20 Jan 2006 - A vision of the past

Have you ever wondered what Exchange House was like before it became Teesside Archives? Images of its former use as the General Post Office were brought back by Peter and Margaret Ward of Whitby, who recently visited the Archives while researching their family tree. They met when they worked for the Post Office between 1951 and 1954, Peter as a telegraph boy, and Margaret as a telegraphist. Neither had been back for more than 50 years, so it was with fond memories that they were given a tour of the building.

They remembered the search room as the G.P.O. Writing Room where the general administration was carried out, and where stamps and money were prepared for all the sub-post offices (that's why there're two safes!). Margaret worked on the first floor putting together the telegrams that Peter would deliver on his motorbike. Peter recalled a massive conveyor belt for parcels in the back courtyard where he and the other telegraph boys would wait for the next bundle of messages. It's strange to walk around the quiet corridors of the archives now and imagine what it would have been like with over 70 staff, the coming and going of motor bikes in the yard, and the automated telephone exchange machine clanking away in what is now the NECC workshop.

It was a fascinating visit, not just for them but also for the archives staff. Peter and Margaret helped to breath life into a part of Teesside Archives history that we know very little about. Our thanks to them and we hope to see them again.

The picture shows Peter with David Parsons. Some old photographs of telegram boys are in the Gallery.