Ian Scott: Falkirk Bairns abroad can find a proper phone from home

Congratulations to Duncan Comrie and his colleagues for all their efforts in keeping this vital part of our history to the fore.

Some years ago in Malta I visited the town of Mosta to see the fantastic domed church.

It is a design masterpiece but I only had eyes for the red telephone box to the left of the building.

Closer inspection revealed the message ‘Carron, Stirlingshire’ – a little piece of Falkirk 1,500 miles from home.

I wasn’t surprised because I had already spotted a post box in Valetta marked ‘McDowell and Stevens, Falkirk and London’ as well as kiosks all over the place.

Of course Falkirk folk are well used to finding things like this in various parts of the world and especially where the imperial Brits have left their mark.

It is often said that you can usually spot a ‘Bairn’ abroad walking on the ramparts of castles and forts carefully examining all the big cannons for the Carron makers mark!

Although the famous guns made the company’s fortune in the early centuries it was the pillar boxes and telephone kiosks which helped keep the company afloat in the 20th century as demand for cast iron goods declined.

The first pillar box in Britain was erected in Jersey in 1852, followed three years later by six in London.

Various designs were tried including hexagonal pillars before the classic cylinder became the settled version.

It survived until modern times and is still the most familiar on our streets.

Carron were early in the business with contracts from the Post Office from around 1860.

Over the years thousands were cast and finished in Mungal Foundry’s Structural Department.

The evolution of the classic telephone kiosk was a more convoluted process beginning around 1900.

Several weird and wonderful designs were produced including some with thatched roofs to suit rural and seaside views, and others with domes to help them blend in with historic places.

There were even concrete versions.

Some incorporated letter boxes and stamp machines but by 1924 the Post Office had taken the decision to stick by an agreed standard design in cast iron.

Three architects were invited to tender: Sir John James Burnet (educated at Blairlodge Academy in Polmont) and Sir Robert Lorimer were not successful as the contract was awarded to Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

Give or take a tweak or two his design remains the one we all recognise.

A decade later the same architect made some modifications and the Post Office adopted red as the universal colour of what was named the ‘Jubilee’ kiosk to mark the 25th year of George V’s reign.

It was better known as the K6 and Carron also made these by the tens of thousands.

The inside mechanism with buttons A and B appeared and few folk of my vintage will forget the process of making a call from one of these boxes.

Put in your money (a few pennies as I remember) dial the number and when the other person answered press button A to connect.

If there was no reply, press button B and your cash came clattering down.

Nowadays with mobile phones everywhere, the kiosks are slowly disappearing and will vanish completely unless we support the campaigns to find them a new role in our communities.