Now this one intrigues me and I can't find any listings on the Glasgow list for Coatbridge....
Taken sometime during world war 2 and the present location on google is



https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.8622855,-4.0293462,3a,75y,256.75h,96.72t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sMa3hG3M_QrTZV1etreAv4w!2e0


banzai you're needed!    



[attachid]8182756365_e97c2aa800_o.jpg[/attach]

Ah, synchronicity at work. I had actually found this myself just a few days ago and just hadn't gotten around to posting it yet as I've been looking around for others. No luck so far, but this is a most interesting find.

The reason this is such an interesting discovery is that it is a Glasgow type Box over 10 miles east of Glasgow's city centre, nearly a quarter of the way to Edinburgh, and as far as I can tell (not all the positions have been plotted yet) about twice as far away from the city centre as the furthest east Box of those installed and used by the Glasgow City Police (Sillitoe's Boxes).

Before 1975, Coatbridge was policed by the Lanarkshire Constabulary and a Burgh Police department before that, not the Glasgow City Police, so this constitutes the first confirmed Gilbert Trench style of Police Box we've seen outside of London or Glasgow. Coatbridge is currently considered part of the Greater Glasgow urban area, however, and both their Police forces, along with those of most neighboring districts, were combined in 1975 under the Strathclyde Police banner, before that too was subsumed into the current Scotland-wide Police Scotland in 2013.

Hi, I have recently been doing some updated research on the a glasgow Police Boxes and it would appear that during 1935 as an expedient measure, 13 Police Boxes were diverted to Coatbridge Burgh Police Force and 17 to Airdrie Burgh PoliceForce. Identical to the Glasgow they were located as follows.

Coatbridge
1 Main St at Hillcest Av
2 Main St at Muiryhall St East
3 Deedes St at Railway Rd
4 Sikeside St at Calder St
5 Whifflet Rd at Dundyvan Rd
6 Old Monkland Rd at Rowan Pl
7 Woodside St at Highcross Av
8 Glasgow Rd at Woodside St
9 Blair Rd at King St
10 West CanalSt at Bank St
11 Kildonan St at Park St
12 Sunnyside Rd at DunbethRd
13 Gartsherrie Rd at Blane St
14 Blair Rd at Gartsherrie Rd

Airdrie
1 Graham Rd at Baillies Ln
2 Broomfield St at Gartlea Av
3 Cairnhill Rd at Firrhill Av
4 Cairnhill Rd at Hogg St
5 Woodburn Av at Bellsdyke Rd
6 Victoria Pl at Devonview St
7 Alexander St at Queen Victoria St
8 Aitchinson St at Wilson St
9 Park Cres at Mavisbank St
10 High St at South Bridge St
11 Commonhead St at Commonhead Av
12 Aitken St at Bore St
13 South Biggar Rd. at Clark Rd
14 Forrest St at Colston Rd
15 South Biggar Rd at Lady Wilson St
16 Carlisle Rd. at South Biggar Rd
17 Dunrobin Rd at Towrrs Rd


Hope this helps a little. It would also appear that some boxes were replaced by pillars during the early1960s.

Mike

That's great news Mike...
So these were 30 brand new boxes  outside the Glasgow area...Time to search in some new places........
This box must be number 10   (I will call it Coatbridge 10)

Here's a poor quality photo of the same box a few years later.....

Pete

Ah, excellent - I was hoping Mike (plumbly7) would have something on this. Very interesting, indeed.

I see that Coatbridge and its neighbour Airdrie form the bulk of the area known as the Monklands. I wonder why it was deemed expedient to equip these two Burghs with Glasgow type police boxes, yet not so with any of the other parts of Lanarkshire County.

I've taken the liberty of renaming this Topic the Coatbridge Cross Box as that is the name of the junction that it was situated at per the OS Maps.

Here is a higher res version of the original WWII photo --



A blowup --



Very interesting that the roof appears to be bare concrete here, or at least painted a much lighter colour.

Here is a better version of the second photo Pete posted, probably from between shortly after the war and the early 1950's --



A blowup --



And here it is after it had been moved from next to the Fountain to the island closer to the railway bridge, some time after 1956 --


This is a then and now comparison I found between the circa 1950 photo and the current view (the fountain has been moved out of view to the eastern corner of the cross) --



Here are the OS maps that show this Box:

From 1939-1940 showing the Box in its original location immediately west of the Whitelaw Memorial Fountain (Box site marked "P.C.B." at centre of map) --



And in 1956 showing the Box still in its original location immediately next to the fountain, though it looks like at least part of the railing that had closed off the area between the islands has been removed --



And finally in 1966 showing the Box moved to the bridge island as shown in the above post-1956 photo --

Here's a photo shortly before it was "removed" in 1974  

Nice!

Looks like they never tarred the roofs like they did in Glasgow in the 1960s, nor relent to expectations and paint them blue.

A blowup --




I'm thinking it might be useful to add these to the Glasgow Database as something like M Division (for Monklands) with an explanation that this was a separate constabulary from Glasgow City Police. As it's still Greater Glasgow, it might be appropriate.

Thoughts?

Mike - do you know if there were any other areas in Scotland that were given Glasgow type Boxes? For that matter, have you ever come across any documentation where permission was sought by Glasgow/Sillitoe or given by the Met or G.M. Trench to use their design? They are a reasonably close copy of a Mark 2 Metbox, after all, save for the modifications for the speakerphone and public access panel for the first aid kit. So much so that it seems like they must have at least been given an actual set of plans or drawings to copy from (which would have pre-dated the Trench plans we currently have, as they are almost certainly working drawings for the Mark 3's from a couple years or more later).

This post was of particular intetest to me as I've lived in Coatbridge for the last 20 years, and drive past the fountain twice a day! I've tried searching for more pictures and found a couple, two of show the box in its sometimes other location right next to the fountain. Confusingly, the fountain has also shifted position a few times.

I was also fascinated to read that there was a box on the corner of Sunnyside Road and Park Street. That's right outside my old flat and I never knew!

I remember passing through Coatbridge and seeing boxes in the mid seventies... but have absolutely no recollection of them being red.

Curious markings on roof  in that last picture ?

This is the best zoom I can do; I could find a low res image to begin with.

Compliments of eBay:


-Source

Wow!