The Telephone Museum, Milton Keynes - 3

Immediately on entering visitors were struck by the sheer amount of stuff they've managed to cram in to display case and shelves.

The cabinet in the centre housed a collection of switching equipment. Against the far wall were telephones and bells.

You can see more clearly here the cabin containing a variety of novelty telephones and the shelf holding telephones connected to various switchboards.

One corner was devoted entirely to switchboards.

The small Strowger exchange was connected to many of the phones around the room.

A Buzby mug, a telephone call timer. A toy telephone in front of a blue Jubilee model and a lineman's test meter.

There were some quite unusual instruments, such as this Ericofon from Ericsson.

This wall telephone in a varnished wooden case, Telephone No 221, is a slightly later version of the 121 using a handset instead of a fixed transmitter and Bell receiver.

A delight of Milton Keynes is that much of the equipment is hands-on. Here a young visitor wondered what a dial is.

And the band of dedicated volunteers were always willing to demonstrate things.

It wasn't all Strowger equipment. A crossbar switch could be seen on a high shelf.