items. Now we have 11 minimum. Before we had a house phone I was shown how to use the phone box a few minutes walk away at the nearby railway station. This involved making a call and putting coins into a slot to do so. There were buttons A and B, that you used to connect or get the money back if no answer. 999 calls were free and I recall being told how to summon help that way.
Mobility never came into our expectations but even today as I write the system isn’t perfect and connectivity cannot always be relied on. That’s progress?
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