Derbyshire villagers get creative with red telephone boxes

About 60,000 red telephone boxes were installed around the country between 1936 and 1968

Glossy red telephone boxes are an iconic part of British history but with less demand for public telephones, how have people in Derbyshire been getting creative with them?

The boxes - officially called K6 telephone kiosks - were originally designed in 1935 for the Silver Jubilee of King George V.

About 60,000 were installed around the country between 1936 and 1968.

Many are now Grade II-listed and protected by Historic England, including in Matlock Bath, Belper and Castleton.

In Crich, the telephone box is even more colourful than most because it also has stained glass windows.

Local man Alan Richmond said: "Walking the dog every night I walked past it and saw that the kiosk was in a dilapidated state - peeling paint, door hanging off."

Alan and Kate Richmond decorated the glass panels during the Covid pandemic

He thought it provided a perfect opportunity for his wife to put her newly acquired stained glass window painting skills to the test.

The majority of the 24 glass panels were decorated during the pandemic.

"We spent the whole of Covid, panel after panel after panel. getting all the community organisations and businesses in the village represented," said Mr Richmond.

The telephone box in Crich has a mosaic tile floor

The floor of the telephone box has also been decorated with a handmade mosaic. This tribute to Queen Elizabeth II was designed by 10-year-old local schoolgirl Nyla.

Like many other places, the phone box also has a defibrillator inside.

'Queue down the road'

In Little Eaton, in common with other telephone boxes up and down the country, one phone box has been turned into a library.

Di Mulvey - keeper of the book exchange - said it was "superbly well used" and even attracted people outside the village.

One of the two red telephone boxes in Little Eaton has become a popular library

"We had to close it for a little while when we had Covid and then when we reopened it there was a queue down the road," she said.

The village also has a second telephone box that was previously used as a place for people to display artwork.

Ms Mulvey said there were now plans to turn it into a recycling facility.

'A labour of love'

In Mickleover, a telephone box is being refurbished by a team of local people.

However, once the work is complete there are no plans to turn it into something else.

Councillor Miles Pattison, from Derby City Council, has been leading the restoration project and said they hoped to make the box look as authentic as possible.

"We think we're going to go along the route of sticking an old, traditional phone in there," he said.

The telephone box in Mickleover is being refurbished by a team of local people

The telephone box belongs to a local man who said it had originally been installed in Castle Donington in Leicestershire.

David Lewis, chair of the group Our Mickleover, said returning it to its former glory had been "a labour of love".

"It was in quite a state when we found it," he said.

"It's been scraped down, sanded down, primed and finally we're getting there with the gloss now.

"We've got glass pieces ready to replace the old that we had to take out."

This K6 telephone kiosk in Derby still has a working telephone inside