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The Newport Police Box

Started by robertpunk, Aug 28, 2009, 01:22 pm

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bfg1981

I passed the box today 27/03/2018 and here are the pictures of it.
As you can see, It's not being well cared for  :'(

Richard.IMG-20180327-WA0021.jpgIMG-20180327-WA0020.jpgIMG-20180327-WA0022.jpgIMG-20180327-WA0023.jpg

Mark

I "liked" your post for sharing these pictures Richard, not me liking the state of neglect for this poor box.

Isnt this the last surviving example of this type of box?

starcross

Mar 27, 2018, 07:06 pm #77 Last Edit: Mar 27, 2018, 07:07 pm by starcross
Quote from: Mark on Mar 27, 2018, 05:25 pm
Isnt this the last surviving example of this type of box?


That's correct, the other three were demolished in the 1990s.

This was preserved because of it's historical value, and it was almost lost to concrete decay before a grant saved it. However it just hasn't been valued by the community.

Gorilla preservation is what is needed, clean the graffiti, paint over it. Paint the correct signs on it. Anything is better than letting it get run down and covered in gang tags.   It's easier to take ownership of the object than cry about no one doing anything.

I almost had the cops called on my because I was using a screwdriver on lose screws on the Piccadilly Circus Police Post. Shortly there after they welded it shut. But still I tried to fix it myself, and I live 6000km away from it.

Don't let things like this decay and disappear, if you live close to it, this spring organize a work party and make it looks good again. Only you can make a difference.

galacticprobe

Mar 28, 2018, 06:12 am #78 Last Edit: Mar 28, 2018, 06:13 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: starcross on Mar 27, 2018, 07:06 pm
This was preserved because of it's historical value, and it was almost lost to concrete decay before a grant saved it. ...

Gorilla preservation is what is needed, clean the graffiti, paint over it. Paint the correct signs on it. Anything is better than letting it get run down and covered in gang tags.

Don't let things like this decay and disappear, if you live close to it, this spring organize a work party and make it looks good again. Only you can make a difference.

Get a few reliable friends and just attack the Box with some blue paint (paint with primer in it should help with the rusted spots). Either that, or attack the rust with that "Extend" stuff. It's supposed to go on white, and dry to a black primer as it chemically alters the rust and neutralizes it. Then attack it with blue paint. With enough friends, you could probably get this box looking ship-shape in a few hours (might take two days of attacks of you use the "Extend" one day to stop the rust, and then the next day give her a new blue dress).

Quote from: starcross on Mar 27, 2018, 07:06 pm
It's easier to take ownership of the object than cry about no one doing anything.

And as we said in the military, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission. So just attack the Box with the needed paints and a few friends, and before you know it, the Box will look like new. (And maybe... just maybe... once the blue dries, before anyone else gets to it, take a little white spray paint and put "BAD WOLF" on it in not too large letters. It could deter others from adding to that as it would look like someone's already staked their claim to "decorating" that Box.)

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

ciderman

May 28, 2018, 10:19 pm #79 Last Edit: May 28, 2018, 10:24 pm by ciderman
I live about 11 miles from this box. I'm afraid its in a very bad area and not appreciated. A few years ago, my company allowed a few.of us to the area to help paint a local community hall. I suppose I could enquire as to wether we could go and paint it for the community?...
My wife and I drove past it Saturday and I took this sneaky pic.IMG_20180526_180426.jpg
It was freshly painted about ten years ago and always pretty much had a scarf painted around it. There were actually a few more back in the 80's in the area but they were removed or scrapped. There was a local paper headline 'Tardis style police boxes to go' which I snipped out and sent to JNT and the production office (during Colin Bakers era I believe) and I had a lovely letter back. I suggested the beeb buy one but JNT didn't comment on that!
P.S the newspaper article mentioned that this box and the others contained early warning detectors! So technically, they were still protecting the public in their old age!

galacticprobe

May 29, 2018, 06:06 am #80 Last Edit: May 29, 2018, 06:06 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: ciderman on May 28, 2018, 10:19 pm
There was a local paper headline 'Tardis style police boxes to go' which I snipped out and sent to JNT and the production office (during Colin Bakers era I believe) and I had a lovely letter back. I suggested the beeb buy one but JNT didn't comment on that!


