Waterloo Road Box

[hb88banzai]

The Box on Waterloo Road just underneath the Railway Bridge, adjacent to Waterloo Station and across from St. John's Church, Lambeth - M1

Finally located, here is M1 (looks to be mid 60s) --



Here is a closeup with the same PC photographed at the same time as the first photo (noting that this is from the Met Archives, so please no unauthorized use even though the resolution has been reduced) --



Nice clear view of the numberplate inside the phone cupboard. This is what helped so much in finally finding this Box.

Note that the A.R.W. Siren is still there --





If one were to go by the Met List, the Box would have been here - well under the tracks --



URL:  https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mepham+Street,+Lambeth,+London,+United+Kingdom&hl=en&ll=51.503934,-0.111933&spn=0.004655,0.010546&sll=51.508911,0.066887&sspn=0.003813,0.008497&oq=Mepham+Street+Lambeth,+London,+United+Kingdom&hnear=Mepham+St,+London+Borough+of+Lambeth,+London+SE1,+United+Kingdom&t=m&layer=c&cbll=51.503934,-0.111933&panoid=Bwss0VIbgX86KL1bs1_BRA&cbp=12,201.71,,0,-0.21&z=17

However, I'm not at all convinced that the area behind where the current "Waterloo Grill" storefront on the left is opens up into the wall the way it shows in the photo.

My suspicion, based on where there is such an opening for a storefront plus direct proximity to the Siren, is that instead of 15 yards north of Mepham Street the Box was actually 25 yards north, here (about the middle of the bill board advert)--



URL:  https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mepham+Street,+Lambeth,+London,+United+Kingdom&hl=en&ll=51.503934,-0.111934&spn=0.001055,0.005273&sll=51.508911,0.066887&sspn=0.003813,0.008497&oq=Mepham+Street+Lambeth,+London,+United+Kingdom&hnear=Mepham+St,+London+Borough+of+Lambeth,+London+SE1,+United+Kingdom&t=m&layer=c&cbll=51.504011,-0.112028&panoid=_dckppTlN182LPKA5eJHSw&cbp=12,207.94,,0,2.8&z=18

This would give a POV streetview of this --



With the current mobile phone storefront having had a facade that went up the height of the wall.

The big pipe visible in the original photo behind the cigarette machines is a drainage pipe. It has been removed from the wall the Box stood against, but identical ones still exist at the other end of the bridge and across the street like this  --

[Mark]

Thanks for figuring that one out. That original lovely photo has had me guessing for ages.

The numer plate even agrees with the location!

Despite the location looking so much different from the photo I think there is enough evidence to prove it is this box and I definately agree 100% about your theory of the location being where you said as opposed to the Met list.

[Dalekoracle]

Alan, I'm pleased that the Archive photo i sent across has finally helped identify the box. It really is a lovely photo. and the quality is just superb.
The detective work here is superb. Indeed, in the last streetview photo, you can even see the location of the original Cigarette machines in the dust and grime of the discoloured wall bricks!
Wonderful!
I hope that the other scans that I've sent across will help identify our other "unknown" boxes. (though if reproducing the high quality scans, could you pop a watermark onto them to prevent unauthorised reproduction elsewhere, or use the lower res versions with cropped high res to show selective detail)
Mark

[hb88banzai]

Actually, though those are likely cigarette machine outlines, they are actually across the street from where the Box likely stood as the Met List and location of the Siren reinforce each other that it was on the western side. I was just showing the drainage pipe on the eastern side as they are still in their original locations and are identical to the photo.

I had toyed with the idea that it might have been across the street as much seems to line up, but other bits don't line up as well and I doubt they would have placed the Siren on the opposite side of the street from the controlling Box.

Scarfwearer doesn't want us to use watermarks, so I will just remove the full sized pics I've posted so far or replace them with lower res ones until we decide what to do in that regard.

[Dalekoracle]

With retail units under both sides of the bridge, it could be either side! LOL! When I'm next in Waterloo I'll pop across and look to see if theres any tell tale signs that might help pinpoint the box. (so looking for evidence of drill holes for the wall mountings used to fix the cig.machines to the walls etc.

[hb88banzai]

The bolt holes for those brackets holding the drain pipe to the wall might be there as well. Unfortunately there's only so much you can see on street view, and on top of that the billboard obscures a lot of the wall where both the Box and the cigarette machines stood (assuming this is the right section of wall).

[Dalekoracle]

Thats what I was thinking. Might not be til next week, but when I am next down there, I'll have a mooch around and if theres any tell tale marks, will take some photos on my phone for you.

[hb88banzai]

Wonderful.

BTW - even in the unlikely event it actually was on the eastern side, it couldn't have been where those outlines are on the wall though, as the Box would have then been right in front of another store front. The pipe I was looking at on eastern side that seemed to line up well with the photo was this one on the other side of that now boarded up storefront --



Again, more blasted billboards!

[Volpone]

In addition to auto enthusiasts, we need fashion types.  I was going to guess early 60s because of the sideburns and general haircut, but from the flare of the trouser I'm thinking mid 60s is a good call. (Of course I'm definitely not an authority on British police haircuts or uniform tailoring.) 

[Dalekoracle]

I wonder if theres any other tell tale signs Alan, such as service duct / manhole covers for old telephone lines? (the box would have been connected and in some locations theres sometimes a visible ducting cover set into the pavement.
I did zoom into the photo to have a look, but my finger slipped on the tracker pad on my Mac, and i appeared to zoom straight through the brick wall and onto the side street behind... where i noticed on the ground a disgarded knife! - no doubt the weapon in some shady South London Stabby incident!
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mepham+Street,+Lambeth,+London,+United+Kingdom&hl=en&ll=51.503934,-0.111934&spn=0.003446,0.009506&sll=51.508911,0.066887&sspn=0.003813,0.008497&oq=Mepham+Street+Lambeth,+London,+United+Kingdom&hnear=Mepham+St,+London+Borough+of+Lambeth,+London+SE1,+United+Kingdom&t=m&layer=c&cbll=51.50377,-0.111985&panoid=OguZHVDUTjW_chMhyiyAow&cbp=12,154.76,,0,75.81&z=17

I digress. Lets see if we can pit the location down. (though I am thrilled that we know its general location and designation!)

Mark

[hb88banzai]

A version of this wonderful circa 1960s photo of this Box scanned by Tim Clayton (trc11) from an original, compressed a bit more to fit --

[starcross]

This is quite the opposite situation; Usually we have a distance photo and struggle to find a close up, where here we had a extreme close up first.

Source: Collage - 91945 - 1950

[hb88banzai]

Nice view that shows both the Box and it's siren perched up on the bridge support.

Great find!

Best I had found was a long distance shot from the other direction at the Waterloo Tram Terminus, where you can barely make out the shadowed box outline in silhouette (yes, from another postcard waiting to be scanned).

Here's the lower res shot of it until I get around to it:

Tagged as from April 1951, just before Tram service on this route was ended --



You can just make out the Met Box above the car with the man walking across behind it. As you can see, not much there, but the actual photo postcard is clear enough to confirm the ID.

It's really annoying that it isn't marked on any OS maps just because it's nestled under one side of that railway bridge.

[Angelus Lupus]

Some people colour in books to de-stress.. Me? I did this:

[lym]

Wow, I never noticed how weird the windows on this box were until now.