28 Oct 2025

TPAS 2026 Calendar

posted in: Photos, Stuff for Sale, Telegraph Poles, The Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society |

Just when the news is full of dreadful things, here’s something to spark your day/month/year – the Telegraph Pole Appreciation Calendar is now with the printers and is expected to be delivered to TPAS Towers around 5th November. And as is bloody typical, just an hour after I’d sent off the artwork I spotted something I had intended to change. I’ll have to live with it now.

Anyway, here is what the April page looks like. A whole quid cheaper than last year too. Just £9.99 + p&p. No, I don’t know how we do it either. Have a look at it on the ordering page to see what else is on the other months. So celebrate the next year with twelve glorious months of views with telegraph poles in them. Wonderful.

A mockup of April 2026 TPAS calendar showing the dates with a photo above of a 6 armed pole on the isle of Eigg with the isle of Rum in the background.
15 May 2025

Eigg Nog

posted in: Country poles, Gorgeousness, History, Photos, Telegraph Poles |

The entire staff of TPAS Towers recently undertook a telegraph pole expedition to the wee small isles in the inner Hebrides. Starting on the Isle of Eigg – an island entirely comfortable with rabbits, sheep and generating it’s own electricity – we settled in to our shed-esque accommodation and plotted the week’s hiking. Day one we discovered the bizarre bed-spring Heath-Robinson effort you see below. This seemed to be collecting the output from a small stream driven hydro-scheme just up from Galmisdale. Nothing but a climb up Eigg’s wonderful “An Sgùrr” mountain (393m) on day #2 and a trip to the telegraph pole free island of Muck on day 3.

Then day #4 we were walking the island’s only real road towards Laig Bay in the north and my internal telegraph pole detector started to ping. Peeping between the leaves of some birch trees was the tip of a redundant five-armed telegraph pole. I had just, that very morning, been reading about an old telegraph system that ran from Eigg, under the sea and across to Rum and then over again to Canna further north. This must be a remnant from those days. Now lost, forgotten and unnoticed. Until now, that is. I had to clamber down a steep hill and hack my way through some severe brambles to get to it but what is a few slashes, infected wounds and dislocated knees in pursuit of such beautiful telegraphic history?

Day #5 took us to Rum and, whilst there was nothing much there to telegraph to, it did at least allow us to join up the terms “Eigg” and “Rum” and make Eigg Nog. Thanks to poet Simon Cockle for the punny title to this post.

Our final evening saw us back at Laig bay, only a different route off the beach and my internal pole alarm started going bezerk. I looked about to see what could be causing this mental commotion when we spotted the rest of the redundant pole run coming down the distant hillside. Seven poles in all. We had a ferry to catch so only had time to squeeze some distant shots with phone camera held up to my binoculars and avow to come back possibly next year for a closer look. We did find a dead one however being consumed by the grass and so liberated a small part of that as a souvenir before it’s lost forever.

That wasn’t the end of our telegraph pole adventures though. On the way up I’d spotted a handful of neat four-armers roadside near Corpach, Fort William. As if that wasn’t enough already – further investigation and a nip up a side road revealed a stunning run of six-armers at Fassfern, also near Fort Bill. One final treat at Ballachulish – 3 armer with all it’s insulators missing (is that you Jake?) but a stunning backdrop of Sgorr Dheearg & Sgorr Dhonuill and also the road bridge itself. Well, well well as we say now back in Wales.

  • A very old pole on Eigg with 3 cross arms but one at right angles to the others. no insulators but a wire connected to a big spring attachrd to a shackle. Believed to be the output from a small hydro scheme.
  • The mountain An Sgurr on the isle of Eigg with Galmisdale Farmhouse in foreground.
  • A low, upward looking photo of the newly discovered 5 armed pole on Eigg against a blue sky.
  • A redundant 5 armed telegraph pole protruding above the trees on Eigg with the Isle of Rum in the background.
  • A run of 5 fully visible 5 armed poles and 2 partially visible in undrgrowth at Laig Bay on isle of Eigg. all are redundant.
  • A line of redundant 5 armed poles in overgrown hillside on isle of Eigg but as viewed through a single lens of binoculars.
  • 2 distnat telegraph poles as viewed through the lens of a set of binoculars.
  • The remains of the top of a telegraph pole with 5 arms and insulators lying on a field on Eigg and is now slowly being consumed by the soil.
  • A white GPO insulator still attached via its rusted bolt to a fragment of cross arm wood.
  • The silhouette of the isle of Rum as seen from Laig Bay, Isle of Eigg at sunset. The sun has gone over the horizon but a sun dog phenomena is visible just above Rum.
  • A 4 armed roadside pole in front of hedge row and trees near Fort William
  • A six armed pole replte with insulators on a quiet lane at Fassfern near Fort William.
  • A 3 armed telegraph pole at Ballachulish in the Scottish highlands with Munro mountains Sgorr Dheearg & Sgorr Dhonuill in the background and also the iron road bridge itself.
8 Jul 2024

