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Letter to Daily Telegraph

Royal Mail needs to get its paintbrushes out

“SIR – Angie Bell (Letters, February 14) is right. Tatty post boxes are a disgrace. Royal Mail and English Heritage published a joint policy statement in 2002 in which Royal Mail undertook…” read more… Read More

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George V size B wall boxes made a notable design c

George V size B wall boxes made a notable design change towards the end of his reign, as the 1880s design from the reign of Queen Victoria was replaced by a new pattern. In many ways it was similar to the old design, but now the words 'NEXT COLLECTION' and the next collection day tablet were incorporated, much as they had been on the larger wall boxes and on pillar boxes since 1905. It was not long after this change that George V died, so the old design is much more common in his reign. The new design remained in use until wall boxes ceased production in 1980.

Image 1 - old size B wall box design
Image 2 - new size B wall box design

George V's reign saw a changing of the guard for T

George V's reign saw a changing of the guard for Type B (small cylinder) pillar boxes, as from 1922 a new postbox manufacturer came on the scenes. Falkirk-based Carron Company has been established in 1759 and made their name developing and producing the Carronade cannon, which proved to be a key weapon for the Royal Navy.

Their move into postbox manufacturing has made them a household name for box spotters around the world, as they not only produced for the UK and Empire/Commonwealth market but also overseas in countries such as Colombia, Ireland and Nigeria.

So next time you pass by a George V pillar box, have a look at the front (or back) at the maker's name. It might give you a little clue about the age of the box!

McDowall Steven continued to manufacture the Type A (large cylinder) pillar boxes until 1957, so make sure you give the box a hug to check the size!

Many thanks to member David L for sharing these excellent pictures

How to spot an ex-airmail box When airmail boxes

How to spot an ex-airmail box

When airmail boxes were initially refurbished back to ordinary pillar boxes, the refurbishments were almost all done in a similar manner. This can allow experienced postbox spotters to identify airmail boxes with precision.

First, their blue paint was overpainted with red, rather than being stripped off. This photo from the 1990s shows an ex-airmail box in dire need of refurbishment. In recent years Royal Mail has stripped back many boxes to the base and recoated them in red, so this is harder to spot than it used to be.

Second, the double collection plate holder was removed and replaced by a single one. This replacement plate holder is quite a bit chunkier than the one on a standard pillar, so experienced postbox spotters will be able to tell the difference almost immediately. In the third picture, this ex-airmail box had the new collection plate holder incorrectly fitted to one side instead of centrally.

If the first two obvious signs fail, there are other subtle ways we can tell, and this has helped the LBSG identify several otherwise-unknown airmail boxes that we had once thought were standard pillars. If you'd like to know more, why not join the LBSG?

George V reigned from 1910-1936, and during that t

George V reigned from 1910-1936, and during that time British postboxes underwent many changes. Some were subtle, others were dramatic. His reign saw the Post Office experimenting with many different ideas as technology advanced, most notably Air Mail postboxes, and the K4 telephone kiosk which had an integrated postbox. While the K4s are still very noticeable today, most Air Mail boxes were converted to ordinary pillar boxes and can be hard to identify. Tomorrow we'll give you some hints on how to spot these otherwise-ordinary boxes.

Pic 1 - K4 telephone kiosk at Avoncroft Museum
Pic 2 - Refurbished airmail box at the Isle of Wight Postal Museum
Pics 3 & 4 - Airmail box (possibly a reproduction) in Windsor showing two variations of possible colours used on the boxes

Today's postbox is Worcester's very own Edward VII

Today's postbox is Worcester's very own Edward VIII postbox. Edward VIII (1936) is one of the least-common ciphers found on postboxes, thanks to his general unpopularity and abdication within a year of taking the throne. Indeed, many Edward VIII boxes were uninstalled after his abdication, though we believe this one is in an original location.

This one is a Type A (large) pillar box, and also features a harvest-themed box topper.

Today's postbox is a common sight on the streets o

Today's postbox is a common sight on the streets of Scotland - a large pillar box with the Crown of Scotland and "POST OFFICE" on the front. It doesn't look anything special at all. But for the keen-eyed postbox spotter, there are a few tells that this is something more unusual.

For Type A pillar boxes, only one manufacturer has the collection plate holder butting right up against the aperture: Machan. They started producing Type A pillar boxes in the early 90s, in almost the same design as the earlier Type As except for that missing gap between slot and holder. The first boxes that they made all said "POST OFFICE" on them, both the ones with Queen Elizabeth's cipher, and those with the Crown of Scotland. But within a year of starting manufacture on these boxes, the wording on the box changed. From 1993 they all said "ROYAL MAIL" instead, and those Machan Type As can be found absolutely everywhere.

So if you do manage to spot a Machan Type A with "POST OFFICE", you've found something a little bit special, the changing of an era - one of the last post boxes to be made with those words on.

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