You might be amazed*1 at just how much correspondence this society receives. Actual letters and emails asking about telegraph poles, I mean, not the endless automated drivel offering potions to enhance my, ahem, standing in the community etc.
One question I get asked all the time is just how do you age a telegraph pole. These correspondees have checked our FAQ page and still need to know just when a pole was planted. Possibly they have some boundary dispute with their tiresome neighbour – you know, the one with the endless barking dog who throws their rubbish over your hedge and who slams their car door at all hours of the night. Or perhaps they just like to know the age of things, like the universe, Helen Mirren or that pack of sausages in the fridge. Truth is, other than the “Doby” mark which says the year it was creosoted, I don’t know of any way to tell when it was planted. Presumably a list in the local BT office. I hope now to be advised of a sure-fire way by our many telegraph pole employed readers.
Question two, I suspect, stems from the treasure hunting fraternity…
‘For DP 3081 you must search, the answer then lies in marbled church’
…that sort of thing. Basically, given a DP number for a pole. How do we locate it other than randomly wandering the countryside? I hope now to be advised of a sure-fire way by our many telegraph pole employed readers.
Anyway, here’s some pretty pictures to illustrate all of the above. These were sent in by Andrew Chapman who whilst trying to age a telegraph pole, told me about an elderly pole at a crossing of wires onto Ash Island in the Thames, west London. I imagine if I were to trade my house in I could probably afford the carport of one of these houses. Or part of a carport maybe. Anyway, Andrew told me that the local squirrels use the wire-span as a bridge onto the island. The rifle sights were my addition – I have an issue with the little bleeders.
*1 If you’re the sort who is easily amazed.