Saturday 22 June 2019

Phone boxes

K6 Phone box
K2 Phone box
Red phone boxes can be found all over the country; and on almost every street corner in Central London. The K2 is the older model and K6 the more recent version (K stands for kiosk).

K1 was the first design; Historic England lists six  (Grade II listed) none of which are on the streets of London. The K1 dates back to 1920.

The K2 followed in 1924 as the result of a competition won by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The K2 is easily recognisable by its equal sized panes of glass.

The K3, K4 and K5 were not widely distributed (if at all in the case of the K5) - and the next significant development is the K6. The K6 has one wide of pane with two narrower panes either side and is somewhat smaller than the K2.

All phone boxes had a crown above the 'telephone' representing the British Government; at the time phone boxes were run by the post office who were, at the time, part of the Government.


K2 phone boxes have an embossed crown which doubles as a ventilation hole. On K6 phone boxes the crown is represented in bas-relief and a ventilation hole is provided elsewhere.

In 1953 Queen Elizabeth replaced the Tudor Crown which had been used to represent the monarchy with the St Edward's Crown (the crown used at coronations) - a pair of K6 phone boxes are shown here with the St Edward's Crown on the right



Thursday 6 June 2019

D-Day Landings

Much of the planning for the D-Day Landings took pace at Norfolk House on St James's Square in London. To commemorate this and the 75th Anniversary of the landings this commemorative postbox has been installed on St James's Square - just turn left out of Charles II Street.





Tuesday 28 May 2019

Seven Noses of Soho

These are what remains of an art installation (using that term loosely, more like guerrilla artwork) from the late 90s. The artist was making a comment on the recent installations of a new network of CCTV cameras, installing the noses often in full sight of the cameras.

Most of the remaining noses are in Soho although one is all the way down at Admiralty Arch and one right on the edges of Soho up near Covent Garden. Of the remaining 5 one is more a bent nail, but the other four are shown below.

There is nothing quite as much fun as taking a treasure hunt looking for things hiding in plain sight.



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Bonus Nose!

Wednesday 22 May 2019

St James's Market

In between Haymarket and Regent Street St James lies St James's Market. Despite the fact that the A4 (yes, both roads are numbered A4) carries buses, taxis and assorted traffic up and down all day this is a surprising oasis of calm.

Owned by The Crown Estates,whose property portfolio encompasses large parts of St James and Regent Street, there are assorted restaurants and cafes for refreshment and benches and seating to rest a moment.

One of the streets leading to the central area

St James's Market

Take a moment to enjoy the calm