Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Following on from Peter's thread about roadside Police phones:

Do any interesting items of old roadside furniture survive in your area, or in places you've visited?

I'm thinking signs, petrol pumps in their original locations, AA phone boxes that have been preserved, tramline poles, and so on ....

RJ
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[Ronniej]

A few AA boxes have been preserved in their location although they are no longer operational. Most of these sites were chosen for their scenic qualities or their connection with some aspect of motoring history.
For example there is one at Cambus O'May near Ballater and Porlock Hill in Somerset.
I like driving my oldies in the Scottish Borders as many of these roads are still quiet enough to give an impression of what I imagine pre-war motoring may have been like.
On the road between Selkirk and Moffat there is a preserved box close to St Mary's Loch at Cappercleuch and this illustrates the problem with the preserved boxes: There does not seem to be any formal arrangements to maintain them. I understand some are maintained by local persons on a strictly voluntary basis. Sadly, the Cappercleuch box is in a remote location and has no-one to maintain it. The last time I passed it was in a very dilapidated condition.
It would be very sad if these links with our motoring history were to be lost.
To an organization the size of the AA the cost of maintaining these boxes would be minimal and would represent the sort of advertising most commercial organisations would be delighted to get.
As far as I am aware there are no RAC boxes preserved in their locations but I believe there are several in private collections.

[Penman]

Hi
Box 472 has it's own website.
http://aabox472.webs.com/

And it is surprising that Rick didn't mention in his OP the one at Mere Xrds A50/A556 jct.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

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[peter scott]

East Lothian still retains nice sign posts.


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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[peter scott]

https://goo.gl/maps/pDSM5
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

The Post Office in my village still carries a tired enamel sign that says "Telegraph Office". I don't think I have ever seen another.

[peppiB]

Partner's brother in law has a 1930's petrol pump outside his (very) rural Post Office. Sadly the glass globe has long since disappared

[BigJohn]

Nice AA box on the A684 near Aysgarth

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=File:AA_Box_442_-_Geograph_-_639035.jpg

[D4B]

Saw this lovely old Fuel Pump in the village where we stayed in Wales (2011)

[Ellis]

I thought you may be interested in this.

[img]

This is one of a series of milestones along the A5. This particular one is sited in the our village and every mile thereafter.
Thomas Telford engineered the road now known as the A5 from London to Holyhead in the early years of the C19th. It was known as Watling Street in Roman times.
Whether this milestone dates from Telford's time I am not sure as the style of stone and lettering varies according to area but it is definitely C19th.

The original, ie pre Telford, milestones were stone obelisks here in North Wales and I know of only one which is the middle of a farm yard on the isle of Anglesey and some distance from Telford's road. [/img]
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1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
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[MVPeters]

Some years ago I found 2 web sites that included lists of all the extant AA boxes & related furniture.
There was some slight difference between the two lists, but as I recall. there are about 40+/- still around.
Here's the only list I can find for now:

Box 753 – B974, the Cairn o’ Mount road south of Banchory, Glen Dye.

Box 746 – Looking south towards Grantown-on-Spey. At the junction of the A939 and A940 at Dava.

Box 723 – A708 Cappercleuch St Marys Loch.

Box 714 – A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road at Threapland near Lhanbryde.

Box 573 – Garrowby Hill.

Box 530 – A149 near Brancaster.

Box 504 – Sutherland on the old A9 between Tain and Ardgay.

Box 487 – A591 North of Grasmere, Lakes, Cumbria LA22 9RS.

Box 472 – Cambus O’May, A93, Aberdeenshire AB35 5SE.

Box 456 – A3052 towards the junction with the B3180 road. Its postcode is EX5 2JP.

Box 442 – A684 south, just over a mile east of the turn to Aysgarth Falls.

Box 372 – A556/A50, Mere.

Box 189 – Bakewell, Derbyshire.

Box 175 – Glasgow’s Museum of Transport.

Box 161 – Junction of A479 with A40.

Box 44 – Amberley Working Museum.

Box 45 – National Phone Museum, Avoncroft.

Box 162 – NPM, Avoncroft.

Box 645 – Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.


Aa Box 372 at Mere Corner, Mere, Cheshire

Aa Box at Junction with New Road, Porlock, Somerset

Aa Box Number 573 to East of Garrowby Lodge, Bishop Wilton, The East Riding Of Yorkshire

Samlesbury Hall, Samlesbury, Lancashire

Aa Box No 456, Aylesbeare, Devon

Aa Box at Entrance to Entrance to Cobham Bus Museum, Esher, Surrey

Cappercleuch, Aa Sentry Box (no 723), Yarrow, Scottish Borders

Threapland Wood, Aa Sentry Box (no 714), Urquhart, Moray

Dava, Loch Allan, Aa Sentry Box (no 746), Cromdale, Inverallan And Advie, Highland

Ardgay, Midfearn, Aa Sentry Box (no 504), Edderton, Highland

Brachla, Aa Sentry Box (no 631), Inverness And Bona, Highland

Cambus O'May, Aa Sentry Box (no 472) at No 42632 97618, Glenmuick, Tullich And Glengairn, Aberdeenshire

Boduan Aa Telephone Box, Buan, Caernarfonshire

Aa Box 442, Burton Cum Walden, North Yorkshire

Aa Box No 456, Woodbury, Devon

Aa Telephone Kiosk Number 817, Beadnell, Northumberland

Automobile Association Box No 530, Brancaster, Norfolk

Aa Telephone Call Box No 487, Lakes, Cumbria

BLB=British Listed Buildings http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/search?q=AA

BC=http://www.breakdowncover.org/aa/aa-call-boxes
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Mike - MVPeters at comcast.net
2002 MINI Cooper 'S'

[DM]

A nice sign post near Bude

/Red%20Post_zpsfomc9zk2.jpg.html][/URL]

[Penguin45]

Aha! Surprisingly, this junction is known locally as ...........


Red Post. (Down the road from the aged parents, you know.)

P45.
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[Ray White]

[vitesse]

Probably some of the oldest metal street furniture still existing, dating from the 1860's is a ring of coal and wine tax posts that encircle London about 20 miles out and were installed by the City of London. As soon as you entered the ring you got taxed.

I don't know if anyone stood on the roadside to collect taxes?

They are made of wrought iron so explains why 220 of them still exist out of an estimated 260. They appear in the middle of fields sometimes, which apparently was done so that you couldn't use the excuse that you hadn't knowingly entered but most are by the roadside.