How many people know that we have an old-fashioned police phone box here in Rye? I only really noticed it last Saturday morning as I was crossing the market from the railway station towards Cinque Ports Street. That clue should help locate it with fair accuracy. Indeed, it’s languishing out of use in the yard at the back of the police station.
How long has it been there – it may have been weeks or months? I called at the police station to find out more. First, I apologised to the person on duty for deliberately wasting police time, a chargeable offence, I believe, in English law.
What did she know about this once fairly common piece of street furniture? Not so common perhaps as the red telephone kiosks designed by Gilbert Scott, but nevertheless a symbol of authority as much as the blue lamp which hung outside every police station, as it still does in Cinque Ports Street. An enquiry has been recently received apparently for the purchase of the said article, but proper investigations would be made and more information supplied if I left my telephone number.
It is too early yet to expect a response but I would be interested to learn the provenance of this particular item of British street furniture. Originally designed by police surveyor, Gilbert Mackenzie Trench, approximately 1,000 boxes were installed in the 1920s and 1930s, but apparently only two examples were listed with English Heritage.
They achieved iconic status as the Tardis, the starting point for the Dr Who TV series of time and space travel adventures, first shown in 1963.
Photo: Kenneth Bird
This particular box is not original. Its a mock up for public relations purposes. If you look at it closely the rough sawn marks in the timber are clearly visible. I don’t know who made it or when it was last used though.
The original ones were difficult to move as I believe they were made of concrete with wooden cladding.
I have seen blue police boxes in Glasgow as ‘coppuchino ‘ bars. Maybe they were also fakes but amusing.
Perhaps it’s a prop for Dr Who – easy to believe Rye could be a feature for a trip back in time.. 🙂
Maybe it belongs to Tom Baker – ex Doctor Who, and resident of the area.
I am sure that the police box near
Carshalton Beeches station was a darker blue!
In 2015 the Police Box in Buchanan Street, Glasgow went green!
Tae mak’ up fur a’ th’ Gers boxes?