Last month I wrote an article painting the town red which talked about the future of the two redundant red phone boxes in town, one on at the foot of Mermaid Street, the other at the foot of Conduit Hill.
Thankfully, Rye Town Council have secured a rosy future for these two iconic landmarks, but both needed considerable restoration to bring them up to scratch. That task has been undertaken by senior assistant town steward, Steve Lipross (pictured) who has painstakingly repainted the phone box on Mermaid Street and brought it back to life in its bright red livery.
I bumped into Steve last week as I came along Conduit Hill and, never being one to miss the opportunity of a possible story for Rye News, had a chat with him to see what reaction he has had.
Steve has become somewhat of a celebrity as his recent exposure in the press has prompted visiting tourists to pose with him and his handiwork as they add him to their selfie collection. Others have read about or seen the Rye News article via social media and have made the effort to meet and congratulate him on all his hard work.
If you have never spoken to Steve then look out for him on Conduit Hill; he’s doing a fantastic job of meticulously painting these two phone boxes so that all of us can enjoy them for years to come. He’s passionate about doing a great job and is enjoying the challenge. So if you see him, do say hello. You won’t get the brush off and when the makeover is finished, he’ll be bristling with excitement.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
Just short of a 100 individual panels to paint, by my reckoning. That’s a lot of ‘cutting in’. Well done, Steve!