29 December, 2010

At the Angers telephone booth : "it's an emergency!"

One of the most popular symbol of the British culture in Angers is in peril. Located at the corner of the Saint-Aubin street and Des Lices street, the ultimate red telephone booth of Her Gracious Majesty is a pitiful sight. Spattered with teared posters and graffitis, its door is amputated and most of its small panes of glass have been smashed. Is only the phone working ?

Installed there twenty years ago (another one was located on Foch boulevard and has been apparently removed), that icon of England could soon disappear if nothing is done to save it from rampage. The urban furnitures which surround it spoils a little bit more what was, before the appearance of the mobile phone, an irreplaceable equipment. What can explain such gratuitous acts of violence ?

Painted in red in order to be seen from a distance, the first cabin was set up in Birmingham in 1921. The last model, named K6, was produced up to 70 000 samples, of wich 13 000 are now scattered over the world. Very popular with the English, as are still buses, pillarboxes or cabs, a telephone booth may be sold on internet auctions at about 5 000 euros. Please Mr Antonini, listen to that SOS, save our booth, don't hang up!

No comments:

Post a Comment