Saving our Rural Phone Boxes - Council Vetos BT Plans to Scrap "Icons of England"

Saving our Rural Phone Boxes - Council Vetos BT Plans to Scrap "Icons of England"

BT may be on a mission to scrap all their uneconomic public phone boxes but thankfully local councils have a right of veto and are using it.

So I say well done to Winchester City Council which, according to this week's Hampshire Chroncicle, has just used its veto to preserve 37 of the 44 boxes threatened by BT. The reasons are mainly the poor level of mobile phone covereage or that they are in a key location for emergency calls.

This also follows a previous campaign in 2008 when residents convinced Winchester City Council to save 41 out of 43 blacklisted boxes.

Many of these boxes are our beloved red kiosks that are a part of our national heritage and promoted by Bill Bryon in the Campaign to Protect Rural England's fantastic and heart-warming book Icons of England ... so I have to say the romantic in me wants these to be preserved for posterity even if they are uneconomic.

BT does allow council's to "Adopt a Kiosk" (for £1 I think) with the wordings removed if they still want to save a kiosk for aesthetic or historic reasons butcannot justify the veto. Hopefully this will save even more and keep this dramatic element of our rural landscapes.

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Pub Signs Voted Top Icon of England

Pub Signs voted Top Icon of England

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has recently been asking us all to vote for our favourite English icons from their top 25.

Now the results are out and the worthy winner of the top slot is very deservedly our traditional Pub Signs. It is great to see our pub heritage recognised in this way, reminding us all of what an integral part of our culture our English pubs are.

To find out more click Pub Signs voted Top Icon of England.

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Pubs Walks Nominated as "Icon of England"

Pubs walks nominated as "icon of England"

A few weeks ago I happened upon a website "Icons – a Portrait of England" which seeks to capture all those elements of everyday life that make England what it is. It invites nominations for just about anything that people consider to be quintessentially English and has so far received over 1100 suggestions.

Nominations to date range from the unsurprising (roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, the English seaside town, afternoon tea and the red pillar box) to the rather more dubious (the word "blimey" and the TV programme "Countdown"). Real ale and our public footpaths are up there with the most popular too.

After a prospective icon has been nominated, visitors to the site simply click on a thumbs up “yes” or a thumbs down “no” to the question “is this an English icon?” and the site shows the percentage vote each way.

Given that pub walks combine two of our strongest traditions, I simply had to nominate them of course. And a Google search shows that this is almost uniquely an English hobby too.

It’s just a bit of fun I know but, if you think pub walks are an English icon, please go to Icons – a Portrait of England and click on the thumbs up “yes” vote! Thanks for taking part.

Today's pub walk: The White Hart (walk 3) in Campton, Bedfordshire.

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