t ,. ISUOFMAHEXAIONU. www.iomtoday.co.im Tuesday,NowemberS,2018

BL'ILD11'&S AT RISK

Thne travelling through the island's telephone kiosks Our Buildings at Risk series covers buildings and structures- ~t risk, lost, and saved. This week Keith Watterson, ch_airm_an oft~e Frien_ds ofOnchan:s Heritage, takes a look at the evolution oftel· epho,ie boxes on the island. Once common-place, many have disappeared, or are under threat -but somefind new lives, mcludmg helping save the lives of members ofthecommunity . I n 1889,GeorgeGil· •

more, a former elec· trician for the GPO's Manx telegraph ser-vice, obtained a licence

to operate the island's first tel-ephone service from 53 Athol Street, Douglas(Jater MrClu-cas's greengrocers shop).

Mr Gilmore's first sub-scribers were allocated num-bers in the range 1 to35 with No. 1 Quiggins, rope maker and timber merchants, No. 2 Mr Cain, builder, No. 3 butch-ers' s laughterhouse, White Hoe, No. 4 Mr Collister's sta· bles,No.5MrTorrance,grocer and merchant, No. 6 Villiers Hotel, No. 7MrCowell, watch-maker, No. 8 loM Times, No. 25 Steam Packet Co, No. 26 Rail-way Co, etc.

After three years' further growth Mr Gilmore was ap· proached by the National Tel· cphoneCompanywhootfered to buy him out·· theofferofbe· ing retained as manager and cash in hand was enough to secure the sale.

Mr Gilmore also saw that NTC had the resources to ex-pand the system in the island and to link the island with the l K.

fhr !iervice had grown to Goosubscribersrangingfrom Port St MarytoPeel and Ram-st•y by 1901.

Mr G1\mort•continued as mana~l.'r until 1912 when he rl'lin.>d as lht• system was na· tionali:-t--d ,md mergt"Cl into the Gt·nt•ral Post Ollke(GPO).

tie dil'd in 19.-i.o aged 88 ha\·1ng st·,:n tht• in~tallation of lht• t\r:.t off·isfand telt•phom• linl In lffl9 inaugurated on June ti h) a C"all from Lit>uten-ant liowrnor !->ir rJaudt• Hill In J>.1ualas 10 the Postmaster lit m•nl m U\t rpool.

ln 1~33 the, Douglas t-,· t·hange 1uowd toil new build-tngon Dalton !>lrttt, lhes.ite oft he former boy 1rammar

hooL In 1967 that manual t'\

tha?ij:e\\ rrpbe<'dbyan~ t'Xchanae built ln I' t br1d, which till stands 'ln tht' rorn<'r or :--ydne)' !-trttt and Dalton ~tn-~t and ha bttn ubJect tot" pan ion and

C'hangl.' O\Trthe) an. Thelsleof 1antrlephone

l'\i<t- ha been oponot,d bJ Manx. lel«mn re January 11987 af\rr Bnu h Tele-com !elupa\lm "Ii trn-dsub-Sldiaryln19116"nonlhe wu CO\ rnment announttd lhAt 1!wouldawuda2 yt" 'l'h·

KK>SkinOa,bywithanewlrfttosawlives

cence to operate the tele· phone system.

CALLOFnCES Britain's first telephone

t•xchan,:?:es opened in the late 187th for ·subscribers' only,

The telephone service in theeartyday:-wasonlyafford-abte by some business estab-lishments and by domestic u er who had a desire to be tn t.Mh.ighercWsesof soctety. 1, ov. nmg a telephone was a ttal talking pomt

In 1884, non·!-ubscribers v. ~ aUov.ed to use the ser· v1ceo b pa~ ing to use some-oneelseltelephone for calls, henc. the bll offitt• armed often indoors at shop t"tC'., wh rt't'1."t"ntuall) 1ndoorcu-b1el and booths v,,ould be introduced to give the ealler pm-.eyf'orlheir~

Asthe \emCJ'f'\\.other lorauon were used for cali

offices, such as railway sta-tions and post offices, but the locations and hours were still limited, and telephone com-panies introduced their own, standalone outdoor kiosks to provide service in the wider community, 24.hours a day.

This included the Isle of \tan: the island never really had its own design of kiosk. and utilised many of the de-signs installed elsewhere in BritainbytheGPO.

KIOSKS · K1 v.1ls the first standard

de,ign. introduced in 1921 by the GPO.

Made of pre-east concrete. the K1 kiosk v.as intended tu be Britain's n.atlonal tele· phonebox.

It wa not popular with locaJ authorities, and cen tral l.ondon di>tricu refused to accept d., but some 6-300

. /~' ... 1'-~{~

were installed, albeit more widely in rural locations such asBaldrine.

Across Britain just five Kt original kiosks remain still in place now.

• K2 - the first 'red box'· was the next to hit the streets in 1926 and installed until 1935. Made of cast iron and a maximum price tag of £40 it was designed by Gilbert Giles Scott(notyet 'Sir') and painted vermilion red on the outside and flame red inside, weigh-ing more than 1 ton. S omn100K20

were produced £or£50eachand u ,tailed mostly in London. being too

de p o iveforgeneral :'Y, ......

