The ability to communicate effectively, irrespective of distance and the barriers of time and volume, is one of the most significant and unique examples of human endeavour. Connected Earth tells the story of this ongoing quest to communicate better - from the first, simple messages to today's sophisticated global communications, and beyond into the potentially unlimited progress of the future.

Founded by BT, Connected Earth is operated by the Connected Earth Partners - BT and the museums who have taken custody of the Connected Earth collections. Click here for a map showing the Connected Earth Partner Museum locations

Distributed throughout the various partners are a number of communication icons and fascinating objects, including the famous red phone box:

Development of the telephone

From its first common incarnation as a separate receiver and mouthpiece to today’s mobile phones, the telephone design has passed through myriad changes. Connected Earth comprehensively charts this development from the weird to the wonderful and the kitsch to the tasteful. The Connected Earth Gallery at Amberley Working Museum has a comprehensive display of telephones throughout the ages.

By the late 1930s the telephone had become essential for both business and social use. The 300 series included a bell within its case and came in a range of colours ©The Connected Earth Gallery	The Candlestick Telephone had a fixed mouthpiece, but a mobile earpiece to prevent the voice cutting out when the mouthpiece was moved. A separate bell unit was mounted on the wall ©The Connected Earth Gallery
As the GPO only made phones available for rent, a range of covers were sold so they could be personalised without altering the original rented unit ©The Connected Earth Gallery	The Trimphone, introduced in 1966, was the first luxury telephone. This limited-edition model was mainly used at exhibitions ©The Connected Earth Gallery

Speaking Clock

The Speaking Clock was the first of the pre-recorded information services provided through telephones. The first speaking clock equipment, which was constructed at the Post Office Engineering Research station at Dollis Hill, London, after more than two years of research, was accurate to one-tenth of a second and gave continuous announcements changing every ten seconds.

The Science Museum

At the Science Museum there's a prototype Mark 2 speaking clock that was on show and in working order from 1957 to 2001, when it was placed in the Science Museum storage facility in Swindon. It is still accessible by special arrangement.

BT Archives hold a large number of historic documents pertaining to the speaking clock that are available to the public on appointment in the BT Archives Public Searchroom.

Transatlantic Telephone Cable (TAT1)

At 4pm on September 25, 1956, from London, the Postmaster General called the chairman of AT&T from New York, followed by a call to the Canadian Minister of Transport. This groundbreaking conversation was the first-ever transatlantic telephone call, and was hailed as a major breakthrough in telecoms development. The project took three years to complete - at a cost of £12.5 million - during which time the system had to be planned, manufactured and installed, requiring the development of new machinery techniques for placing the cable in deep waters.

Porthcurno Telegraph Museum tells the story of British international telegraph cable communications from the 1850s to the 1950s. As well as illustrating the story of submarine cables, it shows how the Victorian Internet was created and how Britain's international links were protected during the second world war.

The Communicate! Gallery within be found within the National Museums of Scotland’s flagship museum in Edinburgh tells the story of human communication and has a number of objects relating to the transatlantic telephone cable.