Memories of the 1974 telephone exchange blast from a man who was there.
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00:00 50 years ago, Sunderland was rocked by an explosion in a telephone exchange.
00:08 Sunderland Antiquarian Society historians Philip Curtis and Ron Lawson, who was on the
00:13 scene shortly after the blast, have taken a look back.
00:18 The Bishop Wearmouth telephone exchange, which stood just across the road from the Barnes
00:23 Roundabout, was completely destroyed in the explosion in 1974.
00:29 A spark had ignited gas which had filled the building, and the blast could be heard across
00:34 the town.
00:36 Nearby properties were damaged and thankfully no lives were lost.
00:41 First on the scene in 1974 was Ron Lawson, now 90, who was working in the exchange's
00:48 construction department at the time.
00:51 For the next six weeks, Ron worked 13 hours a day, with lots of overtime, to transfer
00:57 the whole operation to the East Herrington Phone Exchange.
01:03 Philip's article about the explosion is included in the latest newsletter from Sunderland Antiquarian
01:08 Society.
01:10 If you have memories of that day, email chris.courtner@nationalworld.com
01:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]