Aurora Telegraphpolealis

posted in: Appreciating, Gorgeousness, New Poles, Submissions, Telegraph Poles |

The February 2023 Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society Calendar page. Showing the month and a photo of a silhouetted DP taken against a dawn orange sky.

Who could ever forget February 2023? For it was after that last day of a cold dark and windy January that most of us flipped our TPAS Calendar over to a new month revealing Hazel Long’s magnificent dawn pole (above) – bringing renewed joy and hope into the hearts of this telegraph pole appreciating nation. Or something like that.

Well, Hazel has moved house. Not that far from the original Brighouse photo – and still within Yorkshire – where they play cricket, throw rocks at Lancastrians and make tea. To a place called Scapegoat Hill to join the 1,246 other inhabitants who all came out to marvel at the new pole (right). Said pole is so new it hasn’t been wired up to anything yet. Once connected it will doubtless allow residents to add Yorkshire Tea , Terry’s Chocolate Oranges and Henderson’s Relish to their weekly online grocery order.

A brand new telegraph pole with no wires attached yet.

Hazel tells us she likes a spartan life and to be in bed by 8pm and so missed the aurora borealis northern light show that not so long ago blessed our skies. Luckily, son James was still up and captured the DP of magnificence you see below. I presume this too was in Yorkshire. Actually, it looks like the old place. Anyway, this has all prompted me to do some research on a county I’ve only ever visited once: Puddings of course. Those flat, soggy, slightly burnt things that people have with their sunday dinner. They’re from Yorkshire. The world’s yappiest dog breed comes from Yorkshire too. These handbag sized mutts have yapped their way under the skin of many a quiet-loving neighbour. Seth Armstrong was the county’s most famous beer drinker and supped more than 3,750 pints of ale during his tenure at the bar of the Woolpack Inn, Emmerdale, between 1978 and 2004. Emmerdale, formerly Emmerdale Farm, now regularly competes with Coronation Street for the most train crashes and aviation disasters in a half-hour light drama series.

A DP pole silhouetted in front of a colourful aurora sky.
6 May 2024

End of World is NOT yet nigh

posted in: Country poles, Foreign ones, Nothing to do with Telegraph Poles, Photos |

At the time of writing, and as far as I know, Mr Putin’s plutonium tipped armageddon is NOT presently on its way to mither my little backwater in west Wales. They would surely have said something on radio four if it were. So at 4:12 pm on bank holiday Monday I can safely put the title to this post. Trouble is I’m not sure of the timescale they’re talking about when they say “nigh”.. If nigh is the four minutes of the eponymous warning from the 1970s then I should still be ok for another cup of tea. But if “nigh” refers to any quantity of time greater than 4 minutes, then yes, I suspect the end is, in fact, nigh. In mathematics this might be written as End=t>4.

What’s he blathering on about I hear both you and me saying? What I’m trying to say are two things. That (a) all is well with the world if I can find the time (in a hectic life) to post some telegraph pole photos and (b) If nigh was indeed imminent, then here are some telegraph poles to fill your remaining four minutes.

Back to Ireland again. Yes, I know, my fantasy job as globe-trotting espionater often takes me over there with time off between top secret missions to spot poles and also interesting railway station paraphernalia. Herewith: Can’t quite remember where this hairily ivied pole was but then we stopped at Roscrea Station, Co. Tipperary for a good nerdle. Then on to Birr, Co. Offaly for those interesting petrol pumps and finally, a bookshop in Thurles (pronounced Turlies) where I found that intriguing book. Who cares what it says inside it, it’s got poles on the front.

One regret was that whilst in Roscrea, I didn’t take a photo of “Breens Footwear” shop. Google streetview will give you an idea of how it was in 2019. Let’s just say the last five years have not been kind to it.

