On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:10:22 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

In message
"David Biddulph" groups [at] biddulph.org.uk wrote:

"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...
In message

Mizter T wrote:

On 16 Nov, 10:06, G wrote:
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:21:06 +0000, James Farrar

wrote:
One of the mobile companies -- Vodafone, I think -- that displays the
area the mobile is in on some handsets' screens displays 0207 / 0208,
too.

I put that down to the silly numbering conventions:

Large cities (e.g. Birmingham) = 4 digits (0121)
Provincial towns = 5 digits (e.g. 01772)
'02' numbers (e.g. London, NI, Cardiff) = 3 digits

02 numbers actually come out at 5 digits eg Southampton 02380, Portsmouth
02392

But they don't.

If a caller on 023 9257 1234 wants to call 023 9257 2345, they *can't* dial
57 2345, but they *can* dial 9257 2345. Similarly if they want to call 023
8065 4321, they can dial 8065 4321. There are *not* area codes of 02380
and 02392; there is an area code of 023.

Tell that to BT, they insist they are seperate codes, see your phone book for
details. I suspect it is to do with the well known antipathy between the two
ports, neither side will admit they share an area code with the other.

The two places are in different charging groups aren't they ? Issuing
different STD codes to places which are in different charging groups
but the same numbering scheme is nothing new; it makes things slightly
less confusing than IIRC the arrangement in 0191-land where calling
from the surrounding area to an adjacent 0191- exchange is a local
call but calling to the far side is a national call.

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:18:11 +0000, Tom Anderson
wrote:

Unless your number is something like 0787 877 8787 (and a prize to the
first person to spot the allusion!)

Live And Kicking!

Indeed!

Going Live! used 081 811 8181 from the 071/081 split (previously it
had used 01 811 8055, inherited from Saturday Superstore (and, I
believe, from Multi-Coloured Swap Shop before it, although that was
before my time). 081 811 8181 then passed to L&K, becoming 0181 811
8181 on PhONE Day.

[Mostly from memory; how sad am I? ]

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Mizter T wrote:

On 16 Nov, 19:04, "Mortimer" wrote:
"James Farrar" wrote in message

Unless your number is something like 0787 877 8787 (and a prize to the
first person to spot the allusion!)

Hmmm. I don't the allusion. Am I going to kick myself when someone explains
it? Is it a number that makes a word on a calculator display if you turn it
upside down - like 0553 or 77345.

You might (Live and) Kick(iing) yourself, but the number has a more
archaic roots than that. See my other (winning?) post.

My timestamp:

Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:18:11 +0000

Your timestamp:

Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:10:19 -0800 (PST)

I think yours works out to 20:10:19 God's own Mean Time. Provided that
these times are meaningful and trustworthy, i'm afraid YAR BOO SUCKS TO
YOU.

tom

--
Throw bricks at lawyers if you can!

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Mortimer wrote:

"Soruk" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:40:43 -0000, Mortimer wrote:
"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Mortimer wrote:

At least in the UK we don't use the absurd convention of saying the
pairs as if they were tens and units: thirty-eight, twenty-four,
thirty-six.

I do, but only because my number is like that - it looks a bit like
272829, which reads nicely as twenty-seven, twenty-eight,
twenty-nine.

I've obviously been over-indoctrinated by the 3-digit police, because
I didn't spot the pattern - I'd have said it as two-seven-two,
eight-two-nine. But now you point it out to me, I can see the
grouping, though I'd still say two-seven, two-eight, two-nine.

My mobile number fits the pattern of 823636 (different numbers
though!). I tend to read it out as eight-two, three-six-three-six.

The other oddity is when a number has been extended by having additional
digits added to the beginning. My parents' number was originally four
digits and then had a 61 added to the beginning. Thirty years later,
they still say 61 1234 [fictitious number] rather than 611 234, breaking
the number with a definite pause between the new prefix and the original
number! Likewise my grandpa's number had a 2 added at the time of
Phoneday when the code for Leeds changed, he always answered it as
"Leeds 2 [pause] 123 456".

Sounds like a football score! Although where you'd find a team called
12345, i don't know.

My mum used to say "Wivenhoe 1234" for years after we got regularised into
the Colchester dialling code.

tom

--
Throw bricks at lawyers if you can!

