Anyone else remember ‘01’ for London?

[KnewYearKnewMe]

I’m reading The Mandibles, and it talks about a fictional big deal when the US international country code for their phones was ‘downgraded’ from 1 to 2..

It got me wondering if anyone else remembers when London’s phone area code was just 01 all over – and the uproar when they changed it to 071 and 081? I still remember people getting really aggrevated about being lumped into “outer London” with an 081 number when they were sure instead of they should be thr apparently much posher 071!

It all seemed very snobby looking back. Yet people did get very wound up.

for anyone younger – this was back when we actually used landlines and knew people’s phone numbers - Imagine that 😂😂)

Would love to hear if anyone else remembers – or any other examples of people getting terribly snobby about something that seems pretty daft to you .

Maureen Lipman yes! Beattie having a game of one-upmanship with her friend on the phone about ‘inner city’ and ‘Greater London’ numbers.

I remember in Birds of a Feather Dorien Green being appalled that Chigwell was an 081 code and therefore no longer a desirable place to live.

01818118181 - going live!

01 807 0607 my nans number stuck in my head for 50 years never had to dial it though 😂😂

Meanwhile, Brixton got 071. Brixton, heaven forfend!

YES!! Love them !! The early reconstructions are much more stark and effective than the later (arty farty) ones

Imagine being a 1980s Securicor driver !!

Going Live indeed!!!!!!!

Thus us way after my time don’t you know!!

My grandparents did that until the bitter end, well into the 2000s - answering with the town and the last 4 digits 🥹 oh, memories.

😃

Yes, the business of moving cash about had its own mirror criminal industry. That and all the homophobic crime, slightly euphemistically discussed. We've moved on a lot.

Agree about the reconstructions, too.

Came on this thread to say this!

The South East didn't escape. My Gran was on the Dartford exchange which went from 0322 to 01322.

01 811 8055 is burned into my brain.

Mine too ! Never week I’ll try and ring Mike Read at Superstore

I remember when Scotland Yard was Whitehall 12 12.

Yes, I had an 01 number and a shelf full of the London Phone Books and Yellow Pages.

No, it’s never been 0208. 020 is the code for all of London, like 01 was.

I’d never heard that. There used to be a shop on the A12 out of London northwards that displayed their number as “Val xxxx” (the valentine exchange). That stayed up well into this millennium. I left London so I suppose it could still be there.

I was devastated as a child to have missed the era when you called the exchange and asked for a number with an area designation like that. Odd kid that I was. 😁

I remember phoning Scotland from Newcastle and having to go through the operator and ask for a "trunk call"

yes I remember in the 70s it was 01 code for London, then it was 020 8 for outer London, and 020 7 for inner London. I think there was a code in between those 2 as well.

0181 🙈😄 then we got an 0208

What was the sitcom where someone paid to be 081 or 071 or vice versa? I bet no-one on here will remember.

Yes I can still remember my 01 childhood phone number....no idea what my current landlines is though!

The ship is closed so will grab something from coop xx

Nope, you got 020. No such code as 0208.
(This is a real bugbear of mine that I rarely get to air these days as most people don’t have a landline any more!)