  • A country telephone pole covered in ivy in rural ireland.
  • Telegraph pole and signal box at Roscrea Station, Tipperary.
  • railway line, signal box and a semaphore signal at Roscrea Station, Tipperary.
  • Telegraph pole and signal box at Roscrea Station, Tipperary.
  • A telegraph pole at Roscrea station, Ireland.
  • An old fashioned petrol pump at Birr, Co. OFfaly.
  • An old fashioned petrol pump at Birr, Co. Offaly, Ireland.
  • Book cover for "Way out West" showing telegraph poles in mid west USA across corn fields.
7 Sep 2023

A Nude Linesman in Oz

posted in: Adornments, Country poles, Foreign ones, Found Poles, Hardware, History, Insulators, Oddities, Photos, Telegraph Poles, Vintage |

 I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to get this post up on to the website. Jerry Deacon, who sent this to me, can’t believe how long it’s taken either. And Jerry, I’ve just realised is none other than (previously plugged on here) Kilgraney Sleepers (now railwaysleepers.com) – the place to go for old railway sleepers (the clue is in the name) but also old and new telegraph poles for ornamental and nerdic use. Nice plug for you there Jerry; I trust that this is adequate recompense for my tardiness.

Anyway, back in March. Jerry wrote to tell us that as an intrepid explorer he came across Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station (1884) near Shark Bay in Western Australia. There is a definite passion for telegraph poles in Oz. In October 1872 the Overland Telegraph line between Darwin and Adelaide was completed, and the Australian telegraph network became linked directly to Europe (termite attacks notwithstanding). Hamelin station was established as a repeater station that linked Western Australia into this same network. And this is the last of these stations still extant. Now, for some reason, it features, quite prominently, a nude linesman attending to the pole top apparatus. Why this should be is anyone’s guess and Jerry offers no explanation, nor does anything at the station itself. Though he did suggest Nude Pole of the Month as a possible new feature for these very pages. I’m going to pretend he never said that.

A placard at Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station describing it's history.
Exterior view of Hamelin Telegraph Station, showing weather checking apparatus.
A selection of telegraph insulators of many different sizes and types on display.
A selection of telegraph insulators of many different sizes and types on display as well as some antique electrical apparatus.
Another interior photo of Hamelin station.
The interior of Hamelin Telegraph Station with many displays pertaining to its history. There is a large photo of a nude man working up a pole.
A close up photo of a nude linesman working atop a telegraph pole.
Telegraph Insulators and apparatus
15 Jul 2023

Moochin’ about in Mullingar

posted in: Appreciating, Country poles, Foreign ones, Found Poles, Insulators, Photos, Railway poles, Vintage |

Messing about in Ireland again! Well I only live a modest distance from the ferry at Fishguard, so it’d be churlish not to. A splendid overnight in James Joyce’s former watering hole, the very fine Greville Arms Hotel, in the midlands town of Mullingar in Co. Westmeath. Mullingar won’t ever win any tidy town awards but it had an old Irish charm all of its own. And the railway station had a further delight for us in the overlooked, disused and too-close-to-everything-to-chop-down ancient telegraph pole you see below. And a station on a bend is worth two in the bush or something.

People who like telegraph poles often like old railways too and vice-versa. I’m no different. So next day we found ourselves at Castletown (5 miles SE) walking ye olde rail trail that once ran between Mullingar and Athlone (you remember Athlone don’t you?) Our meeting, along said trail, with an elderly Irish gentleman whose wonderful accent and false teeth that rattled as he talked is a story for another time, perhaps over a pint of something black and nourishing. Anyway, this trail still has lengths of track in places and is a haven for wildlife. In fact, Ireland is fully fifty years behind our UK depletion of nature. I hope they learn from our mistakes. The final photo in the sequence is a delightful croc-face replete with insulators and insulating coat of ivy. This was on the way home in Co. WIcklow. Without further ado.

