On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:32:36 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Phone is an old bakelite gadget with 3 wires that would have been hardwired
into a junction box.
Can this be connected to a more modern plug in BT socket and if so ~ how?

yes, same way as a new phone. Getting old cloth wire into an RJ45 is I
assume impossible, so a modern plug with a short stub of wire is
connected to the cloth cord.

The nicest way is to terminate the 'cloth' cord on a bakelite Blocks
Terminal screwed to the wall just as in days of yore, then have a
short 'modern' cord from there to an adjacent NTE socket.

--
Frank Erskine