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Y ou can’t get more ‘Ullthan a cream colouredphone box. When you seeone in a photograph you

instantly know where you are.They are a symbol of Hull’s

uniqueness, of its determinationnot to be like anywhere else, its“otherness” and, quite frankly, ofits bloody-mindedness.

While the rest of the countrywas united in its adoption of thered phone box of BT, Hull hasalways remained steadfastlycream. But why so?

It’s a long story with roots reach-ing right back into the dawn oftelecommunications.

When the Telegraph Act of 1899made it possible for local author-ities to set up their own systems tocompete with the National Tele-phone Company (NTC), one ofthose that took up the challengewas Hull Corporation.

By 1902, despite strong opposi-tion from the NTC, the corpora-tion had been granted a licence toset up its own network by the Post-master General, making it one of ahandful of local authoritiesaround the country to do so.

On November 28, 1904, the HullTelephone Department opened itsfirst telephone exchange at 7 Win-colmlee, in east Hull, on the site ofa former public baths.

The exchange was equipped witha new, “state of the art” 20 positionEricsson-Bell manual switch-

board, capable of handling 1,000subscribers at a time and the ageof the phone was upon us – even ifthe vast majority of people didn’thave one.

By 1913 the other services inplaces such as Brighton, Glasgow,Portsmouth, Tunbridge Wells andSwansea had all been sold to theNTC or the Post Office, leavingHull’s network as the last surviv-

ing independent phone company.It was an independence the citywas not prepared to give up.

As the Post office gradually tookcontrol of the other authorities’networks, Hull Corporationdecided to take its future into itsown hands and, in 1914, boughtthe NTC network in Hull outrightfor what was then a king’s ransomof £192,423.

In today’s money that’s morethan £15.5m - no small amount ordecision for a local council.

Ever since that day Hull has hadits own independent telecommu-nications company, which downthe years has gone by names suchas Kingston Communications(Hull) PLC and the KCOM GroupPLC.

The company is no longer ownedby the council, which partiallyfloated the company on the Lon-don Stock Exchange in 1999 beforeselling its remaining stake in 2007.

Today it’s called KCOM and haschanged with the times, supplyingnot just phone lines to the pop-ulation of Hull and East Yorkshirebut 21st century innovations suchas ultrafast fibre broadband too.

It also directly employs nearly900 people in the region, creating1,600 jobs in total through its sup-ply chain.

But why cream phone boxes?

FEATURE K C O M

Cream of thecity’s iconicphone boxes

Ian Midgley looks at the history

of Hull’s cream phone boxes

INCOMING: An early image of telephone exchange.

FORM A LINE: Line gang in Hull circa 1910. Right, a K1 kiosk.

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That’s a tricky one.No-one knows exactly why

cream was chosen. But KCOM’scream phone kiosks have alwaysbeen just that, cream. It’s the restof the country that has dilly-dal-lied over the colour of its phoneboxes. It wasn’t until the 1930sthat the rest of the nation defin-itively chose red and by then Hullwas already devoted to cream.

The 1930s also saw the arrival ofarguably the most famous – andcertainly the most photogenic – ofHull’s phone boxes, the K6.

Designed by Sir Giles GilbertScott, whose credits also includeLiverpool Cathedral and BatterseaPower Station, the K6 is rightlyregarded as a British design clas-sic. It’s as quintessentially Britishas the double decker bus, fish andchips and Monty Python.

This year, to mark Hull’s reignas the UK City of Culture, KCOMlaunched a city centre trailaround its K6 phone boxes.Phone box trail: The trail, whichcan be found at www.kcomhome.com/campaigns/trail takes visitorson a journey through Hull s historyand heritage, from the old city wallsthat defied a king to the Victoriansplendour of Victoria Square andthe old docks where Hull smerchants welcomed the world. It sa great way to discover the city, andyou ll never find a more Ull way.

PHONE FANS: Some Hull peoplewill recall this set of phone boxes inMonument Bridge outside what isnow Princes Quay in 1956.

WORKERS: TheHull TelephoneDepartment in 1911.

CREAM OFTHE CROP: AK6 phone box inNelson Street.