Domestic phones

[CURIOSITY]

Thank you immensely for prompt replies plugwash,jwilliams,spark123,securespark,lectrician and rockdg.
BT now accepts that there is a fault in their line to my house. It appears that one of the two wires had just about broken and has been hanging on the insulation part, at the telegraph pole end.
The intermittent functioning of the phone may have been due to wind action touching the broken wire-ends from time to time. BT confirms that broadband works only on one wire, that was not broken. All 4 phones are working as before.God bless all of you for your kind suggestions

 

[Lectrician]

Broadband works on both sides of the pair in the cable - a small break usually goes un-noticed as DSL works at a high frquency - which can jump across breaks similar to radio waves.

Glad your working again!

 

[jwilliams]

Glad it's working