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Pillar Box

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Comment on Pillar Box

I have always thought that all Pillar Boxes in the UK were red till a recent and first ever visit to Guernsey only to find Blue boxes all over the Island. On return I went on a family stroll around Windsor in Berkshire. Guess what. Right next to Windsor Castle are a Red and Blue standing next to each other and there next to the Guildhall where Prince Charles married Camila is standing an Olive Green Box. I have suddenly become a 'Pillar Box Spotter'. 'ER' 'GR' 'VR' it matters not how old - what a fasinating subject. My family have just bought me a new anorak.

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2008-03-14 by Graham Le-Gall from Eastcote, Middlesex


Comment on Pillar Box

I remember the pillar boxes from my tour with the USAF in England and always thought them particularly unique to England. They should go in the list of icons.

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2008-01-07 by Don Selby from Canton, Ohio, U.S.A.


Comment on Pillar Box

In answer to Paul Sainsbury from Devon, the code for Pillar-box red is: colour ref no. 538 BS381C. I expect everyone out there has seen this interesting document but if not, have a look at this link: www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/letterbox.pdf English Heritage and Royal Mail have promised to protect and preserve pillar boxes and the above is their joint policy statement. Well done both - let's hope you follow it forever!

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2007-09-26 by Anne-Marie Loader from East Sussex


Comment on Pillar Box

Because we see it every day and it is really important in our lives!

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2007-07-17 by De-Graft from England


Comment on Pillar Box

Post boxes come in many shapes and sizes. Also they almost always have a Royal Cipher & Crown. In Scotland it is a different one to the rest of the UK. There is also a Post Box Appreciation Society

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2007-07-16 by Ray Stockall from Chippenham Wilts


Colour Code for Pillar Box Red

I have just purchased an old Telephone box which I am going to use as a garden ornament. Can anyone tel me what the correct Colour Code is for Pillar Box Red? Regards

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2007-01-23 by Paul Sainsbury from Devon


Comment on Pillar Box

I'm South African, 47 years old, and have been living and working here for more than five years now. The Pillar Box appears all over South Africa, is red, also called pillar box-red, and is scatterd all around, just as here in the UK......

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2006-12-21 by Reevo Anders from Chelmsford


Comment on Pillar Box

Interesting that you should feature a pillar box on a site entitled 'Icons of England'. Pillar boxes are thoroughly British, not English. The first pillar boxes were manufactured by the Carron Company in Falkirk. No colour was specified in the order but, because they were cast-iron and would have gone rusty quickly, they needed to be painted as soon as possible after production. It so happened that Carron had a job-lot of paint in stock so they just used that. The paint was bright red and soon became known as 'pillar box red'. That colour, of course, remains an impoprtant feature of the UK Royal Mail's livery

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2006-12-18 by Mike Nagel from Edinburgh


Comment on Pillar Box

I notice another comment on the Red Pillar Box was that 'you don't get them abroad', actually, you do - and when I saw them - it did make me think of home immediately. Sri Lanka and parts of India for example, still have the old red pillar boxes - and as they were presumably installed during the Raj (they all seem to have VR on them) they were clearly built to last!

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2006-11-10 by Sarah from Wirral


Gosport Station - a Victorian box by Cochrane Grove

The station is disused and unrecognisable, but it's pillar box remains and is stiil in use. It was the first photograph in my collection

Comment on Pillar Box posted 2006-11-08 by Kim Knight from Gosport, Hants, UK


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