[Pellseinydd]

Within the London (or any other) Director area, you dialled the first three letters of the exchange name followed by the four numeric digits - effectively it was a seven digit number with the first three letters being the routing code to the required exchange. (Don't worry about how it was achieved). Hence you still dialled the first three letters to indicate it was an 'own exchange' call. To reach exchanges outside the Director area but within the local call charge area, you dialled a local code of letters/digits to reach the required exchange. The length of the local codes varied such that the total number of digits required was seven (same length as the 'Director' exchange numbers'. Outside the Director areas, you just dialled the number on your own exchange (or another exchange in a 'Linked Numbering Scheme' where the first digit/s indicate the required exchange) . For other local exchanges you would dial between one and seven digits to reach the other exchange in the local call area. With the coming of STD, the number of digits in the code for a local call was reduced. STD codes could be used for a local call and charged at the local rate as is done these days. To think it is nearly a quarter of a century since local dialling codes ended. However we still have them 'preserved' on CNet, our replica of the old GPO UK phone network as it was back in the days before the coming of 'Linked Numbering Schemes. I can reach 'Chester' numbers by dialling the old local code 91 or I can dial 0244 - makes no different except that with the STD code can't dial Chester numbers beginning with a 9 or 0 after the 0244 - just as it was in the good old days. Interesting that we now have subs numbers beginning with 9 so that rule has obviously gone!