·K,.;;,.....,.ntroduccdin1929 and picked the best points from the pre,'lous K_ and K2

A and Bcoin mechanism inside a 'Jubilee' K6

models. This became the standard

for Britain with n,ooo erect· ed all over the country for the next six years.

Now, they are exception-ally rare, only two survive in Britain: one at London Zoo's Parrot House (with Grade II listing status from English Heritage), and the second at Rhynd near Perth in Scotland.

· K4 came along in 1929and was nicknamed the ·vermil· ion giant' as it was a stretched version of the K2 which in· corporated two stamp vend· ing machines and a post box to give a 24-hourpo~t office.

No more than 50 were made a, there v.ere siting dif-ficulties; also the stamp ma· chines v.·ereexc~ively noi5Y during telephone conversa· tions and were not Y.eather-proo( whichcau.'ted problem, with the adhesive on the

stamps. · Kswasa lightweight port·

able kiosk fabricated from steel-faced plywood from 1934 in small quantit ies for use at exhibitions and temporary sites.

· KG In 1935 King George was to celebrate his Jubilee and to mark the event a new Jubilee Kiosk was commis· sioned from Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

It would be in cast iron, red, and to be used everywhere.

It arrived on the streets in 1936 and 60.ooo were erected.

The door is made from a ca<;t iron glazing frame which is encased in a teak wood frame fitted with three heavy duty bra,s hinges and a door closer

The kiosk 1s com pri sed of 18differentcast iron sections which were usually built in-doors and decorated before

Tl/lldlf,'.~6.2018-.iomtodly.cun lSUOf ... DAMIIIII •

PC Derek Crellin at the police call post on Prospect Hill AmodemK8kiosk A resto~ Kl kiosk

being moved to site for instal- is visible if you look careful- KB in aluminium but the Post In 1985 the situation was rec- tine enquiries. Lewaigue, Maughold has been lation using a special kiosk ly at th~ roof where the royal Office changed it to cast iron tified with the new KX range Styles varied until some turned into a book store. so trailer. crown 1s. with a cast aluminium door. It which took into account the standardisation in the 1930s. has a re-positioned kiosk in

Vandalism and theft Between 1950 and 1955 appearedonthestreetsinJuly needs of the disabled user the public gardens on Albany proved too much for these ki· about 25,000 new K6s were 1968 and was painted poppy regarding accessibility. The THE FUTURE Road, Peel. osks-glazingwasremovedfor installed and continued at red, slightly more orange than kiosks were attractive, func- The number of kiosks is AtLaxeynearthe MERsta-use in cold frames and cash about a thousand a year until the old Post Office red. tional and modern. Being still reducing mainly because lion local volunteers from the boxes levered off in manyqui· the mid-196os. About4,ooo KBs were sup- made of stainless steel and of the increased use of mobile Live at Home Scheme painted eterareas, soin 1939 a strong- • K7 was an attempl at a plied. anodised aluminium meant phones. Some boxeshavegone the kiosk in the scheme·s col· er Mark 2 was introduced. new, modern design. theendofroutinepaintingtoo for scrap, some have been re- ours and then it v.-as fitted out

After the Second World Glazing was fixed in rub· T he prefabricated and they were more resistant cycled as fish tanks, cock- withadefibrillator.Similarin· War when raw materials be- her gaskets just like car wind- design allowed to vandaHsm. tail bars, sofas, payphones in stallations ha\o·e taken place at cameavailableafurther2,ooo screens, but the K7 was made the kiosk to be nightclubsetc.andmanyhave Greeba Bridge, Patrick Corner kiosks were erected. of aluminium which did not installed in any OTHER KIOSKS appeared in back gardens and and Dalby Village.

The K6 bore a royal crown entirely suit the British weath- configuration It was not only the tele- yards. motif, taken from the Post Of- er and only five went into pub- with the door. side and back phone companies who pro· About2,ooored telephone NEWUVES ficecrest. licservice. panels placed in any position. vided kiosks, the emergency boxes of various models and

In 1952 on the death of • KB The Post Office pref- There is no Royal crown on the services and motoring asso- marques have been declared These kiosks show how King George VI the Post Of- erence for cast iron contin· exterior of the kiosk. ciations have also done so. 'listed buildings· in the UK. but stru·ctures evolve, and can fice changed to using St Ed- ued and there was a desire to • KX Range During the The AA and RAC began no Manx telephone boxes are become redundant; they also ward's Crown as adopted by have a more modern design 1980s the payphone service theirnetworkofboxesaround registered. showthatsuchstructurescan Queen Elizabeth II: kiosks in in new housing estates and under the newly privatised 1912 by the AA and 1919forthe As kiosks in the Isle of Man find new lives-and in the case Scotland being fitted with the town centres that were being British Telecom was in trou· RAC. Police call points had a become surplus to require- of the defibrillator kiosks. not Queen'sCrownofScotland. built, also something that was hie with widespread unreli- flashing light on top to attract ments they are usuaUyoffered only are the lives of buildings

This later motif in the roof cheaper and more resistant to ability of call boxes through thepassingpolicemanandthe to the local authority before being saved, but also possibly was made to slide in a slot as increased levels of vandal ism. vandalism and the failure to public were invited to use the being removed from site. they are helping save the lives required and the square slot Bruce Martin designed the repair damage quick enough. point for emergencies or rou- A K6 kiosk al Port ofmembersofthecommunity