Comments on: The Inescapable Melancholy Of Phone Boxes https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Sat, 04 May 2024 13:31:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Liz Aitken https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1570507 Sat, 04 May 2024 13:31:00 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1570507 These poor abandoned phone boxes break my heart. They were so vital to our lives.

Where I live – The Bow Quarter – there is a box which the developers converting the buildings from factory (Bryant & May) to flats bought at auction and installed in the grounds. Due to no calls being made from it any more, BT eventually removed the equipment and so it was standing idle – but not for long…

My neighbour and I arranged to have some shelves put in and it is now a popular book swap, enjoyed by many residents. It is a vital part of our community – and we are proud of it.

]]> By: Brendan Kavanagh https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1567975 Sun, 21 Apr 2024 21:37:19 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1567975 I too have been photographing and logging the locations a types as I walk around London.
Not for any specific reason, you understand but as a personal record of things from my past that are, sadly, disappearing.
Indeed, we should all celebrate the mundane as, sooner than you might expect, it will no longer be there.

]]> By: Peter Holford https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1567257 Thu, 18 Apr 2024 19:10:50 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1567257 …and then there are those that are used to house defibrillators. Well, here in the South Pennines anyway.

]]> By: Cherub https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1566981 Wed, 17 Apr 2024 09:09:03 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1566981 On one of the tramlines from Basel city out to the suburbs I pass a house that has a red telephone box in the garden. I often wonder if the house is owned by a British ex-pat.

]]> By: Christine Swan https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1566830 Tue, 16 Apr 2024 16:11:19 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1566830 It is a shame as they are so iconic. I often see tourists taking photographs of one another standing in front of a red telephone box. I like the idea of them becoming mini-libraries but why not tourist offices too. Picking up the phone could play a recording of information about the location. There could be tourist leaflets of local attractions. I appreciate that this may leave them open to vandalism but surely we should try?

]]> By: Bill https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1566828 Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:59:48 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1566828 “Phone boxes today don’t even have the business cards of sex workers anymore.”

Well, I wasn’t going to say anything, but then I saw the above, sooo…

I spent January 2001 in London. A very nice visit. I was surprised to see the interiors of the charming telephone booths plastered with said business cards. Fully a third of these workers identified as trans. So surprising, I thought.

This ratio struck me as consistent, from booth to booth. And, no, I wasn’t conducting a running analysis. And, no…

]]> By: Cherub https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1566777 Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:58:52 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1566777 There is something iconic about red phone boxes. When I lived in London I used to be fascinated by the business cards of the “working girls” who advertised in them.

Many of the phone boxes around Basel have been shelved out as book exchanges. There were 2 at a city centre tram stop which were known as meeting places for couples going on dates, as they were no longer in use they moved them to a museum as locals didn’t want to lose the memories.

]]> By: Sue https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1566650 Mon, 15 Apr 2024 22:06:27 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1566650 As children we would always race into one and press the button to see if any money had been left in the machine.
The two in our village on Exmoor are used for poetry and photographs now. There is still a working one down at the harbour as the mobile signal is so poor. I think you have to use a card though.
Thanks for the memories.

]]> By: Christine https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1566601 Mon, 15 Apr 2024 18:10:12 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1566601 They were part of growing up! I used to call 160 for Dial a disc and cost 6d, then when I met Mark I would call him at the red telephone box in his street from the red telephone box in my street at 7pm on a Tuesday and Thursday! x

]]> By: Janet M https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/04/15/the-inescapable-melancholy-of-phone-boxes-i/#comment-1566598 Mon, 15 Apr 2024 17:56:40 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=199452#comment-1566598 When l was in London I saw two phone boxes that had been repurposed as art installations. One at St. Pancras was a vintage WWII phone box and one by the British Museum had stuffed squirrels. Phone boxes today don’t even have the business cards of sex workers anymore.

]]>