Post your Post Boxes! (Photos and fun facts)

[Sun Chariot]

By all means post a photo of your EVIII post box @SteveP29 Edward VII and Edward VIII are least common.
I hope this thread will show that the sheer variety (online info suggests around 800 different ones!) Is interesting - and a bit of fun to find them!

 

[WesternLancer]

There's an Edward VIII box outside the post office in Chester le Street.
I always believed it was very rare, but that seems not to be the case reading one of your replies above

Having never seen one of these I once wanted to find one and a search on line resulted in one being listed as being on a housing estate in Derby which was easy enough for me to visit - no special location - just must have been installed there when the estate was built and there ever since on the street. It was quite heavily coated in paint. It was interesting to finally find one.

 

[Sun Chariot]

There's an Edward VIII box outside the post office in Chester le Street.
I always believed it was very rare, but that seems not to be the case reading one of your replies above

The only Front Street post office box (on Google Street View) is Elizabeth II Type B 'phase 2' (it has wider posting aperture). I can't see a EVIII box?

 

[SteveP29]

The only pillar box I find on Google Street View, is at Front Street post office: a 1970s (it has a wider posting aperture) Elizabeth II Type B box. I can't see a EVIII box?

I'll admit it's been a while since I have been to the post office there and having just checked on Google Maps, I can see it's an Elizabeth II box.
I would like to find out what the gold coloured plaque next to it says, hopefully I can check it out next time I'm down home.

Looking at the brickwork next to the plaque, it does look like it doesn't match, I hope the Edward VIII wasn't a one that was inset into the wall (the counters inside are at that side of the room) that delivered the letters right into a sorting room, and has been removed.
I also have a CLS history book at home that I can consult tonight, it may help.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I would like to find out what the gold coloured plaque next to it says,

Looking at the brickwork next to the plaque, it does look like it doesn't match, I hope the Edward VIII wasn't a one that was inset into the wall (the counters inside are at that side of the room) that delivered the letters right into a sorting room, and has been removed.

That would make sense. Perhaps the gold plaque refers to the former EVIII wall box.
I checked if that plaque related to a London 2012 Olympics gold medallist - but there was no such medallist from C-l-S.

A quick internet search unearthed the attached info, so the plaque might relate to that?

 

[StoneRoad]

Very Interesting !

Here is a link to my album on the subject ... it also includes a not very good image GPO telegram motorbike and inside a TPO ...
I keep adding to it, when I spot a good one - mine are nationwide.

{done} GPO - General Post Office

By StoneRoad2013. Back in the day [pre 1970], Great Britain had a world-beating Postal Service - and the Red Pillar Box was a common sight in towns. In more rural areas wall and post mounted boxes wer…

www.ipernity.com

 

[Sun Chariot]

Fabulous, @StoneRoad thanks for sharing your link. I love the tongue-in-cheek London Heritage blue plaque - and I'm of an age who used to watch the original "Cosgrove Hall" DM.

Here are a few more local to me:
Another Victoria type A, more unkempt than post 3 example!
Edward VII type B (several exist at Southsea and Winchester - they all bear Tudor Crown, so dated 1905-1910 ).
George V Tudor Crown cast both in low and in high positons.
George VI type A and type B.
Elizabeth II type C (dated after 1994, evidenced by its wording "Royal Mail" rather than previously-used "Post Office").

 

[StoneRoad]

Thank you @Sun Chariot !
I shall have to continue my search for the interesting red things, it's good to know that other people see these as points of interest.

I do intend to "catch" with my camera the K4 'box at Whitley Bay at some point ... and go back for a few others seen in passing.
I suspect my OH thinks I'm nuts !

 

[Sun Chariot]

This weekend's teaser...
The turn of 19th to 20th Centuries saw creation of a wooden-carcassed post box, with enamelled face-plate, installed into walls / sub-postoffice window. They were known as "Ludlow" boxes, after the creator James Ludlow.
Three Points of The Compass site provides a comprehensive back-story for Ludow boxes.

Trail talk: The Ludlow post box

A glance at one of the most varied of UK post boxes. The Ludlow is increasingly threatened and become ever rarer. Keep an eye out for what was once a 'cheap' alternative to the more common cast iron boxes.

threepointsofthecompass.com

A fine example is shown on post 1 of this thread. However...
Its front gives a little clue about its rarity - and the answer is in the linked page's two paragraphs under the photograph of Aylesford sub-post office.
Can you discover what makes Winchester's "Ludlow" box so rare?

 

[WesternLancer]

Very Interesting !

Here is a link to my album on the subject ... it also includes a not very good image GPO telegram motorbike and inside a TPO ...
I keep adding to it, when I spot a good one - mine are nationwide.

