Tag: Phonebox

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

The traditional (not) red British telephone box

fishyfisharcade3 Comments

One of the things that the UK is famous for is it’s traditional red telephone boxes. While many of these have now disappeared (or been turned into mini-libraries, or defibrillator locations) due to the rise of mobile telephone, a lot of them still remain, particularly in large cities. But in Kingston upon Hull, these boxes are not red, they are cream.

This is to differentiate them from the phones owned and manged by British Telecom (and before it, the Post Office). Way back before the Post Office took on ownership of the public phone network, it was managed on an individual basis by local councils. While the rest of the country ceded control, Hull kept a grip on its own network and has managed it separately ever since, first through the Hull Corporation Phone Department, and now through Kingston Communacations (KCOM). And so, while the phone box designs are the same as elsewhere, their paint colour is not.

They're different in Hull
Car parking and telephony

Nikon F80 & Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins.

Taken on 9 August 2025

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A barn(?) and a phonebox

fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I think this building is a barn, but my understanding of farm architecture is limited. It stands in the small village of Eaton, right beside the main road through the settlement. A phone box stands in front of it, although it’s now been converted into a mini-library. I missed the focus on the phone box shot slightly (the point of focus ended up on the planet just behind it – I love the photos I can achieve with the GW690, but it’s rangefinder patch is not the easiest to see), which I’m a bit miffed about.

Village barn
Telephone

Fujica GW690 & Kentmere 100 (@400) Rodinal 1 hour semi-stand development. 1+100 in 500ml of water, with a couple of extra ml of developer added.

Taken on 2 August 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

No more golf

fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The photo today is of the clubhouse at Renishaw Golf Course. Or should I say the former Renishaw Golf Course, because it closed last year. The course is bordered by the River Rother at its eastern boundary and as such is subject to flooding. I would often drive past following periods of heavy rain and see some of the fairways submerged, perhaps due to the rainfall alone, but perhaps also when flood defences have been engaged on the river, causing it to flood in certain areas to protect others.

I don’t believe the club house ever flooded as it’s at a higher elevations, but it’s now up for sale.

I have more photos from the golf course that I’ve taken in recent months. It’s amazing how quick nature begins to reclaim such places when they are no longer actively maintained.

Something good that happened today…

Our house (just to be clear, not the Renishaw Golf Course clubhouse!) is currently up for sale as we’re hoping to move to a bungalow (albeit a large bungalow suitable for the four of us). Someone who came to look at our house last week has offered the asking price, which is good. We now have the challenge of finding somewhere that we would like to move into which, given the dearth of such properties on the market at present, may take some time..

No more golfing

Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins.

Taken on 26 October 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Phone box and town hall

fishyfisharcade2 Comments

There are still a number of the old K6 telephone boxes in Sheffield city centre, a lot of them clustered around the town hall area. This one stands on Leopold Street and has seen better days. I’ve photographed it on quite a few occasions, and it’s featured in the blog on at least one previous occasion.

There are still numerous K6 phone boxes around the country, but the ones out of town centres rarely contain telephones anymore, now tending to be used to house mini-libraries, or sometimes defibrillators.

Something good that happened today…

I had a call with a customer that I had been a little nervous about (this is not unusual, I often feel nerves before such calls, despite never having had one go badly), but it went well, which is always a relief. People I’ve been on customer calls with have always fed back on how confident and composed I am, but my own inner imposter-syndrome tends to try and tell me otherwise.

On Leopold Street

Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins.

Taken on 25 October 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Engulfed by ivy

fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This telephone box at Shireoaks is slowly being engulfed by ivy. Perhaps it wants to make a call?

It was slightly awkward to make the shot as, firstly the sun disappeared behind the largest cloud in the sky, and then a guy in a van pulled up behind our car and asked if we could move as we were blocking a gate (although there were no signs or markings stating that this wasn’t allowed – it wasn’t a gate that vehicles could pass through, and it could be easily entered be people). As a result I had to grab the shot pretty quickly as soon as the light re-appeared.

Engulfed

Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 12 July 2020