Gates Green Road Box

[hb88banzai]

The Box on Gates Green Road, Hayes - P18

I'm not 100% certain about this, but after locating and logging over 90% of the Box Sites, to date I haven't found anything that quite fits like this Site does. So, here's the case for P18 - you decide.

Screen captures from a segment of "Bigger Inside Than Out", the BBC mini-documentary on the history of the Police Box aired as part of the 30th anniversary series of repeat broadcasts in 1993 --










By the paint scheme and the woman's clothing this was probably late 1950s to mid 1960s.

Now then, the Met List says that P18 was 60 yards south of Croydon Road, but at 52 yards south we have this -



Probable Box Site URL:  https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Gates+Green+Road,+Hayes,+London,+United+Kingdom&hl=en&ll=51.369878,0.004281&spn=0.000532,0.002634&sll=51.379219,0.01817&sspn=0.003857,0.008497&hnear=Gates+Green+Rd&t=h&layer=c&cbll=51.36996,0.004225&panoid=JOY5bEWbGbP6WiFqMNsqHQ&cbp=12,60.69,,0,8.62&z=19

Everything seems to match - the steps, the paving leading to the Box site, the location of the path running crosswise, the steep incline behind beginning where the Box stood and the heavily forested environment (even more so in the past per Google Earth 1945). This Box had an A.R.W. Siren just like the one in the clip, and the Box in the clip is perfectly consistent with the type that was erected in 1934, when P18 was commissioned.

The only things against it seem to be the 8 yards difference between the position specified in the Met List and the actual location of this paving and stairs, plus the fact that they both now appear narrower than in the clip. However, there are also signs of the path and stairs being overgrown on both sides.

Here are the views north (left) and south (right) of the proposed Box Site to give some context (Croydon Road being north, towards the left) --




Finally, here is a view of what's on the other side of the street - a residential area --

[hb88banzai]

Just had independent confirmation that the Box was right where the paving and steps are, so this is almost certainly the Box in the PI Film.