{done} GPO - General Post Office

By StoneRoad2013. Back in the day [pre 1970], Great Britain had a world-beating Postal Service - and the Red Pillar Box was a common sight in towns. In more rural areas wall and post mounted boxes wer…

www.ipernity.com

Some interesting and nice pics on your album!

 

[StoneRoad]

Some interesting and nice pics on your album!

Thanks - for some reason I seem to have a lot of VR ones !

 

[Sun Chariot]

A thread-bump for this weekend's teaser on Post 39.
Any takers?

 

[WesternLancer]

This weekend's teaser...

The turn of 19th to 20th Centuries saw creation of a wooden-carcassed post box, with enamelled face-plate, installed into walls / sub-postoffice window. They were known as "Ludlow" boxes, after the creator James Ludlow.
Three Points of The Compass site provides a comprehensive back-story for Ludow boxes.

Trail talk: The Ludlow post box

A glance at one of the most varied of UK post boxes. The Ludlow is increasingly threatened and become ever rarer. Keep an eye out for what was once a 'cheap' alternative to the more common cast iron boxes.

threepointsofthecompass.com

A fine example is shown on post 1 of this thread. However...
Its front gives a little clue about its rarity - and the answer is in the linked page's two paragraphs under the photograph of Aylesford sub-post office.
Can you discover what makes Winchester's "Ludlow" box so rare?

It’s taken me a bit of reading, and I’ve learned some new stuff as a result as I’m not sure I’ve seen or knew anything about these Ludlow made boxes, but is the answer to this that the Winchester example you pictured is made by Cole not Ludlow as per the small makers plate lie down on the box?

 

[Sun Chariot]

Very good @WesternLancer

Yes, evidence suggests James Ludlow (the designer of that post box) operated a form of partnership with Edward Cole, who manufactured metal products at those same premises already.
Edward Cole was recorded at the premises in 1886; James Ludlow was recorded working there in 1900. Queen Victoria passed away 1901.

So there is a very short time-window where Cole could have added his name to Ludlow designed post box bearing Queen Victoria's initials.
One source I read, suggested that the Winchester box is the only known example of its kind in the UK, as all other Ludlow design boxes lack a plaque bearing Cole's name (suggesting those ones were designed and made by Ludlow).

It's a slippery slope of discovery!

 

[geoffk]

View attachment 190723View attachment 190723Blue in Guernsey

 

[Sun Chariot]

Thanks @geoffk - yes, I worked ad hoc in Guernsey between 2015 and 2019 and I enjoyed seeing their blue post boxes.

I can't open your post's link. Are you able to put the image(s) as an attachment?

 

[geoffk]

Thanks @geoffk - yes, I worked ad hoc in Guernsey between 2015 and 2019 and I enjoyed seeing their blue post boxes.

I can't open your post's links. Are you able to put the image(s) as an attachment?

Having another attempt. Now it's sideways.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Having another attempt. Now it's sideways.View attachment 190728

Superb. A Victoria Cypher "Type A". Thanks for sharing.

 

[WesternLancer]

Having another attempt. Now it's sideways.View attachment 190728

Great to see that. Correctvway up when clicked on.

I had no idea they were blue in Channel Islands.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I had no idea they were blue in Channel Islands.

The change to Oxford Blue occurred in 1980, when Guernsey Post rebranded.
Guernsey boxes were originally a maroon / burgundy colour, before being painted Post Office Red and lasting that colour until 1980.

 

[geoffk]

The change to Oxford Blue occurred in 1980, when Guernsey Post rebranded.
Guerney's boxes were originally a maroon / burgundy colour, before being painted Post Office Red and lasting that colour until 1980.

Jersey's are red. I was there but didn't notice them as they didn't stand out as being different.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Autumn sunlight flatters this George VI wall box in southeast Hamphire. It differs to post 1''s Elizabeth II box:
1) royal cypher and crown,
2) maker (GVI by W.T. Allen of London / EII by Carrondale of Falkirk),
3) collection-plate frame.
These diminutive wall boxes were actually lamp boxes, dated 1940s-1960s; at some point permanently embedded in walls.
The same scenario is on post 9: an Edward VII lamp box was, at some point in its life, permanently set into a stone wall.
Can you find an example of a lamp box in a wall?


Ever wondered what a pillar box looks like inside? Wonder no more! A local Elizabeth II type A is temporarily doorless.


This weekend's teaser...
Of my "one hour drive" scope, I've enjoyed discovering former Airmail pillar boxes, introduced during George V's reign. Those in the provinces were withdrawn just 4 to 5 years later; many were dug up and melted down.
Three Points of The Compass site provides a comprehensive back-story for the Airnail boxes.

