8 February - A BlasT from the PasT
All the local blogs,
Murky,
Maggoty and
Greenwich Wire have evolved their own
unique styles as has Bonkers but BiB is I think the only one that is built on
hand crafted code; which can be both a pain and a pleasure. It also relies much
more heavily on references back to ancient history which sometimes prove very
hard to find among well over 7,000 blogs. While making such a search a few days ago I stumbled across
a blog covering something I had long ago forgotten and it served to illustrate
just how big a loss Teresa Pearce was to Erith and Thamesmead when she decided
to step down from Parliament in 2019 thus disproving the old adage that all
political careers end in failure.
It was a
technically complicated story so maybe I should try a simplified version here.
I became aware that my BT landline (8310 on the Thamesmead exchange) had an
intermittent fault and began to take note of the source of the affected calls.
My conclusion was that it affected only certain exchanges and only at busy
times, which provided me with enough clues as to what might be happening.
It probably couldn’t be done now but I managed to interest a BT engineer in Brighton who
took my conclusions seriously and my hunch proved to be correct. When BT’s
system was busy, calls from much of the South of England would use an overflow
route which involved a direct Portsmouth to Thamesmead link. Someone in
Thamesmead had set up the Portsmouth incoming switches incorrectly which
reversed the effect of the 141 WITHHELD toggle. Hence no number display at peak times.
The problem went away for a long time and then it returned. BT said it was a
known fault and asked me to be patient. Six months later BT called to say
they had fixed the fault but I saw no sign that they had. When I tried to tell BT they
dismissed my concerns on the grounds that my 1960s telephone training counted
for nothing now. True, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t see an obvious fault.
I checked my little used 8311 number and it was the same as the 8310 and then came the
thought that the whole of Thamesmead probably had the same problem. I told my MP about it.
Teresa is a bright lady and saw the call pattern straight away and on behalf of all
her Thamesmead constituents she wrote to BT’s Chairman. A
week later I received a call from his secretary to tell me I was talking rot and my
friends and family must have banded together to drive me mad by randomly prefixing
their calls with 141. I kid you not. The very rude lady told me that the
Chairman was not interested in my problem and there would be no further contact.
Undefeated, Teresa went to OFCOM to complain and they insisted that BT check things out.
Eventually a contrite BT Secretary returned with an apology. They had found the
problem. Something to do with a new type of fibre equipment being installed at
the smaller exchanges being incompatible with CLID in London exchanges.
A good MP works unsung behind the scenes without expecting praise for the
benefit of all constituents. A poor one is mainly interested in photo
opportunities and their own supporters. I am not aware that my current MP has ever done anything worthwhile.
Note: BlasT (BT). PasT (Pearce Teresa). Sorry, the best punning
headline I could think of.