Post your Post Boxes! (Photos and fun facts)

[StoneRoad]

If it is a typical length of time, then please wikl Royal Mail take over my Borough Council? Our cul-de-sac of twelve houses has waited nine years (and counting) for our lunar landcape of a road to be fixed...

Is the road actually "adopted" ?
- if not, it is unlikely that a council strapped for £££ will take on a road that already needs maintenance. Usually, the builder is supposed to present a finished road for adoption.
Otherwise the residents may need to get the work done & pay for it themselves --- [been there]

 

[Sun Chariot]

Is the road actually "adopted" ?
- if not, it is unlikely that a council strapped for £££ will take on a road that already needs maintenance. Usually, the builder is supposed to present a finished road for adoption.
Otherwise the residents may need to get the work done & pay for it themselves --- [been there]

It's a former medieval road, adopted pre war by the borough council of the time. The road stub.is for just 12 houses but, centuries ago, connected our village with the next.

They send parking-ticket officers and bin lorries here weekly; they confirmed it's council owned, as part of their approving a new utility tunnel under the road.

 

[StoneRoad]

It's a former medieval road, adopted pre war by the borough council of the time. The road stub.is for just 12 houses but, centuries ago, connected our village with the next.

They send parking-ticket officers and bin lorries here weekly; they confirmed it's council owned, as part of their approving a new utility tunnel under the road.

Start working on the local councillor ?

They sometimes actually have clout with the relevant highways dept, or access to extra / discretionary funding.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Start working on the local councillor ?

They sometimes actually have clout with the relevant highways dept, or access to extra / discretionary funding.

Believe me, we've had them out twice and I ambushed them at a consultation evening. All i got, was their "public sector puff" and excuses about bankrupt Borough Council.

 

[BrianW]

Has this Edward VIII one featured- by Wetherspoons in Ramsgate?

 

[WesternLancer]

Believe me, we've had them out twice and I ambushed them at a consultation evening. All i got, was their "public sector puff" and excuses about bankrupt Borough Council.

If it's adopted Highway it's not usually the Borough Council - it's the local highway authority - usually the upper tier (county) or a unitary authority (which maybe still calls itself a borough perhaps). Suspect you knew all this tho....
Same excuses for not doing the repair work might well be trotted out however.

I suspect that if we are talking about a cul de sac then the traffic speed is hopefully pretty low, so the priority resurfacing or repairing it will be given when it comes to spend will be accordingly lower as the risks to users and vehicles is lower.

Of course if it's a marginal ward things might be different.....

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Sep 2026 ==

Has this Edward VIII one featured- by Wetherspoons in Ramsgate?

I don't think it has - very nice to see!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Oh great spot @BrianW - Edward VIII boxes are rare and the Type A EVIII are the rarer of the two pillar box styles. It looks in good state, too. Many thanks for sharing.

 

[StoneRoad]

Has this Edward VIII one featured- by Wetherspoons in Ramsgate?

ohhh, nice !

 

[weepingwillowb]

Two more boxes I came across during my walk along Main Road, Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire. A GR wall box is on the front wall of a Grade II listed building that dates back to 1849, when it was a girls' industrial school; it later became a mixed school and closed in 1981. Now in residential use.
The ERII pillar box is outside the village post office, and the small annexe to the right of the post office is La'l Record Shop, which is the smallest music shop I've ever been in.

 

[WesternLancer]

Two more boxes I came across during my walk along Main Road, Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire. A GR wall box is on the front wall of a Grade II listed building that dates back to 1849, when it was a girls' industrial school; it later became a mixed school and closed in 1981. Now in residential use.
The ERII pillar box is outside the village post office, and the small annexe to the right of the post office is La'l Record Shop, which is the smallest music shop I've ever been in.

Both set into interesting buildings there.

 

[chipbury]

Maybe not a rare post box, but it’s next to a working coin operated telephone which probably makes the combination unusual nowadays!

 

[WesternLancer]

Maybe not a rare post box, but it’s next to a working coin operated telephone which probably makes the combination unusual nowadays!

Interesting post box anyway.
And a phone box that says it still does texts and e mails.
So quite a communication hub!

I have in the past actually sent text messages to people with mobile phones from these types of pay phones. I think it was is 10p or20p per text which is much cheaper than calling a mobile phone from a pay phone and adequate if you just want to convey a one way message. Or get the person to ring you back in the call box.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Those aluminium, three-sided or four-sided, phone boxes seem few and far between now. In my locality, two of the remaining three were removed 3 years ago - one of them proclaimed BT Phonecard across the top of one side, still!

