Invitation to preserve Antrim and Newtownabbey’s red telephone boxes

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council is being invited to preserve a part of local heritage for just £4.
Some phone boxes have a new use. Pic courtesy BTSome phone boxes have a new use. Pic courtesy BT
Some phone boxes have a new use. Pic courtesy BT

The local authority is being urged to take care of the last four remaining red telephone boxes in the borough which have become landmarks.

Two are located in Randalstown, at Main Street and Staffordstown Road, one at Crosskeys Road in Toomebridge and at Mehargs Corner, Lower Ballyboley Road, Ballyclare.

BT, says that although half of the UK’s iconic phone boxes have been removed, there are still 5,000 remaining.

The ‘Adopt a Kiosk’ scheme enables communities to retain the familiar red kiosk which has become part of the local landscape for a cost of £1 each.

Public phone boxes have become virtually redundant with the growth of the mobile phone industry. It is expected that community groups may be encouraged to get involved in their upkeep.

Elsewhere, some are now used for the storage of defibrillators in rural communities.

The cast iron red telephone box was first seen on the streets of London in 1926. By the end of the 1930s, there were 20,000 telephone boxes in use across the UK.

The K6 model which stands eight feet tall was designed in 1935 to commemoration the silver jubilee of King George V.

Read a previous heritage-related story here

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter.

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