2-756-218 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The Semaphore, Portsmouth', (1943). Building constructed in the early 19th century in the town of Portsmouth. It was one of a network of such towers used in an optical telegraph system. In good conditions messages could be sent from London to Portsmouth (about 75 miles) in less than eight minutes. From "English Cities and Small Towns", by John Betjeman. [Collins, London, 1943]