Telephone Nearly 70 years ago Chelmorton gratefully received its first public telephone. The villagers, however, had very firm ideas of what they wanted. Firstly, privacy. Not for them a public telephone in the village post office where everybody could hear what they were saying. They asked for a telephone box. But the official red kiosks were far too flashy. Chelmorton wanted theirs to be in keeping with their grey limestone houses. And that is how the village came to have a unique telephone box. It was built from stone-coloured concrete blocks with a grey slate roof (at a total cost of £18). Locals also demanded a 4 inch (10cm) doorstep because it snows a lot in Chelmorton. The Post Office paid for the ‘phone to be disinfected daily and for the kiosk to be swept and the windows cleaned. Villagers at Peak Forest worked out how to use their public telephone for incoming calls. The caller rang through to the telephone box; this set off a large bell on the schoolhouse wall and whoever was passing answered the ‘phone. Everyone in the village, children included, had been taught either to take a message or fetch whoever the call was for. Read More >> More Pictures Keeping in Touch