The History of Wire Cable - Part 1 

Every day we use hundreds of different products for all sorts of purposes, and give no thought to where they came from and how they were developed. Wire cable is no exception. Our modern communication systems would collapse in an instant without it, and yet we take it for granted, and, unless we are in the wire cable industry, know absolutely nothing about its history. 

There is a perception that companies like CLP either developed the technology themselves, or improved on what was already there. However, most people would be surprised to know that the beginnings of wire cable took place as far back as the 18th century, and while still experimental and not widely available, scientists of the day were using it to transmit signals across varying distances. 

So what were the defining moments in the history of wire cable? The following is a brief summary of the most notable: 

·      1795 (Don Francisco Salva) - first recorded account of the use of paper as an insulating material - Salva wrapped each wire in paper, coated it with pitch, tied them all together then wrapped the whole cable in more paper to prevent the lateral escape of electricity. The result was the laying of a 26-mile long telegraph cable between Madrid and Aranjuez which actually transmitted signals.

·      1809 (S.T. Von Sommering) - managed to transmit messages through a 1000ft length of multi-core cable made by coating each copper wire with gum lac, covering with silk thread, then bunching the wires together and again coating with gum lac. This system was used to eventually transmit messages up to 10,000 ft between transmitter and receiver.

·      1832 (Baron Von Schilling’s electromagnetic telegraph) - toured the Far East and the Continent for several years from 1832 using a model of the telegraph to demonstrate its capabilities. In 1836 the Russian Emperor Nicholas, who understood the practical application of the telegraph, commissioned a line between St Petersberg and Peterhoff. It was part submarine cable laid along the bottom of a canal and part above ground with the wires suspended from posts. It was so successful that the Russians planned to lay the first submarine cable along the Gulf of Finland, but Von Schilling died in 1837, and with his death, Russia missed the honour of having the first practical telegraph and submarine line.

·      1837 (Cooke and Wheatstone) - received the first patent for the development of insulated wires and cables - demonstrated the system by burying the wire cable in a trench two miles long. The copper wires were laid in long wooden baulks painted with a preservative tar compound and buried in the trench, which was then filled with pitch. Wheatstone, stationed at Euston, sent a message to Cooke at Camden Town, and was ecstatic when he received an immediate reply.

This was the Age of Invention, and many more exciting developments followed. The work of these tenacious and dedicated engineers and scientists laid the groundwork for the wire cable we use today, and for the success of companies like CLP who help us apply the benefits of the technology, unheralded and mostly unappreciated.