Ringing the changes: A campaign to save our red boxes

GOOD CALL: A booth in Bickenhill now stocking books

"BUT phone boxes aren't buildings," some of you might be grumbling. Let's be honest many of them aren't even phone boxes these days, but we'll come on to that.

It's certainly self-evident that the classic kiosks I'll be writing about this week are obviously not the same as farm cottages or shops. They can, however, fall under the wider umbrella of what are often called "heritage assets".

I'm keen to try and avoid overloading this blog with technical terms, not least because "A tour of the borough's heritage assets" is not the catchiest title.

But it's still interesting that something we might dismiss as the thing from which we used to call cabs is an important part of Solihull's history.

It's coming up to a 100 years since the first of the now famous red boxes appeared in the UK and with the design having become something of a cultural icon there's often a strong attachment to them.

And if you don't believe me then take the word of Historic England - which has national responsibility for listing historically important landmarks. They have written an entire booklet on preserving so-called street furniture, including bollards, street lamps, post boxes and, yes, phone booths.

Still not convinced? Then consider how a number of communities across Solihull have already stepped in to ensure the future of their local kiosk.

As long ago as 2008, parish councillors in Bickenhill agreed a deal with BT to take on responsibility for their red box - paying just £1 for the privilege.

Announcing the decision, then chairman Frank Bunce had described the structure, in St Peter's Lane, as "an iconic British image that is so synonymous with a village landscape."

HISTORY CALLING: The box adoption in the news 
Solihull Times: October 2008

At the time the agreement was innovative enough to make the front page of the Solihull Times, but the villagers in fact turned out to be "early adopters" of a scheme that has become increasingly popular around the country.

A number of other Solihull communities have moved to ensure that their own booths are secure, in an era when an ever increasing number - especially in more rural locations -  are being disconnected from the telecoms network.

In Berkswell several boxes have been transformed into miniature book exchanges; this proved especially useful during the pandemic, when Covid restrictions forced the closure of the village's branch library.

While at Millisons Wood, near Meriden, it was decided to turn a defunct kiosk into a first response station, complete with a life-saving defibrillator.

The affection for the boxes today may have come as a surprise to some of those around for the initial installation, when the eye-catching shade of red often caused public concern.

Indeed there were more than a few pleas for kiosks to be painted in more muted colours, especially in leafier settings.

Such calls bear striking similarities with debates that still rage today over the installation of infrastructure; in 2020 councillors agreed a 20 metre phone mast in Shirley on condition that it be camouflaged with a coat of "Solihull green" paint.

The fact that the now widely-admired phone boxes were the subject of similarly heated discussions pre-war goes to show that yesterday's eyesores can yet become iconic within a few generations. 

Hence the fervor of forward-thinking residents' groups moving to prevent former communication hubs becoming urination hubs - or worse. 

The danger is that, without action, these features will fall into disrepair and in time be at risk of disappearing altogether. This is why conservationists more widely are always keen to ensure that options to find new uses are regularly reviewed.

With kiosks in particular, expect this trend to continue as the demand for landlines increasingly declines. Indeed, only last month BT announced that a further 36 phone boxes across the West Midlands - including one in Solihull - would be made available for adoption.

Notably the scheme has escaped the effects of sky-high inflation, with the asking price for "owning a piece of history" still set at a pound.

Know your phone boxes: The first of the famous red boxes arrived on British streets in 1926, although in a scenario still rather too familiar today the K2 model was largely restricted to London. Later iterations were, of course, rolled-out rather more widely. Indeed it was the K6, the first widely installed outside the capital, which arguably cemented the status of the kiosk. This particular version was designed in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Public usage of boxes continued to grow and peaked in around 1990, when there were 100,000 in use nationwide. Although  the arrival of mobile phones has since driven a long-term decline and by 2021 the number of boxes still in use had fallen to 20,000.