Rare white phone boxes handed a listing lifeline

ENGLAND’S rare white telephone boxes are to be awarded listed status as they are recognised as a “beloved part of the country’s heritage”.

They are part of the streetscape only in Hull, East Yorks, which did not, like the rest of the country, paint its boxes red. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport awarded Grade II listed status to nine of the mid-century models on the advice of Historic England.

Sarah Charlesworth, listing team leader for the North at the public body, said: “Our old phone boxes are a beloved part of England’s heritage and for many of us they’ve been the scene of memorable moments in our own lives, from furtive conversations with first boyfriends to desperate calls home when we’ve been in a fix. These listed K8s represent the cream of the crop in the Hull area.” The boxes were not stripped out and fitted with more modern equipment by British Telecom when it upgraded others elsewhere in the country.

The city avoided this process because phone services in the area were handled by the council, through the Hull Corporation Phone Department – and it chose to paint the boxes white or, more precisely, a shade of cream.