 

[WesternLancer]

Those aluminium, three-sided or four-sided, phone boxes seem few and far between now. In my locality, two of the remaining three were removed 3 years ago - one of them proclaimed BT Phonecard across the top of one side, still!

good spot I didn't notice that picture was one of the 'triangular ones'

A quick search suggests this is called a KX300 type as shown here - v detailed site with a lot of info

TELEPHONE KIOSKS - KX TYPES

TELEPHONE KIOSKS - KX TYPES

www.britishtelephones.com

There's one at the parade of shops I often go to so take it for granted - but now I think about it they are quite unusual.

Different to the KX100 'square' ones, many (most?) of which seem to have had their doors removed when they previously had them. Presumably to reduce repairs required.

 

[chipbury]

I forgot to say the phone box/post box combo is in Trowbridge on Dursley Road.

 

[weepingwillowb]

A walk out to Farleton, near Junction 36, M6, to photograph a VR wall box this morning.

 

[Sun Chariot]

What a wonderful find B! Was that house once a farmhouse or associated cottage, @weepingwillowb ? It appears to have had a more modern makeover; and I wonder if the renovation was conditional on the wall box being retained by Royal Mail. Were the cows optional, I wonder!

The Victoria wall box design looks very similar to the thread's very first example!

 

[weepingwillowb]

What a wonderful find B! Was that house once a farmhouse or associated cottage, @weepingwillowb ? It appears to have had a more modern makeover; and I wonder if the renovation was conditional on the wall box being retained by Royal Mail. Were the cows optional, I wonder!

The Victoria wall box design looks very similar to the thread's very first example!

I wonder if it was orinally a small residence with barn attached. It's directly across the road from the biggest farm in the area, so might have been the home for a cowman or other farm worker? Must be interesting sitting behind that large windown and cows come up to the wall and watch you.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[WesternLancer]

I wonder if it was orinally a small residence with barn attached. It's directly across the road from the biggest farm in the area, so might have been the home for a cowman or other farm worker? Must be interesting sitting behind that large windown and cows come up to the wall and watch you.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Ha! I didn’t realise that bit wasn’t still a barn until I looked at the streetview image

 

[weepingwillowb]

Ha! I didn’t realise that bit wasn’t still a barn until I looked at the streetview image

I had to take my photo from the angle I did because I wanted to get some of the cows in the shot.

 

[WesternLancer]

I had to take my photo from the angle I did because I wanted to get some of the cows in the shot.

Very nicely done I should say!

 

[weepingwillowb]

Caught a bus to Kirkby Lonsdale from Lancaster this morning, and got off at the hamlet of Nether Burrow to photograph the wall box there. I then walked a couple of miles up the lane on the right to Cowan Bridge. (to be continued.....)

 

[Sun Chariot]

What a curious building B - soft welcoming hue of traditional stone; but a functional, almost fortress-like, boxy shape! Great to see the Victoria-era wall box: great snare!

 

[weepingwillowb]

What a curious building B - soft welconing hues of traditional stone; but a functional, almost fortress-like, boxy shape! Great to see the Victoria-era wall box: great snare!

I think it's the flat roof that makes it look odd.

 

[DelW]

Another Victoria wall box, this one on Godalming station. It's in the wall of the main station building facing onto the down platform. Possibly it might date from when the station was built in 1858?

Even if not, I think there are plenty of layers of paint on there.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Good fihd @DelW and that door looks like it's had a tough life: an angled strip (brass or steel, perhaps) bolted to the right of the collection-plate; and what looks to be a rather rough weld at the bottom-right corner.

 

[WesternLancer]

Another Victoria wall box, this one on Godalming station. It's in the wall of the main station building facing onto the down platform. Possibly it might date from when the station was built in 1858?

Even if not, I think there are plenty of layers of paint on there.

View attachment 212094

I’m always interested to see post boxes at stations. So thanks for this one.

 

[chipbury]

I’m always interested to see post boxes at stations. So thanks for this one.

Bath Spa station has a freestanding post box on each platform - i'm not sure how old they are but i'll get some pics next time i'm on the platform.

 

[WesternLancer]

Bath Spa station has a freestanding post box on each platform - i'm not sure how old they are but i'll get some pics next time i'm on the platform.

That’s interesting because wall boxes seem more common at stations.
Tho the thread has a picture of the freestanding pillar box on the platform at Carlisle

 

[weepingwillowb]

Here's a long list of post boxes at UK railway stations, though you have to look at the photos to see if they're wall or pillar boxes.

Post boxes at UK railway stations

UK railway stations with post boxes in them

www.railwaycodes.org.uk

I know of one in North Lancashire that's not on the list, that I haven't got round to photographing yet. Will try to go there next week, weather permitting.