Any list of British icons will invariably include the policeman, the black taxi, a guardsman in ceremonial uniform, Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, Stonehenge, a red double-decker bus and a red telephone box. Following the rise of the mobile phone (cell phone) the phone box has become a much less common sight on our streets. In fact, following the privatisation of the phone service, British Telecom made a concerted effort to get rid of these unprofitable public telephone boxes. This included selling them for a nominal price (with the phone removed) to any local councils who wanted to keep one. Many did so, rightly seeing them as heritage assets. Often they were re-purposed as, for example, free lending libraries, locations for public notices or sites for community defibrillators. They were regularly painted in "post office red" and became a valuable and attractive resource. But, some councils, after an initial burst of enthusiasm, let them languish, their bright red turning a drab pink and the site of vandalism and graffiti. The example above, a K6, appears to have suffered this fate.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2
