back lengthen and widen, knees forward and away

We had just finished a really interesting and informative guided tour of Buckingham Palace Garden – but taking photographs was not allowed.  What to do as a reminder of what was a really interesting afternoon – easy!  Cross Buckingham Palace Road and photograph Alan and Richard  in front of this pillar box.  Note Alan and Richard are still wearing their yellow tour stickers.

Bonnie took this photo of Liz in front of this lovely old VR box in Thurleigh Road while they were out dog-walking.  At first glance, and a quick dip into my ‘Old Letter Boxes’ book by Martin Robinson (available on Amazon), I  reckon it’s about 1871.

I now need to refer to a Letter Box expert and I’ve asked Bonnie to:

• measure the size of the box (the last wall boxes of Queen Victoria’s reign were made in four sizes)
• confirm whether POST OFFICE  is written on the lid (not clear from photo)
• measure the aperture (less than 8 inches means that it’s original and wasn’t enlarged in situ between 1959 and 1965 by cutting out the aperture and fitting a new casting over it.  I don’t think so in this case which makes it extra exciting!)

Update:

Info from Bonnie.

The box is between 119 and 123 Thurleigh, up on the left from us next to a
long white gate.  Width 16ins, length 33ins, apeture 7 in x 3 and a half
ins.  Says V R at the top with a crown in between

Waiting for Chris Taft to come with answers to my questions and will then update post

This new interest of mine in letter boxes came from visiting the Post Office Museum Store at Debden Station on the Central Line with AOD.

http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/

The idea is to find interesting letter boxes near where friends live and photograph them with them.  Ignoring for the moment the EIIR pillar box in Bonnington Square, here’s an older and more interesting one in South Lambeth Road, just past Fentiman Road.  As it is near me, I will get my photograph taken with it sometime.

The GR on letter boxes shows the monarch who was on the throne at the time the box was made.  Where the G and R are plain bold separate letters as here, they are the cipher mark used by King George V and thus the box was made during his reign (1910-1936).  If the GR is interwoven and has a VI between then it is his son, George VI, who reigned from 1936-1952.  It does occur that doors are replaced and a box may be older than the door but that is not all that common and the age of the box can usually be guessed from the cipher information above.