Two Red Telephone Boxes

Two red telephone boxes, both on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh. One a police box and the other a BT telephone box. Both stood out brightly on this grey March morning.

Police boxes are found in many cities in Britain and were used by the police force as a mini police station. Equipped with a telephone they enabled them to contact the local police station.

They were introduced into Britain in the 1920s. The Edinburgh boxes were installed between 1931 and 1933 and designed by the City Architect, Ebenezer J Macrae. They were made of cast iron by the Carron Foundry in Stirlingshire and each one is reported to weigh around 2 tonnes!

Modern tele-communications mean the boxes are no longer required and many have been sold off. Edinburgh is fortunate that many of the sold boxes have remained in place and been converted for other uses. One requirement of sale is that the boxes must be painted a colour other than their traditional police blue.

The box in this picture sold in 2012 for £51, 000 and is to be used for the sale of cashmere to tourists. Another further down the Royal Mile sold for £102, 000 and is to be used as a ticket box!

The red telephone kiosk was introduced to Britain also in the 1920s. The box here is one of the more popular types - dating from 1935. It was designed to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V. It was the first red telephone kiosk to be extensively used outside London and met with considerable demands for it to be painted a less obtrusive colour!

Walk In Her Shoes - Day 1 - 10, 000 steps!