Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I’ve published the above photo before of course, but it’s a favourite of mine and obviously suits the time of the year. Bit of a shame though that this lovely old phone box has been removed this year and taken to the scrap yard. Or sent to China. Fortunately, the more famous one down the road at Meols was rescued from the jaws of the crusher and returned to its rightful place.
Oh. And due to the sterling efforts of all concerned, Hoylake is looking a lot like Christmas this year, despite missing that old red kiosk.
Our other old red phone box, at the bottom of Trinity Road, needs some TLC and some friends to make it look loved again. You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.
What use is an empty old phone box on the prom? Well, you can stick a defibrillator in one (though there’s one at the lifeboat station), or turn it into a mini library. Or how about a seed and plant exchange? Or even, if you use your imagination, how about a pint-sized Hoylake RNLI museum? I don’t know what would work, you might have your own ideas. But something. Because it’s got to be a much nicer piece of street furniture than a parking meter? Right?
Some old phone boxes are left as is, with the handset still there but not able to ring out. In Japan, this didn’t stop people contacting lost loved ones after the 2011 tsunami and earthquake. This beautiful, though very moving audio documentary explains all.
Anyway, thanks as always for reading HoylakeJunction and for all the comments throughout the year. It’s really appreciated.
Merry Christmas
Happy Christmas to everyone. Must say I miss the weekly photos on this site xx
Thanks for your lovely words, John. The Meols phone box is very special to local people and fans of OMD from near and far so it’s great that we got it back. It will be turned into a mini museum next year to showcase OMD.
The Trinity Road phone box is still owned by BT but the Friends of 632 3003 will be painting it early next year. BT have provided a paint kit and as a thank you for all of BT’s efforts in us getting the Meols phone box back, we will be painting it. I am sure many people agree that it is looking very unloved right now but it will soon be looking great again once we have spruced it up.
Happy Christmas to you John and all of your readers.