Lambourn telephone box to be taken out of service – your chance to comment
BT are planning to withdraw the public phone box outside the phone exchange in Newbury Street, Lambourn in the near future. There is currently a 90 day consultation, ending 21st October 2020.
The public telephone is used to make an average of 18 calls a month and is the last remaining public telephone box in Lambourn. However it is also abused by some.
The red telephone box was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880- 1960) and, along with the red post box and the red London bus, is an instantly recognizable symbols of Britain. The original phone box was called the K2. In 1935, the Post Office commissioned a new kiosk from Scott to celebrate the Jubilee of King George V. The K6 Jubilee Kiosk, as it is known, was similar to the K2, being made of cast iron and painted red but was 25% lighter in weight at around three quarters of a ton. By the end of the 1930s there were 20,000 K6 telephone boxes in use all over the UK.
There are over 3,400 K6 telephone kiosks still in operation in England today and over 3,000 are protected by Historic England and BT. The Lambourn one is one of the remaining 400 which are not protected.
Removing the last remaining public telephone in Lambourn does raise some questions:
- What is the alternative if someone has lost their phone or it is out of batteries late at night?
- Is it used to make emergency calls when no other methods are available?
- is it used by vulnerable people who dare not risk using their mobile for fear of an abusive partner finding out?
- Have coin operated phone boxes simply had their day and it should be taken out of service to save money?
- Is it a reassuring lifeline in case the mobile services fail (as has happened on several occasions)
- Who would keep it clean and respectable?
- …. and many more….
Please send your points of view to the Lambourn Parish Council who are keen to hear from you. The email address is lambournpc@btconnect.com
