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Letter to Daily Telegraph

Royal Mail needs to get its paintbrushes out

The Telegraph

“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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Images

We're at the Royal Marsden Hospital Surrey for thi We're at the Royal Marsden Hospital Surrey for this postbox, taken from a LBSG member's older pictures. It's certainly not a typical postbox, having been converted from a wooden cupboard with spaces for the collection plate and aperture. Once the twice daily collections, and once on bank holidays, would have been a lifeline to patients. These days it's not really necessary, but the box is still there (at least, according to our records) providing a useful service for staff, patients and visitors. Just outside the hospital is a small Victorian wall box, which Google Streetview shows is rather in danger from nearby construction works. The Royal Mail website says it is a Penfold, but don't be fooled! Photo shared with permission from a member of the LBSG #letterbox #letterboxstudygroup #postbox #postboxes #postboxesofinstagram #postboxesoftheuk #hospital #lovepostbox #lovepostboxes #postboxlove #streetfurniture #diy #upcycle #upcycling #sutton #surrey #royalmarsdenhospital
Posts have been a little reduced lately due to my Posts have been a little reduced lately due to my getting covid but hopefully things will get back to normal now. We continue our hospital boxes with WS2 198 at Walsall Manor Hospital. These tall plastic pillar boxes are made by Broadwater and can be found in many indoor locations such as supermarkets, airports and hospitals. All of them are almost identical to each other, except for different styles of the words "Royal Mail" depending on branding, and in Wales there should be Welsh wording as well. Why not look out for one of these next time you go shopping? Photo shared with permission by a member of the LBSG. #letterboxstudygroup #postbox #postboxes #postboxesofinstagram #lovepostboxes #lovepostbox #postboxlove #walsall #eiir #e2r #hospital #hospitals #streetfurniture #postboxsaturday
One of the oldest hospital post boxes is this Penf One of the oldest hospital post boxes is this Penfold which once stood in the grounds of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. Penfolds were installed between 1860 and 1879, so it's quite possible that this was Jack the Ripper's postbox when it was in use! This postbox has long since been taken out of use, and is now safely stored away. Original Penfold postboxes are hard to find, and many are now in museums rather than on the streets. Photo shared with permission by a member of the LBSG. #letterboxstudygroup #postbox #postboxes #postboxesofinstagram #victoria #victorian #victorianengland #whitechapel #jacktheripper #penfold #pillarbox #vr #streetfurniture
Our theme for May is hospital postboxes, and we st Our theme for May is hospital postboxes, and we start with this lovely lighthouse postbox which was once on the children's ward at St Mary's Hospital on the Isle of Wight. Imagine being stuck in hospital for a long time with no way to contact your family except for letters and landline calls. Today's children are lucky enough to have email and video calls to stay in constant contact with their family, hopefully making a tough time in hospital a little easier for them. This box was constructed with the help of a local school, and represented the Needles lighthouse. It was removed when the hospital was remodelled, and now a Starbucks can be found where this once was. What happened to the postbox? We don't know. Hopefully it is being looked after. If you know where this box is, let us know! Photo shared with permission by a member of the LBSG. #letterboxstudygroup #postbox #postboxes #postboxesofinstagram #lighthouse #needleslighthouse #isleofwight #royalmail #lighthouses #hospital #hospitals #stmaryshospital
We complete our second frame of snooker with this We complete our second frame of snooker with this former George VI wall box now turned into a private posting box in Bristol. Recently we spotted a story on Instagram where someone had asked why postboxes are painted black. Well, it's simply to mark that the box is out of use. Or it might be an unofficial reproduction that has never been used by Royal Mail. But it can be hard to tell the difference, especially nowadays when we use postboxes much less than before., and some reproductions are quite good. The danger of having a Royal Mail postbox as a private box is that members of the public may not realise it's no longer in use. The more realistic the 'collection plate', the more likely people are to be tripped up by it. The box shared in the Instagram story was not particularly realistic, lacking a royal cipher, but the collection plate was enough to confuse them. Hopefully by visiting our social media pages, whether here or on Facebook or Twitter, or by visiting our website, you can have a better idea of what a genuine Royal Mail postbox looks like, but if you're not sure you can always send us a message. Photo shared with permission from a member of the LBSG. #postbox #postboxes #postboxesofinstagram #letterboxstudygroup #postoffice #royalmail #georgevi #black #blackpostbox #streetfurniture
We're back on track with the correct snooker ball We're back on track with the correct snooker ball order, and this bright pink postbox. It's a different shade to the last one we saw, but it's still undercoat. Even the base gets painted. This is a fairly typical Type A George VI pillar, made by McDowall, Steven & Co Ltd. They made all the Type A George VIs, while other foundries had the smaller-sized boxes. There were minor adjustments to the box design between 1936 and 1952, but nothing obvious. This one is the more common older design, with a larger gap between the collection plate and the aperture. Our spotter's guide says "more than a finger's width" but it depends on whose finger you use! McDowall, Steven & Co continued to make Type A boxes into the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, but soon closed up their postbox making as their Laurieston (Falkirk) works closed in 1958, passing the manufacture on to Carron Company. The company was eventually dissolved in 1964. Photo shared with permission from a member of the LBSG. #letterboxstudygroup #postbox #postboxes #postboxesofinstagram #postboxesoftheuk #pink #pinkpostbox #pinkpostboxes #lovepostboxes #postboxlove #streetfurniture #georgevi #postboxsnooker #uk #england #mcdowallstevenandcoltd
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A to Z of Letter Boxes