Platform and disused pole at Mullingar station, Ireland
Mullingar railway station sign.
5 arms remaining of an 8 armer at Mullingar railway station, Ireland.
Rear view of 5 armed pole at Mullingar station.
5 armed pole, disused now, at Mullingar station, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.
View showing disused 5 arm pole alongside track and platform at Mullingar, Co. Westmneath, Ireland.
A notice board on the "Old Rail Trail" Mullingar to Athlone cycle route
Some track remains on the old line between Athlone and Mullingar. Cycle track alongside
A rusting railway signal on the old railway line between Mullingar and Athlone. Now a cycle route
The old Castletown railway station on the disused Athlone to Mullingar line
Castletown signal box, now disused
A Croc-face displaced pole with fur coat made of ivy in Co. Wicklow.
11 Apr 2023

Soothsaying

posted in: Appreciating, Country poles, Electricity Poles, Foreign ones, Oddities, Photos, Telegraph Poles |

Not a lot of people know that I once stood as a Green Party candidate for a by-election in North Wales. I didn’t win. Nor did I come second. I don’t think third was what I was either. But I wasn’t last. And at the count the returning officer asked us all to say a few words to the gathered press and onlookers. This took me by surprise so I donned my soothsaying cloak of flabberghastion and defiantly declared that whilst they probably hadn’t voted for me today they would all be voting green one day. Talk about bold proclamation!

Anyway, it’s the soothsaying bit I’m trying to get to. I am in receipt of the photos you see below from two women correspondents. Both of whom move in high echelons. You know, meetings in boardrooms, with carafes of specially stilled water on oaken tables; white boards on the wall, minutes taken, the lot. If I had soothseen twenty years ago that one day they would be sending photos of telegraph poles to a strange man in Wales they would have laughed in my face.

And yet, here they are: Carter Wall, we have discussed before, is a mover and shaker in the supply of American energy. She is heavily into sustainable energy (me too in a saving-the-butt-ends-of-candles kind of way) and she lives at arguably the best address ever: Rattlesnake Gutter, Massachusetts. Carter was walking with her sister at Yarmouth Port on Cape Cod when they spotted the Heath Robinson splinted half-cocked pole replacement affair you see here. It was her sister, knowing of Carter’s history with this society, who suggested sending it to us. “Indeed, it’s an interesting conundrum for the pole-setter” she says, “a tight site with no room to set a new pole next to the old one as they usually do. Tough job.” Indeed.

Pippa, the sender of the other two pics is a former colleague of mine who must be surprised herself that not only does she remember me, but that she has developed herself an eye for poles. All the while supporting Tottenham Hotspur. You couldn’t make this stuff up. The dawn/dusk pole below is reminiscent of our very own February photo from the TPAS 2023 calendar. Now sold out, alas. Or should that be hooray? The second photo is taken through a train on St. Kitts. Alas, these last two came to me via social media and so suffered horribly from their compression algorithms. Without further ado, thank you Pippa and Carter:

A replacement power pole in a quiet leafy street in Yarmouth Port, Cape Cod that has been strapped to the original broken pole.
Many splintered thing – a daughter pole in Cape Cod. Exact coordinates available upon request.
A telegraph distibution pole against a reddening dusk sky.
St. Albans, taken yesterday in January 2020
View from a train window on St. Kitts of a road with a line of power poles alongside.
From a moving train in St. Kitts.
18 Mar 2023

Half-armed in Co. Wexford

posted in: Country poles, Foreign ones, Found Poles, Insulators, Photos, Telegraph Poles |

Not having advertised our trimestral trip to the land of Emeralds (and Six Nations grand slammers) meant that we returned home to an unburgled house this week. Which was nice. The key was under the mat where we left it and granny was still in her annex watching re-runs of The Exorcist and chewing upon the remains of the toffees we left for her in the automatic cat feeder; timed to release two Werthers Originals per hour. Lovely. Now to wade our way through the pile of TV licence reminders received in our absence.

Our homeward journey started in the top left hand corner, specifically, Inishowen, Co. Donegal and we travelled almost exclusively by ‘B’ roads*1 all the way to the bottom right hand corner and our rendezvous with the good ship Stena Europe at Rosslare. That ageing tub couldn’t handle the swell and high winds in the Irish sea on the Monday, so we had an extra day to meander even more. Our route took us down the west coast past Sligeach, almost to Galway then meandered hither and thither seeking out interesting potholes and pubs with the most sidelines*2.

“Get to the telegraph poles man!”

Day #2 found us, in the drizzle still, on the R680 between Clonmel and the rather Frenchie sounding Carrick on Suir. This is the mother of all “B” roads. Potholes aplenty, and then these half-armed beauties hidden among the roadside foliage. The first one was the best, but I couldn’t stop as it was a narrow road and I had a car up my arse*3. These are genuine half-arms, not rotted off or stolen, the real thing. Rather than sort through them*4, here, enjoy the lot.

