Woodcroft derelict

The Woodcroft Telephone Exchange is an important example of public architecture of the late 1950s.
This building was controversial at the time it was built, as it replaced a mid-19th century villa known as Woodcroft House. However, the location was crucial as it lay near the trunk telephone cables. The exchange serviced the south east of Scotland and was built during the great expansion of the Scottish communication network in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

During the reorganisation of the phone network, a number of Director Centres were identified firstly to determine charging, and secondly to act as nodes to switch messages on their journey. Compared to the other Director Centres, Edinburgh was really too small to justify, but it was neater to include it, and after all it was the capital city.

Although it would handle several exchange areas, Woodcroft was located in the MOR area - now 447. The move from using letters to using digits is one that I remember well. In fact, before Subscriber Trunk Dialing, there were already digits in place for local areas and national areas. They were used by GPO Operators, but not issued to the general public. When I was a student I worked for six years in a large hospital where one of my duties was relieving the switchboard operators for breaks. Many of these women were GPO trained, so I got to know those digital numbers two or three years before they were released for use in public.

Woodcroft has for many years now been the subject of plans to build townhouses and flats - more than 90 in all. The economic recession has been the main reason for nothing happening to date.