please empty your brain below
You sure about Dunns on Muswell Hill Broadway?

anon | 12.07.22 - 9:12 a.m. | #

Truly old examples, possibly like the Chinese restaurant, would not have bothered with the 01 because, apart from on the outskirts, everyone would have known it was an 01 and also not have needed to dial the area code.

Ian | 12.07.22 - 9:13 a.m. | #

01 811 8055 / 081 811 8181 / 0181 811 8181

Andrew | 12.07.22 - 9:26 a.m. | #

Indeed, if you *had* dialled 01 you'd have got an officious recorded message from the GPO/Post Office/British Telecom telling you to redial without the 01. Fortunately that was dropped with one of the phone number changes.

Meanwhile, I must peer around for some ghost signs -- I'm sure there are still some that give the phone number as GREenwich, TIDeway (Deptford) or LEE Green (Lewisham).

AlanBG | 12.07.22 - 9:29 a.m. | #

In my old stamping ground there's an 01-688 xxxx example close to a +44 (0) 20 8686 xxxx one, with an 0208688xxxx in between.

Little things keep one amused...

Betterbee | 12.07.22 - 9:57 a.m. | #

In Hornchurch we had a car dealers, who until very recently, displayed the pre 01708 number of 0402 4xxxxx.

Running Correspondent | 12.07.22 - 9:57 a.m. | #

J. Ayres Bakery in Eltham has an 01 proudly displayed on the side of its shop, or at least did a year ago. Its a cracking bakery too. [Streetview]

Will | 12.07.22 - 10:17 a.m. | #

Estate agents, almost all, get the 020 (not 0207/8/3) right on their signs, and always up to date. Are estate agents always phoned up?

CM | 12.07.22 - 10:23 a.m. | #

There's a garage in Leytonstone that still has an 0181 on one sign, but their other sign has been creatively updated in a low-cost way.

martin | 12.07.22 - 10:29 a.m. | #

There is a garage in Barnet with 01 on their sign, perhaps validating Ian's outskirts theory. [Streetview]

David | 12.07.22 - 10:59 a.m. | #

The Chinese restaurant got it right: for the whole of my life so far, living in London has meant you didn’t have to dial the area code, just the exchange/number. I understand that with BT’s new digital system Londoners will now have to dial the full 020-xxxx xxxx even to ring their next door neighbour.

Labourer | 12.07.22 - 11:13 a.m. | #

Andrew - Those number make me nostalgic for the children's TV of my childhood. My parents would never have let me phone up though.

James | 12.07.22 - 12:23 p.m. | #

I think Benedict's Studios, 106 Stafford Rd, Wallington SM6 9AY, is still advertising its number as 081 647 XXXX. But it's a while since I've noticed an 01.

Peter | 12.07.22 - 3:58 p.m. | #

Anon- although Dunns original shop is at Crouch End. they now have a branch at Muswell Hill too, which DG spotted.

Jeremy | 12.07.22 - 4:45 p.m. | #

"pedants love nothing more than tutting"

Except pointing out typos.

Klepsie | 12.07.22 - 5:11 p.m. | #

The Eagle letting bureau at Masons Corner (932 Green Lanes, Winchmore Hill N21) has an 081 number still. [Streetview]

Brighton_Ro | 12.07.22 - 5:41 p.m. | #

I actually sensed the older numbers were still possibly more prevalent than they are...

One of my favourite North London businesses, Logman (Specialising in Watermelons) on the Caledonian Road is an 0171 in addition to being a watermelon specialist ;)

There are certainly examples around me (Crouch End) omitting the 0208, and I know at several older folk who state their number this way. I'm assuming you can't just call the 7 digits though.

Also just remembered a neighbour of mine is still using an old supply of 'calling cards' with an 0181 number (scribbled out in biro)...

And anon re Dunn's: yup, both the original (Crouch End) and its recent sibling (Muswell Hill) have only the URL clearly visible.

Finally - interesting that there was a big change in 1995: the same year we went from 6 or 7 digits to 8 in my home city of Melbourne.

Sashina | 12.07.22 - 5:46 p.m. | #

There was an old garage near me in Coventry which still had a 5-digit number on its hand-painted sign as late as 2013, at least two changes and 25 years out of date.

Elsewhere, Bournemouth where I now live has had mandatory 11-digit dialing for ten years now (it was the pilot area) and local numbers starting with 0 and 1 are now common. I'm yet to see any sign that tries to represent one of these new numbers without its STD code, but "classic" numbers beginning 2-9 are still quite often shown in 6-digit form even though they are not actually diallable like that.

