Hillingdon Circus Box

[hb88banzai]

Hillingdon Circus Box -- X54

Outside the Golden Lion Restaurant. Western Avenue on the right edge of the picture were the Red Telephone Kiosk is, looking towards RAF Northolt airfield and Box X53. Long Lane on the left heading towards Hillingdon Underground Station. Also note the air raid siren.

Photo circa 1950.

[hb88banzai]

Current street view --



A lot has changed in the area with the re-routing of the the main artery of Western Avenue to the North, but I checked with historical images on Google Earth to make sure this is the position of the original intersection.

Here is the approximate position of the Box site --


Hmmm, more electrical cabinets.

Approximate Box Site Street View URL:  http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hillingdon+circus,+London&hl=en&ll=51.552136,-0.448496&spn=0.000007,0.00375&sll=51.507808,-0.127271&sspn=0.002437,0.004951&hq=hillingdon+circus,&hnear=London,+United+Kingdom&t=m&fll=51.552256,-0.448932&fspn=0.001061,0.004951&layer=c&cbll=51.552136,-0.448496&panoid=NqfkYtMOnlEtbbRDiTHVOQ&cbp=12,23.65,,0,14.62&z=18

[hb88banzai]

A blowup of the original image for easier comparison --

[hb88banzai]

New pic for this Box.

From a postcard - appears to also be circa 1950s (was posted in 1960) --



A blowup --

[petewilson]

Excellent one banzai.....a decade before I was born but that's "my" box...Love it!  :-)

[hb88banzai]

Being so wonderfully photogenic the way it was situated, it's quite odd there aren't more photos of this Box. She's quite a beauty. Shame you didn't get to see her in person.

[petewilson]

Oh I did....but I was only about 7 when she was knocked down! 
Also  X65 which  I remember with my friend we used to stand on the wall behind it looking through the window.....
If only I had the hindsight of taking my Kodak instamatic with me!! 

[petewilson]

Here's the Full Hi-Res Photo of this box.......
What's the white on the roof?
Also this was dated at around 1950 which obviously it isn't due to the colour scheme!
Was there a definite date decided to when the boxes were changed over (it must of taken at least a year to all of them) ?

Pete

[hb88banzai]

A blowup of the hi-res (circa 1950 per Frith) -



A Mark 3, as expected (note we can see one open window).

In looking at blowups, it seems like the white bits are attached to the far traffic post (there are two posts almost in line with each other) rather then the Box, with the thin rectangular part to the right looking like a sign and the shape to the left looking a bit like a horn of some kind (or a horn with another sign in front of it). Not sure why a horn would be mounted on top of a traffic post, but the way it crosses the Met Box's roof and sign area strongly suggests it is in front of it rather than on top.

As to the dating of the colour changes -- we don't really have enough hard dated photos to be absolutely sure, but it appears that they were not all done everywhere at the same time. White windows predate the darker paint, with the white windows seeming to show up circa 1950 with a more or less medium blue paint scheme in some localities, and the dark Royal blue being added to this some time around 1955 or later, depending on the region.

Hard to be sure from this photo, but though it does look rather dark, the main Box colour appears to be about the same tone as the background on the top signs rather than significantly lighter (pre-1950) or significantly darker (late-1950s and on). The overall dark impression may be due to the hard shadows present in the photo as it was obviously taken on a very sunny day. All in all, I'd probably place the date as in the early-to-mid-1950s based on what we know (or think we know).

Maps:

The 1934-1935 OS map is a bit too early to show the Box, and The Golden Lion had also yet to be built, but it does give an idea of what the area looked like just prior to the Box's erection in very early 1936 (future Box site at centre of map) --



The 1961-1963 OS map, in contrast, shows both quite well, along with the GPO Kiosk that's also visible in the photo (Police Box site marked "PCB" at centre of map) --



Coordinates per the OS map:

OS Grid Coordinates (eastings / northings): 507674 / 184852
Latitude / Longitude (decimal):  51.552293 / -0.448384

This is where Google maps puts the Box based on the map coordinates (at the red pointer) --



Considering the margin of error in both the OS maps and Google maps, I'd probably place it a little behind and to the right of the pointer, on the grassy area just to the left of the electrical boxes and facing the sidewalk.

[hb88banzai]

Actually, in a zoomed image of a slightly different streetview from 2008 it looks like what could be the original box foundation area was still there (the light coloured area just beyond the coordinate pointer) --

[hb88banzai]

A photo of this Box from c1937, not long after both it and The Golden Lion P.H. behind were built --



Enlarged --



Both have been enhanced a bit and were taken from a photo of the postcard that forced me to make some perspective corrections, so the quality is a bit less than most ebay pics. I have an original of this postcard, however, so as soon as it has been scanned I will post a high res version.

Here are some better quality OS maps as well:

From 1934-1935, just before both the Box and Pub had been erected (future Box site is approx. centre frame) --



From 1963 (Met Box labeled "PCB" at centre frame) --



And finally, from 1980, after the Box had been removed, but showing how the GPO Kiosk ("TCB") had been resited to take the place of the Met Box --



Note: To see the full resolution of these maps, right click on one and select "View Image", or save to your hard drive and open with any image viewer.

[lym]

At the request of petewilson, here's this box given a splash of colour...

[petewilson]

Thats's excellent lym...
It gives the photo's a whole new lease of life...Thanks!
Could you try your magic on the 1937 photo below?

Pete

[lym]

Here you are:

[lorisarvendu]

Here's the Full Hi-Res Photo of this box.......
What's the white on the roof?
Also this was dated at around 1950 which obviously it isn't due to the colour scheme!
Was there a definite date decided to when the boxes were changed over (it must of taken at least a year to all of them) ?

Pete

Those cars look a bit older than 1950s.  Any chance this could be during the 2nd World War?  That guy on the bike looks like he's carrying a gas mask.