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007, James Farrar wrote:

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:18:11 +0000, Tom Anderson
wrote:

Unless your number is something like 0787 877 8787 (and a prize to the
first person to spot the allusion!)

Live And Kicking!

Indeed!

Going Live! used 081 811 8181 from the 071/081 split (previously it
had used 01 811 8055, inherited from Saturday Superstore (and, I
believe, from Multi-Coloured Swap Shop before it, although that was
before my time). 081 811 8181 then passed to L&K, becoming 0181 811
8181 on PhONE Day.

[Mostly from memory; how sad am I? ]

Never mind that; for census purposes, do you consider yourself a dialling
code loony or a children's television loony?

tom

--
Throw bricks at lawyers if you can!

"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...
In message
"David Biddulph" groups [at] biddulph.org.uk wrote:

"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...
In message

Mizter T wrote:

On 16 Nov, 10:06, G wrote:
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:21:06 +0000, James Farrar

wrote:
One of the mobile companies -- Vodafone, I think -- that displays
the
area the mobile is in on some handsets' screens displays 0207 /
0208,
too.

I put that down to the silly numbering conventions:

Large cities (e.g. Birmingham) = 4 digits (0121)
Provincial towns = 5 digits (e.g. 01772)
'02' numbers (e.g. London, NI, Cardiff) = 3 digits

02 numbers actually come out at 5 digits eg Southampton 02380,
Portsmouth
02392

But they don't.

If a caller on 023 9257 1234 wants to call 023 9257 2345, they *can't*
dial
57 2345, but they *can* dial 9257 2345. Similarly if they want to call
023
8065 4321, they can dial 8065 4321. There are *not* area codes of 02380
and 02392; there is an area code of 023.

Tell that to BT, they insist they are seperate codes, see your phone book
for
details. I suspect it is to do with the well known antipathy between the
two
ports, neither side will admit they share an area code with the other.

I've checked my phone book, and both Portsmouth and Southampton (and numbers
in the area) are shown as 023.
--
David Biddulph

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:39:57 +0000, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Mortimer wrote:

"Soruk" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:40:43 -0000, Mortimer wrote:
"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Mortimer wrote:

At least in the UK we don't use the absurd convention of saying the
pairs as if they were tens and units: thirty-eight, twenty-four,
thirty-six.

I do, but only because my number is like that - it looks a bit like
272829, which reads nicely as twenty-seven, twenty-eight,
twenty-nine.

I've obviously been over-indoctrinated by the 3-digit police, because
I didn't spot the pattern - I'd have said it as two-seven-two,
eight-two-nine. But now you point it out to me, I can see the
grouping, though I'd still say two-seven, two-eight, two-nine.

My mobile number fits the pattern of 823636 (different numbers
though!). I tend to read it out as eight-two, three-six-three-six.

The other oddity is when a number has been extended by having additional
digits added to the beginning. My parents' number was originally four
digits and then had a 61 added to the beginning. Thirty years later,
they still say 61 1234 [fictitious number] rather than 611 234, breaking
the number with a definite pause between the new prefix and the original
number! Likewise my grandpa's number had a 2 added at the time of
Phoneday when the code for Leeds changed, he always answered it as
"Leeds 2 [pause] 123 456".

Sounds like a football score! Although where you'd find a team called
12345, i don't know.

Wolves 8
A cheese roll and had a cup of tea 2.

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:28:46 -0000, "Mortimer" wrote:

How did we stray off the subject of LU ventilation shafts? ;-)

I think that was my fault

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 01:31:16 +0000, James Farrar
wrote:

Going Live! used 081 811 8181 from the 071/081 split (previously it
had used 01 811 8055, inherited from Saturday Superstore (and, I
believe, from Multi-Coloured Swap Shop before it, although that was
before my time). 081 811 8181 then passed to L&K, becoming 0181 811
8181 on PhONE Day.

Very fortunate for the BBC that the new London code that applied to
them was 0(1)81...

I assume it's 09something expensive these days...

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:49:58 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

Actually they all end up as XXX XXXX XXXX if you work it out.

Though the dialling code on a mobile is essentially redundant, other
than that all mobile numbers start 07, as it's not as if you can dial
a shortened number from one.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.