Ah... the good old days, when a fan could write a letter to the production (or as JN-T once said in an interview "We get letters addressed to simply 'Doctor Who, TARDIS', and they still get to us"), and then actually get a letter in return. I received a letter from them after writing (I think it was to offer condolences after Patrick Troughton's passing, but I had the production office's address from a previous letter), and both letters said in the opening that the BBC and 'Doctor Who' staff always respond to fan letters as it was a requirement, and apologized if the reply was long in coming as they got a large volume of letters daily, and it took time to read and respond to each one.

Now, the official 'Doctor Who' site says on it that they do not respond to letters or e-mails because of the large volume they receive. (My, how times have changed.)

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

mikey

There is a lovely pic of a newly constructed Newport box here

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/two-women-admiring-one-of-the-new-police-boxes-and-stands-news-photo/1053485898

I won't post a copy here as Getty are famously grumpy about such things.

"In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

mikey

A Newport box being relocated to a near by village school in 1988. I have had a good look on street view and it doesn't appear to be in the grounds anymore. Probably it was deemed unsafe sometime in the 90s and demolished.

82FED20D-BC52-4150-83A1-A54B7FA08886.jpeg

24EFD04A-8070-449A-9C1B-5DD8D0FE285E.jpeg

Here's a couple of vintage Newport box pics

CB123E05-18BC-4DAC-B5C9-01A9325B30FC.jpeg

E6D0A927-01F3-4323-87AC-C1D3397AC3F4.jpeg

0F8198E3-D6DF-46C3-A219-3CFAA5B1E186.jpeg

And a couple of later model boxes which still exist and have their signal lamps.

C4548BE7-4D2E-40BA-A304-084463F0FCE6.jpeg

E531378E-4EDB-4100-91B1-B22028464AAE.jpeg
"In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

bfg1981

Excellent pictures! I live near the Box. Which school had the box installed, and where are those brick police hut things? I can go and grab some more photos of them.

Cheers
Rich.

mikey

Hi Rich,

The school is Brynteg Nursery School, which isn't where goggle maps thinks it is. It's in Abersychan.

The two brick boxes are

Here 51°36'53.0"N 3°00'27.6"W

And here 51°34'36.3"N 3°01'09.3"W

I understand that Ward Westwater is trying to acquire these.
"In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

kert gantry

Jun 25, 2021, 07:35 pm #85 Last Edit: Jun 25, 2021, 07:38 pm by kert gantry
Generally, I'm not a fan of removing old buildings from their original surroundings but maybe relocation to an open air museum or some such might be the best way of ensuring the concrete box's long term survival? It isn't getting much love from the locals. 






bfg1981

Thanks, Mikey!

I've driven past one of them loads of times and not even realised!! Oops  ::)

mikey

I had looked at the photos loads of times before I realised they had signal lamps on top.
"In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

mikey

Jun 25, 2021, 09:49 pm #88 Last Edit: Jun 25, 2021, 09:57 pm by mikey
Quote from: kert gantry on Jun 25, 2021, 07:35 pmGenerally, I'm not a fan of removing old buildings from their original surroundings but maybe relocation to an open air museum or some such might be the best way of ensuring the concrete box's long term survival? It isn't getting much love from the locals. 


Agree, the same goes for the Faversham box, which is maintained jointly by the residents of Faversham Reach. It would be safer if it was somewhere else but they are adamant that it shouldn't be moved. I understand this and have a lot of sympathy for anyone who wants to keep a box in it's original position.

The existing Hull box has a slightly different  problem. The owner would like it to stay in Hull but is happy for it to go to a local museum. However I can't find a local museum that wants to take it.
"In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

Teppic

The Newport box has had another refurb, and the scarf is back!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60203382

A5CF25EC-CD89-46DB-B99A-FA0114F3E52C.jpeg

04ABCB49-2188-4834-92F1-C0BF5EAB7002.jpeg