Gregg | 12.07.22 - 6:34 p.m. | #

I seem to remember in an old episode of 'Porridge' that Norman Stanley Fletcher gave his home address as Fortis Green Road. Could have been 'Going Straight" though.

Cottonsocks | 12.07.22 - 7:08 p.m. | #

I misremembered that the change to 0171 / 0181 led to the demise of the TV show '01 For London', a late-night entertainment listings programme. For some reason it continued under that title to 1992.

Graham | 12.07.22 - 7:49 p.m. | #

If I recall correctly, 01 became 071 and 081 instantly. The 0207, 0208 issue came about because for a few months it was possible to call a number using either the 0171 or 0207 prefix (or 0181 or 0208). It was only after 0171/0181 was consigned to history that Londoners could once again call each other using only the now eight-digit local numbers and without the 020. However, in practice many people had got so used to seven digits for inner/outer London and then the months of 0207, 0208 that it became easier to ring or say 0207 xxx xxxx / 0208 xxx xxxxx than xxxx xxxx. Add to this the growth in home phones with numbers stored in their memory and mobiles, and suddenly the habit of calling an eight digit local number never seemed to take off.

Buzby | 12.07.22 - 8:45 p.m. | #

Can't stand the mistake where the gap isn't left! Looks so inelegant as well. 020 is just such a smart looking number on signage.

And of course since 2019, new buildings have been issued with 020 4 --after 020 3 (first issued in 2005) ran out.

Also for quite a few years now, there have been a number of 020 7 numbers in the suburbs/outer and 020 8 numbers in inner/central London, when people have taken numbers with them.

Jonathan | 12.07.22 - 8:51 p.m. | #

I do so love it when they still put like Dartford 123456…

;-)

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 12.07.22 - 9:48 p.m. | #

The B & K Salt Beef Bar in Edgware has an 0181 telephone number and a Middlesex address - two throwbacks that were never simultaneously correct.


diamond geezer | Homepage | 12.07.22 - 11:14 p.m. | #

I do more than tut. It puts me off trusting a business if they can’t get their number right.

Stephen Senor | 13.07.22 - 12:05 a.m. | #

ALB[ert Dock] 4951 / 0171 476 4951 01forlondon.wordpress.com

Rich G | Homepage | 13.07.22 - 12:37 a.m. | #

I spotted this one in Teddington earlier this month. At least 32 years out of date, , with a suitably retro Mini posed in front of it in Google Street view

Timbo | 13.07.22 - 4:36 a.m. | #

I spotted this one in Teddington earlier this month. At least 32 years out of date, , with a suitably retro Mini posed in front of it in Google Street view.

Timbo | 13.07.22 - 4:37 a.m. | #

Re: 0181 and Middlesex address; while the administrative county was abolished in 1965, the postal county was only dropped from addresses in 1996. So technically 0181 phone numbers and Middlesex addresses did co-exist for 1 year from 1995 - 1996.

Tony | 13.07.22 - 8:17 a.m. | #

Probably worse than phone numbers are the many, many shops which do not show their street number

Barry Coppock | 13.07.22 - 9:35 a.m. | #

My brother used to live in a Somerset village that had still 2 digit numbers displayed on some businesses
[Streetview]

Steve | 13.07.22 - 10:31 a.m. | #

I can't believe the 0171 / 0181 numbers were only un use for 5 years - I can only assume they have such resonance with me as I was aged 10-15 at the time so would have first noticed things like dialing codes

Tom | 13.07.22 - 12:31 p.m. | #

I admit I am one of those tutters about incorrectly spaced numbers. The ubiquity of mobiles though seems to have led to people increasingly removing all of the spacings when writing their phone number, something that I think makes reading it accurately much harder.

Anders | 13.07.22 - 12:50 p.m. | #

Going round my old haunts today spotted an 0171 on Custom Bakery, Freemasons Rd E16, and an 01 on the side of a building in Fournier St E1, behind some of the remaining Crossrail netting.

scrumpy | 15.07.22 - 2:26 p.m. | #

Another old shopfront is Robinson's Upholsterers in Forest Gate with a 472 5786 phone number. Some of the displays in the window look just as old: [Streetview]

James | 15.07.22 - 4:24 p.m. | #

The Barbican Greengrocers on Aldersgate Street (by the Golden Lane Estate) still has a pre ‘01’ phone number, CLE 2190, on its fascia sign.

dg writes: Indeed.

Graham T | 16.07.22 - 1:04 p.m. | #

When the dialling code changed the TV programme 01 For London was renamed to just '01'

Stuart | 20.07.22 - 6:55 a.m. | #











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