The East Anglian Film Archive, the first and largest Regional Film Archive in England, was established in 1976. Since 1984, EAFA has been owned and operated by the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UEA), to support research and work to preserve our moving image heritage. More than 250 hours are freely available online as examples of the wide range of film which attracts interest the world over.
This film is part of Free

Braintree Goes Automatic
The £1m automatic system replaces the manual telephone exchanges. It takes Braintree into the 21st century whilst meeting increased demand.
From the collection of:

Overview
The system goes live on 12th June 1975 and is heralded as a ‘technological space age’ development. The system started in 1899 with only 9 subscribers and demand has steadily increased. In 1975 there are 7000 users. This is the last manual telephone exchange in East Anglia. Planning for systems generally takes 14 years but Braintree’s has only taken nine years to complete. 4000 customers’ phones were tested prior to the changeover. The new system will be modern and fault free.
The film starts with a bird’s eye view of Braintree and the market place. There are scenes of the telephone exchanges including large numbers of female operators. The film shows the transition from the old system to the new system and there is an explanation of how the service has evolved including the introduction of mobile exchanges and a shot of the Three Rivers exchange. The film explains how the modern system will replace these developments. There are shots of male engineers working on the exchanges. Home and office telephones and coin boxes are checked. Behind the scenes work is shown including ‘an army of engineers’ checking the miles of underground cables and moving cables and poles where necessary.
Related

The Silk Weaver - Bygones Encore The Silk Weaver - Bygones Encore
Factual TV 1982 6 mins Location: Braintree
A rare glimpse inside the Essex silk factory that produces luxurious home furnishings for the monarchs of the world.

Braintree Celebrates 750th Anniversary of Charter Braintree Celebrates 750th Anniversary of Charter
Home movie 1949 3 mins Silent Location: Braintree
A magnificent parade of decorative floats through Braintree town centre, for the anniversary celebrations of the Charter granting by 'England's worst King'.

New Perspectives: Fish Tank New Perspectives: Fish Tank
Short documentary 2025 4 mins
Adam Smith of Northumbria University explains why Andrea Arnold's coming-of-age story, about a girl who uses dance to escape, is his favourite film on BFI Player.

New Perspectives: Pusher New Perspectives: Pusher
Short documentary 2025 5 mins
Noah Ball of Northumbria University explains why you should seize the chance to watch Nicolas Winding Refn's debut.

Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan on working with David Lynch - Q&A Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan on working with David Lynch - Q&A
Inside Film 2025 38 mins
Kyle MacLachlan talks to BFI CEO Ben Roberts about working with David Lynch on the legendary series Twin Peaks.

On Falling - Exclusive Q&A On Falling - Exclusive Q&A
Inside Film 2025 30 mins
Writer-director Laura Carreira talks to Nia Childs about her debut feature, On Falling.

Layla - Exclusive Q&A Layla - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2025 27 mins
Writer, director and performer Amrou Al-Kadhi talks to Rico Johnson-Sinclair about their debut feature.

All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2025 28 mins
Payal Kapadia discusses her Cannes prize-winning and Bafta-nominated drama with Ashanti Omkar.