Trail talk: a forgotten anomaly, the 1930s Airmail pillar boxes

Hidden away in plain sight in some UK towns and cities are just a few survivors from a short lived postal innovation. Three Points of the Compass takes a dive in to their history and shares how you might find one.

threepointsofthecompass.com

I've found five examples so far. The two on post 3 still retain some of their two-aspect collection plate (post 3 explains). Most of the survivors - including three local ones, attached - had thicker collection plates fitted in place of Airmail ones.
A casual glance, they look like a normal Type B GV box.

So - how did I know I was looking at a rarer, former Airmail, pillar box?
The answer's in the attached back-story. Clue: as well as eyes, I needed another part of my body to unlock their secret...

 

[StoneRoad]

@Sun Chariot - so, did your index finger work ? [in answer to #52]

 

[Sun Chariot]

Very good @StoneRoad Yes, my "ham-hook" sized hands meant my index finger just fitted!
Have you unearthed any former Airmail boxes in your travel?

The Type B "standard" post box doors cast during the reigns of George V, Edward VIII and George VI, have a square plate over the door's keyhole*. It's called an escutcheon.
The gap between post box's door handle and escutcheon, is too small to put your index finger between. Unless...
GV Airmail boxes had a different casting and their gap is just wide enough for the index finger to snugly fit.

* I have found just one Edward VII Type B box with this feature. Conversely, it isn't fitted to the George V Type B boxes with the Tudor Crown cast in "high" position.

 

[StoneRoad]

Very good @StoneRoad Yes, my "ham-hook" sized hands meant my index finger just fitted!
Have you unearthed any former Airnail boxes in your travels?

No, I don't think so ...

But I might try for one or two nearby ones.

[e2a - I've been over-busy for a week or three, but after this week I "may" have the chance to do a few more images]

 

[Sun Chariot]

Non-standard standards...
Four wall boxes today: three Elizabeth II boxes, one George V. All show variations: their border design, or their height, or the placement of their cypher / collection-plate. Compare post 1 GV wall boxes, with the one on this post: they all differ.
The EIIR box with its cypher at top is, I believe, a later Ludlow design wood carcass wall box. Its frame is wood. It is similar (with very minor differences) to an example in Dorset.


If you like hunting for distinctive, rare or old post boxes, then the Letter Box Study Group can help. Full information is only available to paid-up members - however, free-to-view photos are on the below links:

Wall Boxes - Letter Box Study Group

Wall Boxes. Below are a selection of photographs contributed by members of the Group.

lbsg.org

Pillar Boxes - Letter Box Study Group

Pillar Boxes. Below are a selection of photographs contributed by members of the Group.

lbsg.org

I'm not a member - my interest is just casual fun - and I use a different way to "hunt" unusual and interesting local boxes:
I1) I choose an area of a few square miles,
2) I find the postcode for a business within that area,
3) I enter the postcode on Royal Mail, here: https://www.royalmail.com/services-near-you#/
4) Royal Mail's web page then shows all its active post boxes in that area.
5) I open Google Maps (in street view) and I I go - virtually - to each location, to see what the box is. It's a bit laborious but it means I can find boxes worthy of visiting in person.

 

[3141]

Have you ever seen one of these:
Combined phone box & letter box in Warrington.

As the sign at the top states, this structure also sold postage stamps - many years ago, when there were often similar stamp-selling machines outside post offices.

I recall seeing a similar structure to this one in Frodsham, Cheshire in about 1998.

 

[SargeNpton]

No within the OP's criteria, but I found this Edward VII box (as per picture) still in situ in Killarney, in the Republic of Ireland, back in 2015...

I had thought that anything like this left over from pre-1922 that had British official connotations would have been long gone.

 

[Sun Chariot]

That's a fabulous find @SargeNpton and many thanks for sharing it.
It's well within thread scope - it nicely fits "old and distinctive" (Killarney box's Imperial State Crown dates it 1901-1904; and it is almost identical to Winchester's EVII box shown on post 1).

Post Office boxes within former United Kingdom ruled areas, in current or former British Crown Dependencies or in British Colonies - all old / rare / distinctive boxes welcome here!

 

[3141]

No within the OP's criteria, but I found this Edward VII box (as per picture) still in situ in Killarney, in the Republic of Ireland, back in 2015...

I had thought that anything like this left over from pre-1922 that had British official connotations would have been long gone.

Similarly, there are post boxes to be found in Malta that still have a British monarch's details.

On the boxes in Republic Street in Valletta they've been chiseled off, but in several other places no-one has been bothered about that and they remain as they were before the country became independent.