IOM
Phoneboxes: St John's

The red
phonebox is a British landmark pre-dating WW2, found abundantly in
both urban and rural areas, and for several decades was the most
effective means of communication between the people of Great
Britain, alongside that of the Royal Mail Postage Service, which
also used to be operated by the General Post Office; encompassing
both postal and telephone communication. They have survived through
some harsh decades' worth of poor British weather, facing storm,
snow, torrential rain accompanied by blistering heat (though not as
much heat as the other weather variations!). The phonebox has been
with us almost as long as living human memory; however its downfall
is soon to come. They are too costly, too infrequently used, too
much a bother to the organizations which service them, to be of
much profitable value. Some have already been uprooted, taken away
and left for scrap, merely because of the small cost of electricity
required to power them, and with the era of the mobile phone
completely upon us, their demise can only be hastened.
However, it
is because of their cultural, sentimental and heartening value that
I have decided to create a series of caches which will (hopefully)
eventually include every phonebox left standing on the Isle of Man.
I would also like to dedicate this series to my loving uncle, a
part-time historian, who has documented the progression of human
communication including, with great reference, the British phonebox
in one of his books, and has also expertly taken the pictures to
accompany each one, throughout all seasons of the year.
I’ve
gone for a largish sized tuppaware snap-lock box some distance from
the telephone box due to the lack of adequate hiding places. Park
at the waypoint (St John’s School Car-Park), then make your
way westwards along the railway lines, passing the Viking
long-boat, then taking the first little track on your right,
bringing you to the large, round car-park (you could park in here I
suppose, but it’s a little tricky finding the entrance). The
cache is behind the first tree on your right – approach from
the far-side (over the white board) to avoid brambles. Original
contents: Lego, Argentina Disc, highlighter, Scotland Flag Card,
Muggle-Proof card and logbook + pencil.