Telephone exchange a valued relic

When subzero temperatures meant lighting orchard frost pots in the middle of the Central Otago night, it was a communication tool that practically ran the frost-fighting operation.

Teviot District Museum committee member Robin Christie said it was the telephone exchange that ‘‘virtually controlled’’ the frost fighting when old oil and diesel-burning frost pots were used.

‘‘One person would go out to frost fight and then they’d ring the operator and the operator would ring everyone else in the valley and let them know the frost was coming.’’

The old Roxburgh telephone exchange — on which there were about 150 numbers used by the operator — was now a cherished part of the Teviot District Museum collection, both for its communication and orcharding history, Mr Christie said.

The Roxburgh museum collection also includes the first telephone used in the district, made by the Bell telephone company in the 1880s.