Square Pillar Boxes

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Tue 19 Jan, 2010 11:05 am

I was flicking through a book in the museum about Leeds in th 50s and 60s and there were some photos of a dainty poppet posting letters in a modern design of letter box, a funky square one known as Type F, as seen in on this website:http://www.wicks.org/pulp/part2.htmlThe picture was captioned as being at Westgate Circus, so I'm assuming that one went when the inner ring road was built. Another was captioned as 'on Park Lane'. I'm not aware it still is.Have any other examples stood the test of time and are still on the streets of Leeds?

simong · Post by **simong** » Tue 19 Jan, 2010 11:23 am

I don't know why I remember this, but the Type Fs didn't last very long in service as they were steel sheet on an iron frame and rather fragile, not to mention ugly. For some reason I have an image in my head of one that came off much the worse for a collision with a lorry, which isn't optimal for a post box. There's an article that mentions that here: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/la ... 751.htmlAt a guess it would have been near the old Post Office or at point more central to the assorted solictors' offices. If there's a franked mail post box on Park Lane, I would guess that it might have been there.

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Tue 19 Jan, 2010 11:36 am

there's this on East Parade, but I think it's a more modern confection:http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 36,,3,8.38

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Tue 19 Jan, 2010 12:36 pm

Cardiarms wrote: Have any other examples stood the test of time and are still on the streets of Leeds? Will have a look.1. On stainbeck road there's a traditional type B box with "VR" on the front which I have never seen before.2. We have a type "B" outside Cookridge News on Otley Old Road that is an Edward V111 one from 1936. I'd have thought these rare but that history of post boxes shows one too.

Si · Post by Si » Tue 19 Jan, 2010 1:25 pm

The Parksider wrote: Cardiarms wrote: Have any other examples stood the test of time and are still on the streets of Leeds? Will have a look.1. On stainbeck road there's a traditional type B box with "VR" on the front which I have never seen before.2. We have a type "B" outside Cookridge News on Otley Old Road that is an Edward V111 one from 1936. I'd have thought these rare but that history of post boxes shows one too. The site shows two ER VIII boxes, although it does say the "Ludlow" small box is the only one in existence.Not quite in Leeds, but there's an old VR octagonal(?) box with a pointy top in Ilkley at the junction of Denton Road and Middleton Avenue, still in use. You'd expect it to be in a museum.

simong · Post by **simong** » Tue 19 Jan, 2010 2:08 pm

The older surviving pillar boxes are listed and it wouldn't surprise me if that's one. I've heard stories of the Post Office stealing and replacing examples on the verge of protection but if a box is in good repair it will be good for a long time to come.

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Tue 19 Jan, 2010 2:52 pm

what is startling is to go to the Irish Republic and see pillar boxes of exaclty the same design as ours except they're green.

Si · Post by Si » Tue 19 Jan, 2010 3:03 pm

Trojan wrote: what is startling is to go to the Irish Republic and see pillar boxes of exaclty the same design as ours except they're green. I guess the old ones are pre-partition? I would assume the royal crown and initials have been ground off?There is an old post box on Crow Lane, Otley, in the wall beside the old Catholic primary school (now converted into a private house.) The box has been turned into their own letter box, with a new cast door which reads "The Old Schoolhouse." How twee!

simong · Post by **simong** » Wed 20 Jan, 2010 8:50 am

Trojan wrote: what is startling is to go to the Irish Republic and see pillar boxes of exaclty the same design as ours except they're green. A similar thing happened in Hong Kong in 1997. HK Post painted all the Royal Mail pillar boxes green but are now in the process of replacing the surviving ones. It's estimated that there are fewer than 60 left.