As a source of household power, electricity did not arrive in the town until 1931, but for cooking and lighting the convenience of gas had been first introduced in 1843, from a works on a site that would later become 61 and 63 High Street. In fact it was due to the introduction of the railways that coal, from which the gas was made, could be readily brought to the local area, and in the Bell Hotel would be displayed a map which detailed the course of the original London to Birmingham line. As for a nautical association, having been felled at Whaddon Chase large oaks, to be used in the construction of naval ships, would be piled up at Winslow station awaiting collection. By the invention of the telegraph came a revolution in long distance communications, and in connection with their line from London to Liverpool, in April 1853 The European and Submarine Telegraph Co. laid their wires in the town, enclosed in gutta percha and encased in narrow boxes about 12 feet long. The work was carried out under the management of the contractors, Messrs. Trend and Hammill, and by using just pickaxes and shovels the hundreds of men employed could install about two miles a day.