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Why does Hull have cream coloured phone boxes?

Image of a man using one of the protected phone boxesAlun Bull

The kiosks are located at a number of locations in and around Hull

Most of the UK's phone boxes are bright red but in Hull, in East Yorkshire, those that remain are a cream-white colour.

They're so rare that some of the boxes are now Grade-II listed, which means they're protected from being changed or knocked down because of their historical importance.

The reasons why they're cream, not red, goes way back to when telephones were first invented.

It also explains why Hull doesn't have BT phone lines like most of the country.

What is a phone box?

  • Before mobile phones, the only way to call someone was using one connected to cables underground

  • Phone boxes were introduced onto UK streets in 1921

  • It was a revolution, you could put a coin in and call anyone across the country - if you could remember their number!

Why does Hull have different phone lines?

Hulton Deutsch/Getty Images

Scottish inventor Alexander Grahan Bell invented the first modern telephone

When telephones were first invented in the 1800s they were all connected up to wires in the ground which transmitted your voice electronically.

This is still how Wi-Fi arrives at your home.

But when it was a new invention somebody had to put these cables in the ground, and then repair them if they went wrong.

Originally lots of local councils were responsible for this installation and maintenance and Hull was one of them.

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But as years went by The Post Office and then BT took over responsibility for the cables across most of the UK - except for Hull.

In Hull the council set up a company, now called Kingston Communications or KCOM, to run the phone networks.

KCOM is still in charge of the lines today which means most broadband internet is provided by the company too.

Why are Hull's phone boxes a different colour?

onfilm/Getty Images

Hull's phone boxes are creamy white, not red

The Post Office was originally responsible for most phone boxes and so, like post boxes, they were red.

But because Hull's boxes were run by a different company - Hull Corporation Phone Department, now KCOM - they were cream to highlight their independence from England's public phone network.

The growth of mobile phones made phone boxes a thing of the past - but the cream-coloured boxes have become a symbol of Hull's identity and now are protected as historically important.

In fact nine phone boxes around the city have just been granted Grade-II listed status.

Historic England's Sarah Charlesworth said the evocative booths were "a beloved part of England's heritage".

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