Britain was once dotted with the iconic red telephone box. Every tourist had to pose for a photograph next to this instantly recognisable British thing. Due to privatisation and the rise of the mobile phone, the boxes are a dying breed, most are abandoned or sold off. A few years ago the British government began letting towns adopt them, for one pound each. Some have been turned into churches, information centres, pieces of art, a library, and even a one-night only pub called the Dog and Bone. And now there is one that is the smallest museum in Wales. With a £1,000 in winnings from the BT Adopt-A-Kiosk scheme, the local authorities of Cilgerran in Pembrokeshire converted its red phone box into a museum celebrating the photography of Tom Mathias, a self-taught photographer, who documented daily life in rural West Wales. Tom’s glass negatives were dumped in an outhouse for nearly thirty years after his death in 1940, before being discovered and painstakingly saved and restored. The collection of conserved glass plates is housed at the Scolton Manor Museum in nearby Spittal, but now some of his prints are displayed in the phone box, about 50 metres from the old house where Mr Mathias once lived. With a new lease on life, this unique museum helps to preserve the traditions and culture of the country. As we all play with our smart phones…
Red telephone box, Wales, Britain