*1 They’re called “R” roads over there.
*2 Saw one premises that advertised: Pub (naturally), Petrol, Coal, Newspapers, hairdresser, hardware)
*3 Can I say this on this website? Turns out I can. (arse /ɑːs/ noun: (i) buttocks (ii) stupid person (iii) verb, tailgating, driving too close behind, being an /ɑːs/)
*4 It’s late, Match of the Day will be on the telly in a minute.

23 Dec 2022

Most Northerly Pole in Mainland Britain

posted in: Appreciating, Big Poles, Electricity Poles, Found Poles, Markings, Photos |

I was getting worried. It’s been so long since I posted on here that I wondered if something might have happened; maybe I’d “moved upstairs” or something. But given the lack of sympathy cards on our mantlepiece and that Mrs. TPAS seems to be cheerfully going about her business I’m probably not meeting my maker and so nothing for it but to get on here and catch up with some emailic inboxing.

Regular visitors to these sage pages will know that we are frequent visitors to the far north (and west). You only have to look at our outstanding 2023 calendar to know that (a handful left for £9.99). Now, I’ve been past it on my way to Orkney several times, but never quite got around to visiting Dunnet Head in Caithness. Turns out I didn’t need to as Jim Irving, who, I think, might be from Glasgow, has been there for us. His penchant, however, is for lighthouses – which whilst being tall and sticky-uppy are only 50% of the way to being tall, wooden, sticky-uppy with wires coming out the top. Anyway Jim got to service both fetishes*1 with this visit.

He travelled north with his colleague and current wife who pretended to be asleep the whole journey to avoid the nerdic conversation emanating from the vehicle’s male occupants. Apparently, their excessive enthusiasm for the poles began to scare all concerned by the time they had finished taking the photos you see below.

Anyway, for clarity’s sake, the pole with “yours truly”*2 in it and with the lighthouse and buildings directly behind is THE most northerly pole.

For more clarity, yes, we know these are power distribution poles rather than telegraph poles per se and we refer to paragraph #2 above which contains a mashed-up version of our society mantra.

Jim says he might be back for a TPAS Mug for his mate at some point. Well if even further clarity is required, he hasn’t yet done so – our order clerks are on standby. And we have a few calendars left too. Have I said that already?

*1 Need to find a better word than this
*2 I always thought “yours truly” was me. Turns out it’s Jim Irving.

  • Dunnet Head Lighthouse, Caithness. With Britain's most northerly pole just in front.
  • Jim Irving with Dunnet Head lighthouse beyond.
  • Danger of Death notice on a power pole at Dunnet Head
  • Inspection placards on a power pole at Dunnet Head
  • Power pole with transformer with Dunnet Head and then Pentland Firth beyond
  • The Doby marks on a power pole at Dunnet Head which read: 9.5m; SPFI, 16, EL, B
  • Jim Irving having a spiritual moment at a power pole at Dunnet Head.
  • Jim Irving, pondering the wonder of nature and telegraph poles at Dunnet Head
  • COBRA preservation placard on a power pole at Dunnet Head
  • Power Pole with Danger of Death notice and a location sign saying Dunnet Heat Lighthouse
  • Close up of a tarry preservation placard on a power pole at Dunnet Head.
  • Mainland Britain's most northerly power pole. Dunnet Head lighthouse behind and Jim Irving trying to remember if he'd turned the cooker off before he left the house.

21 Oct 2022

Soul test

posted in: Appreciating, Art, dropwires, Gorgeousness, Photos, Telegraph Poles |

You don’t need to consult a fancy shaman to find out whether you have a soul or not. No need for some over paid, under-qualified practitioner to jangle some purple space crystals over your forehead, intensely reading the chakra quanta emanating from your aura. Put your money away. Here is a much simpler, instantaneous test. If the photo below leaves you completely unmoved then you have no soul. None whatsoever. Simple as that. You should immediately apply to 55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL for a research position. If however, this photo sent in by Hazel Long from Brighouse, W. Yorkshire, causes strange stirrings you don’t quite understand then you most definitely do have a soul. There.

Regular readers may well remember back two and a half years to this post {Shot at Dawn}. Hazel must be a baker or post-person or insomniac to so regularly (twice in three years) see dawn. That’s more than I’ve managed in a lifetime.

Distribution Pole in silhouette against dawn red sky at Brighouse, Yorkshire
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