The ten BT Telephone Exchanges (and five former) in the Colwyn Bay (01492) telephone area

Aberconwy ATE

Aberconwy ATE
Aberconwy Telephone Exchange is located in Marl Drive, Llandudno Junction LL31 9LL and serves Bryn Pydew, Deganwy, Llandudno Junction and the surrounding area.
The telephone codes for this exchange are 01492-56, 01492-57, 01492-58 and 01492-59.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 2.
ID: WNABC. Photo courtesy of David Hillas.

Colwyn Bay ATE

Colwyn Bay former ATE
Colwyn Bay Telephone Exchange is located in Princess Avenue, Colwyn Bay LL29 8HY and serves Colwyn Bay and the surrounding area.
The telephone codes for this exchange include 01492-20, 01492-52, 01492-53 and 01492-55
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 2.
ID: WNCB. Photo courtesy of John Elias.

Colwyn Bay Tandem Exchange

Colwyn Bay ATE
The Colwyn Bay Tandem Exchange is in Gregory Avenue, Colwyn Bay LL29 7NG.
This tandem exchange processes calls, routing them between different local exchanges, as well as other complex call handling.
Photo courtesy of Simon Cowper-Smith.

Conway/Conwy former ATE

Conway former ATE

The former Conwy Telephone Exchange is located in Berry Street, Conway LL32 8DG and served Conway and the surrounding area.

The building is now home to the Clwyd & Gwynedd Army Cadets.

When this exchange closed subscribers were transferred to the Aberconwy exchange.

The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 263.
Photo courtesy of Simon Cowper-Smith.

Dolgarrog ATE

Photo required
Dolgarrog Telephone Exchange is located in Gwydyr Road, Dolgarrog, Conwy LL32 8JS and serves Castell, Dolgarrog, Maenan, Port Dolgarrog, Tal-y-bont and the surrounding area.
The telephone code for this exchange is 01492-66.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 269.
ID: WNDLG. Awaiting photo.

Dolwen ATE

Photo required

Dolwen Telephone Exchange is located in Dolwen Road, Dolwen, Abergele LL22 8NP and serves Betws-yn-Rhos, Dolwen and the surrounding area.

The telephone code for this exchange is 01492-68.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 260.
ID: WNDLN. Awaiting photo.

Glan Conwy former ATE

The former Glan Conway exchange is situated in Llewelyn Avenue, Llansanffraid Glen Conwy LL28 5LU.

It was equipped with a UAX13 when it opened on 15 February 1949.

When it closed subscribers were transferred to the Aberconwy exchange.

Its dialling code was 049 268.

Photo courtesy of Google Maps.

Llandudno ATE

Llandudno ATE
Llandudno Telephone Exchange is located in Argyll Road, Llandudno LL30 1DF and serves Gogarth, Llandudno, Llanrhos and the surrounding area.
This building opened in 1957.
The telephone codes for this exchange include 01492-86 and 01492-87.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 2.
ID: WNLDD. Photo courtesy of Simon Cowper-Smith.

Llandudno former ATE

Llandudno former TE

The first automatic telephone exchange in Llandudno was installed on an upper floor of the then post office in Vaughan Street, Llandudno LL30 1AB.

Equipped by Siemens Brothers, it came into service in a linked numbering scheme with Colwyn Bay in July 1927.

ID: WNLDD. Photo (2017) courtesy of Gerald England.

Llanrwst ATE

Llanrwst ATE
Llanrwst Telephone Exchange is located in John Street, Llanrwst LL26 0DR and serves Llanrwst, Trefriw and the surrounding area.
The telephone code for this exchange is 01492-64.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 264.
ID: WNLST. Photo courtesy of Colin Kerrigan.

Old Colwyn ATE

Old Colwyn ATE
Old Colwyn Telephone Exchange is located in Albert Road, Old Colwyn, Colwyn Bay LL29 9TE and serves Llanddulas, Llysfaen, Old Colywn, Rhyd-Y-Foel and the surrounding area.
The telephone codes for this exchange are 01492-51 and 01492-80.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 2.

ID: WNOC. Photo courtesy of Simon Cowper-Smith.

Penmaenmawr ATE

Penmaenmawr ATE
Penmaenmawr Telephone Exchange is located in Bangor Road, Penmaenmawr  LL34 6LD and serves Dwygyfylchi, Penmaenmawr and the surrounding area.
The telephone code for this exchange is 01492-62.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 265.
ID: WNPEN. Photo courtesy of Simon Cowper-Smith.

Penmaenmawr former ATE

The former Penmaenmawr Telephone Exchange is located adjacent to the current exchange in Bangor Road, Penmaenmawr  LL34 6LD and served Dwygyfylchi, Penmaenmawr and the surrounding area.
It housed a UAX14 and since closing has been converted into a private dwelling.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 265.
ID: WNPEN. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.

Penrhynside former ATE

Penrhynside former ATE

The former Penrhynside ATE came into service on 14 July 1928 as a satellite exchange of Colwyn Bay and part of its linked numbering scheme.

It is believed to have closed in 1965, its lines becoming Llandudno 49*** numbers.

We don’t know its location.

Photo (1929) courtesy of BT Archives.

Rhos On Sea ATE

Rhos on Sea ATE
Rhos on Sea Telephone Exchange is located in Allanson Road, Rhos On Sea, Colwyn Bay LL28 4HN and serves Glanwydden, Mochdre, Penrhyn Bay, Rhos On Sea and the surrounding area.
‘Rhos-on-Sea’ is an ’engineering’ name – the subscribers on it took ‘Colwyn Bay’ numbers.
The telephone code for this exchange is 01492-54.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 2.

ID: WNROS. Photo courtesy of Ian Jolly.

Tynygroes ATE

Photo required
Tyn-Y-Groes Telephone Exchange is located on the B5279 in Tyn-Y-Groes, Conwy LL32 8TQ and serves Caerhun, Graig, Llangelynin, Tal-Y-Cafn, Tyn-Y-Groes and the surrounding area.
The telephone code for this exchange 01492-65.
The former dialling code for this exchange was 049 267.
ID: WNTYG. Awaiting photo.

Other former Colwyn Bay Exchanges

  • Deganwy former ExchangeThe former Deganwy exchange stood in All Saints Avenue, Deganwy, Conwy LL31 9DZ. A non-director satellite, and part of the linked numbering scheme, of Colwyn Bay exchange, it opened in February 1940 to replace a manual exchange. Its lines were taken by Aberconwy exchange in November 1986, it was sold by BT in 1991 and has since been demolished.
  • Llanddulas Former ExchangeLlanddulas exchange was a UAX13. It had the dialling code 049 266. Its location on the A55 has been lost under the North Wales Expressway.
  • Llandudno Junction Former ExchangeThe former Llandudno Junction ATE was a satellite exchange of Colwyn Bay and part of its linked numbering scheme. It opened on 14 July 1928. Its name was dropped from directories in 1965 and lines became Deganwy numbers. It closed in November 1986, its lines transferring to Aberconwy. Its location is unknown.
  • Maelgwyn former relief ExchangeThe former Maelgwyn exchange was a relief unit to Llandudno Junction exchange between 1983 and 1988
Acknowledgment:
The photographs on this page have been generously provided by Simon Cowper-Smith, Ian Jolly and other kind contributors.
I am grateful to them for allowing me to reproduce the information on this site.
If you would like to send us a picture of your local telephone exchange, via the Feedback page, we would be pleased to include it