The Audio Long Read From the archive: The last phone boxes: broken glass, cider cans and – amazingly – a dial tone
Apr 30, 2025
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Phone Box as Child's Toy
- Sophie Elmhurst and her daughter played an imaginative game with a non-working phone box near their home.
- The phone box fascinated the child as a mysterious, giant phone unlike her pocket device.
Unexpected Usage of Phone Boxes
- Over 20,000 phone boxes still work in the UK despite seeming obsolete.
- Yet 5 million calls are made annually from payphones, which seems surprisingly high.
Phone Boxes as Cultural Icons
- Phone boxes represent a tangible, iconic part of Britain's identity.
- They join symbols like double-decker buses and black taxis as markers of traditional British culture.