Remember those days when you had to find a public telephone booth in order to make a call? How many times has one saved you a great deal of trouble? I cannot even begin to count the instances that I thanked the heavens for the presence of a phone box. You can find public phones practically in any country but in the UK, the red phone box is an iconic fixture in the streets.
I am sure that you have seen these fixtures in movies. Originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the red phone box was given its colour so that it would be easy to spot at any time. These boxes have had their heyday but today, it seems that they are not being used as much as before.
In fact, statistics show that they are barely being used and this means that the 12,700 phone boxes all over the country are in danger. If they are not being used, they are not earning the telephone company any money and this might just mean that they are on their way out. Fortunately, these phone boxes are loved more than they are used.
BT wants to scrap around 400 of the phone boxes but the local authorities are increasing their efforts to save the boxes. Though they may not be used for their original purpose, the locals are trying to find other useful purposes for them. Some examples would be as community notice boards, greenhouses, miniature art galleries, and so on. The effort includes villages and local governments adopting a phone box in order to save it.
I’m glad to hear this effort being made to save the boxes – the streets wouldn’t be the same without them.