Telephone box register

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RJSRdg
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Telephone box register

Post by RJSRdg »

About 18 months ago, my good friend Rex passed away whilst volunteering at Wallingford station.

Rex and I had known each other for some years as we had founded the Kenavon Railway Society, initially to campaign (unsuccessfully) to have a fireless loco cosmetically restored and returned to Reading.

At Rex's funeral, I was told of another of Rex's campaigns - for the retention of public telephones. Apparently he would frequently take a bus into deepest Oxfordshire, get off when he found a phone box, check it worked, and write to BT if it didn't!

After Rex died, I wanted to take on the administration of the Kenavon Railway Society website, so I advised BT Community Webkit of his passing and asked them to pass the site over to me, which they did, along with two others of which I was unaware. One of these was for his Campaign for the Retention of Payphones (CARP). Initially I preserved these two websites in aspic in Rex's memory, and concentrated on the Kenavon site, however earlier this year BT advised me that they would be withdrawing the community webkit and the sites would need to be relocated.

I had no real desire to continue Rex's campaign about telephone boxes, partly owing to lack of time and partly because it's somewhat of a lost cause, but I wished to retain the site in some way to honour his memory. So I have transferred much of Rex's material to a new site https://standingrichard.wixsite.com/phone-box-register, which I intend to use as a photographic register of phone boxes.

Whilst I'm aware of a few phone boxes in my locality which haven't made it onto the website (which I intend to photograph and add), obviously there are a lot I'm either not aware of or are too far away for me to photograph in current circumstances. So, if you have any phone boxes in your locality (red K6 in particular, but any type will do, including TARDISes!), or come across any on your travels, please email me a photo (or share the photo to my Facebook page where I can download it) with a note of:
* Its location
* Its condition (in use, disused, in an alternative use as a defibrillator station/book exchange/artwork etc)
* A Google link to its location

Many thanks
272 stations in 18:30:32
The only person to have used a boat in a Random 15 Challenge!
A2
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Re: Telephone box register

Post by A2 »

One of the "series" of caches (if you can call them that) on geocaching.com is called "a fine pair". It celebrates locations where there is both a red phone box and a red post box within close proximity to each other. A good hobby and might reveal a few you didn't know about.

(Often just an excuse for a small magnetic cache, e.g. a film canister, to be stuck on the side of one or the other)
- Andrew
A2
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Re: Telephone box register

Post by A2 »

Also you could try emailing the address linked from https://business.bt.com/campaigns/commu ... t-a-kiosk/

Although you aren't eligible to adopt one they might be willing to provide you with a list of them and their locations if you explain why you are interested.
- Andrew
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RobbieM
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Location: Guildford

Re: Telephone box register

Post by RobbieM »

I guess you may be aware of this, but if not, have a look at this artwork in Kingston-upon-Thames: https://goo.gl/maps/97Q6DdkdyYsxtfzC7
RJSRdg
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Re: Telephone box register

Post by RJSRdg »

RobbieM wrote: 12 May 2021, 22:27 I guess you may be aware of this, but if not, have a look at this artwork in Kingston-upon-Thames: https://goo.gl/maps/97Q6DdkdyYsxtfzC7
Yes, well aware of that one. For several years I attended evening meetings of the Surrey Narrow Gauge Modellers in Surbiton, the return journey to Reading entailing catching the bus through Kingston to catch the penultimate train from Twickenham.
272 stations in 18:30:32
The only person to have used a boat in a Random 15 Challenge!
RJSRdg
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Re: Telephone box register

Post by RJSRdg »

A2 wrote: 12 May 2021, 21:25 One of the "series" of caches (if you can call them that) on geocaching.com is called "a fine pair". It celebrates locations where there is both a red phone box and a red post box within close proximity to each other. A good hobby and might reveal a few you didn't know about.

(Often just an excuse for a small magnetic cache, e.g. a film canister, to be stuck on the side of one or the other)
I've had a look on geocaching.com, but I can't find that series (or any other), unless of course it's in the Premium area.
272 stations in 18:30:32
The only person to have used a boat in a Random 15 Challenge!
A2
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Re: Telephone box register

Post by A2 »

Almost certainly premium unfortunately. Most things are nowadays.

On the other hand, its a good hobby :)
- Andrew
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RobbieM
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Re: Telephone box register

Post by RobbieM »

Here's a fine pair, a few miles from me: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC407WY
RJSRdg
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Re: Telephone box register

Post by RJSRdg »

A2 wrote: 15 May 2021, 23:29 Almost certainly premium unfortunately. Most things are nowadays.

On the other hand, its a good hobby :)
Yes, I notice there are quite a few caches near me - some of them I must have walked or run past many times during lockdown!
272 stations in 18:30:32
The only person to have used a boat in a Random 15 Challenge!
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