A vintage red telephone box is the latest arrival at the Jurby Transport Museum. The box, donated by Manx Telecom, dates back to the 1950s and was originally located at Castle Green in Castletown.
Professor Roger Carey, Secretary of the Manx Transport Trust which runs Jurby Transport Museum, thanked Manx Telecom for the donation. He said work would soon commence on restoring the box to its former glory. The first stage will be for it to be grit blasted in preparation for reglazing and painting. Professor Carey said:
“After this the box will then be completely refitted as a “Press button A”, “Press button B” phone box. This is the equipment that would have been installed when it was new. The parts for this refurbishment have been located and we now have to raise about £1,500 for the purchase of these parts and shipment to the Island. We are confident that the fully restored phone box will be installed on our “Roadway” – itself still in the development stage – by Easter 2012.”
The Roadway project at Jurby Transport Museum aims to recreate an authentic Manx street scene using a vintage vehicle and road furniture. It will be based around a cable car which used to run in Douglas from what is now the horse tram terminus by the Sea Terminal, past Tynwald and onto Broadway. Professor Carey says it is the only cable car of its type outside San Francisco, and the plan is to position the red phone box on a roadway at the museum created for the cable car.
Once the restoration of the phone box is completed one of the glass window panels will feature a ‘thank you’ message to Manx Telecom in recognition of the donation. The origins of the original red telephone box design go back to the 1920s when the Royal Fine Art Commission launched a competition. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s cast iron design was chosen and became a British icon with its bright red livery and featuring the monarch’s Crown under its domed roof. In 2010 The Observer included Scott’s red telephone box design in a list of Britain’s 10 best public works of art.
http://isleofman.isle-news.com/archives/transport-museum-calls-manx-telecom-for-vintage-phone-box/8581/
Professor Roger Carey, Secretary of the Manx Transport Trust which runs Jurby Transport Museum, thanked Manx Telecom for the donation. He said work would soon commence on restoring the box to its former glory. The first stage will be for it to be grit blasted in preparation for reglazing and painting. Professor Carey said:
“After this the box will then be completely refitted as a “Press button A”, “Press button B” phone box. This is the equipment that would have been installed when it was new. The parts for this refurbishment have been located and we now have to raise about £1,500 for the purchase of these parts and shipment to the Island. We are confident that the fully restored phone box will be installed on our “Roadway” – itself still in the development stage – by Easter 2012.”
The Roadway project at Jurby Transport Museum aims to recreate an authentic Manx street scene using a vintage vehicle and road furniture. It will be based around a cable car which used to run in Douglas from what is now the horse tram terminus by the Sea Terminal, past Tynwald and onto Broadway. Professor Carey says it is the only cable car of its type outside San Francisco, and the plan is to position the red phone box on a roadway at the museum created for the cable car.
Once the restoration of the phone box is completed one of the glass window panels will feature a ‘thank you’ message to Manx Telecom in recognition of the donation. The origins of the original red telephone box design go back to the 1920s when the Royal Fine Art Commission launched a competition. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s cast iron design was chosen and became a British icon with its bright red livery and featuring the monarch’s Crown under its domed roof. In 2010 The Observer included Scott’s red telephone box design in a list of Britain’s 10 best public works of art.
http://isleofman.isle-news.com/archives/transport-museum-calls-manx-telecom-for-vintage-phone-box/8581/