Z = Zoos

London Zoo has a pillar box painted in zebra stripes for visitors to use to make donations. Chessington Zoo has one in tiger stripes. Many former Post Office/Royal Mail letter boxes have found their way into private hands, or are now preserved in museums, or displayed by other organisations. If they were once official postal boxes the LBSG records them all. The LBSG Directory, available to Members, records every genuine box, in use, in private hands, or abroad.
Letter Box Study Group
2016-02-10T16:23:27+00:00
London Zoo has a pillar box painted in zebra stripes for visitors to use to make donations. Chessington Zoo has one in tiger stripes. Many former Post Office/Royal Mail letter boxes have found their way into private hands, or are now preserved in museums, or displayed by other organisations. If they were once official postal boxes the LBSG records them all. The LBSG Directory, available to Members, records every genuine box, in use, in private hands, or abroad.
https://lbsg.org/testimonials/z-zoos/

B = Bantam

The name was chosen after a competition among Royal Mail employees, to be applied to a small cast-iron box designed by Kenneth Grange and installed mainly in rural locations. The box bears a supposed resemblance to the fuel tank of a GPO Bantam motorcycle as well as being small. They were introduced in 1999; Scots, Welsh and English versions exist.
Letter Box Study Group
2016-02-10T15:57:36+00:00
The name was chosen after a competition among Royal Mail employees, to be applied to a small cast-iron box designed by Kenneth Grange and installed mainly in rural locations. The box bears a supposed resemblance to the fuel tank of a GPO Bantam motorcycle as well as being small. They were introduced in 1999; Scots, Welsh and English versions exist.
https://lbsg.org/testimonials/b-bantam/

C = Carron Company

One of the major suppliers of letter boxes during the twentieth century. From the Mungal Foundry, near Falkirk, Stirlingshire they cast pillar boxes (from 1922), wall boxes (from 1952) and lamp boxes (from 1969 to 1982). The ironworks were first established in 1759 and played an important part in the Industrial Revolution as well as becoming famous for its naval cannons: the company became insolvent in 1982 after 223 years casting iron.
Letter Box Study Group
2016-02-10T15:58:06+00:00
One of the major suppliers of letter boxes during the twentieth century. From the Mungal Foundry, near Falkirk, Stirlingshire they cast pillar boxes (from 1922), wall boxes (from 1952) and lamp boxes (from 1969 to 1982). The ironworks were first established in 1759 and played an important part in the Industrial Revolution as well as becoming famous for its naval cannons: the company became insolvent in 1982 after 223 years casting iron.
https://lbsg.org/testimonials/c-carron-company/

D = Dual aperture

Dual aperture boxes first appeared in 1899. Large oval boxes designated as Type C, they provided apertures into separate halves of the box. Originally introduced in London to help pre-sort mail into “LONDON and ABROAD” and “COUNTRY” destinations. In the 1960s Type C boxes replaced all the single aperture boxes in central London, sweeping away many early and historic boxes.
Letter Box Study Group
2016-02-10T16:05:14+00:00
Dual aperture boxes first appeared in 1899. Large oval boxes designated as Type C, they provided apertures into separate halves of the box. Originally introduced in London to help pre-sort mail into “LONDON and ABROAD” and “COUNTRY” destinations. In the 1960s Type C boxes replaced all the single aperture boxes in central London, sweeping away many early and historic boxes.
https://lbsg.org/testimonials/d-dual-aperture/

E = Escutcheon

Escutcheons are found widely on many types of pillar box and wall box, they were intended to provide protection for the key hole. The collecting postman could turn a disc with two prongs located on the head of the key which would slide a cover over the keyhole, excluding rain and dirt. In practice they were rarely used and frequently got clogged-up when the box was painted.
Letter Box Study Group
2016-02-10T16:05:39+00:00
Escutcheons are found widely on many types of pillar box and wall box, they were intended to provide protection for the key hole. The collecting postman could turn a disc with two prongs located on the head of the key which would slide a cover over the keyhole, excluding rain and dirt. In practice they were rarely used and frequently got clogged-up when the box was painted.
https://lbsg.org/testimonials/e-escutcheon/
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