The Telephone Box
The telephone box in Badsey High Street is one of the last remaining operational K6 telephone kiosks in Worcestershire. Originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the crown represents the British Government. The K6 was designed to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, so it is fitting that Badsey’s is situated near to the drinking fountain erected in celebration of George V’s coronation.
Badsey's first post office opened in 1891. It was in Blenheim Cottage at the end of Old Lane, which today we call Old Post Office Lane and run by Elijah and Rose Crisp. In December that year it began sending and receiving telegrams. The office was open from 8 am to 8pm on weekdays and 8am to 10am on Sundays. In 1897 Elijah built a new house at 28 High Street, opposite the church to house the post office and telephone exchange.
At this time, telephones were also the responsibility of the post office. By 1903 Badsey had a public call box and a few wealthy individuals had private phones. The 1903 phone book had eight Badsey entries and by 1910 this had increased to 18; the Badsey telephone area included Wickhamford, Offenham, and Bretforton.
The Badsey telephone directory for 1903.
In the late 1920s Badsey Telephone Exchange was opened, linking the local villages to the rest of the country. It remained in the High Street, operated by members of the Crisp family until well after the Second World War.
In the late 1960s, a new automatic Strowger telephone exchange was built at the end of Banks Road as part of the Evesham group of exchanges. This coincided with the rollout of Subscriber Trunk Dialling, whereby each area had its own automatic dialling code, Evesham’s being 0386. This improved the efficiency of connection and vastly increased the quantity of telephone numbers available prior to the introduction of mobile phones.