不再響起的紅色電話亭

紅色電話亭是一個很有紀念意義的英國特色標志。但隨著移動通信設備的普及，這些電話亭已失去了最初的使用價值，大部分已經從這個國家的街頭挪走，而更多的已經消失了。它們都去哪了呢？

They’re 1）battered， rusting and flaky， some having stood in the sun， rain， wind and snow without any attention for three decades.

A few have weeds poking through gaps that once housed glass panels. Row after row of retired red telephone boxes remain in a yard near Merstham， Surrey， awaiting their fate. In a few weeks， maybe a few years， they will begin an afterlife—abroad， or， more likely， in British gardens.

Staff at Unicorn Restorations spend up to 30 hours stripping old 2）kiosks， repainting them in the same shades of red once 3）stipulated by the General Post Office and putting in new glass. Finished booths are packed into wooden crates， looking a little like enlarged coffins， for shipping. “The reanimated corpse emerges from a case at the other end，” jokes Christian Lewis， the company’s restorations manager.

In 2002 there were 92，000 BT payphones across the UK. Today 57，500 remain， of which just 9，400 are traditional red models. Mobile phones mean most of those are now little used.

Yet they still inspire affection. The classic red kiosk was voted the greatest British design of all time earlier this year， beating the Routemaster double-decker bus and the union flag into second and third places.

“I think the appeal of the red telephone box is based on two things，” says design critic Stephen Bayley. “First， the very pleasing 4）neo-classical proportions and details which， in some mysterious way， are always satisfying wherever they are found. Second， perhaps at another unconscious level， it reminds us of a moment， alas long passed， when public service companies maintained a notion of civic responsibility and used beauty and utility to meet that end.”

There are about 70 red phone boxes in the Merstham yard. Costing between ￡2，000 and ￡10，000 when fully restored， they are not a cheap 5）adornment. Renovated boxes have gone to Greece， Australia， Italy， France， Switzerland， Abu Dhabi and the U.S.

One resides on the fourth floor of a Manhattan office building， a British theatrical agent having bought it. China and Russia are growing markets， but the UK remains the biggest.

“They’re a reminder of a time when things were built to last and to show the pride people had in their communities and the things that they had to share， including public telephones，” says Lewis.

“Up to 90 years later they’re still standing. Everyone in the world knows them. If you went to New York and didn’t see a yellow cab， it would be a total let-down. It’s the same with red phone boxes if someone came to visit Britain.”

Many of the red boxes， the most common of which is the K6 model， were 6）decommissioned in the mid-1980s when newly privatised British Telecom replaced them with the aluminium-framed KX100.

In 2012， BT again began selling them off. “Numbers of red and modern kiosks are set to continue to shrink， as we cut their numbers to match demand，” a spokesman says.

Telephone kiosks first appeared in the 1900s. These were usually inside shops and hotels， providing a quiet area from which to make calls.

Localised designs for outdoor kiosks came into use， but it was not until 1921 that the first standardised version， the cream-coloured K1， was put into use. In 1924， the General Post Office （GPO） ran a competition to design a new uniform kiosk. The winner was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s K2， the first one made currently standing outside London’s Royal Academy of Art.

It was said to have been inspired by the tomb in St Pancras， London， by architect Sir John Soane， who designed the Bank of England. Square-based， it has a similarly rounded roof.

But the K2， which stood 9ft 4in （2.8m） tall and measured 3ft 6in （1m） wide， was considered expensive and 7）unwieldy. The GPO tried various other types until Gilbert Scott’s update， the K6—which most people would today consider the traditional phone box—appeared on the streets in 1935. After a few modifications to prevent 8）vandalism， a total of 70，000 were made. Wooden-doored， standing 8ft 4in（2.5m） tall and measuring 3ft （0.9m） wide， they weigh around three-quarters of a tonne （1，650lb）， 9）necessitating a crane to move them.

In 1968， the more modern-looking K8—with three large single panes of glass， rather than the small barred windows of the K6， which became a target for vandals—came into use. At first it was painted yellow， but this didn’t catch on and it moved to red.

Not all red phone boxes end up in restoration yards， of which there are several around the UK. In fact， Lewis says the supply is dwindling， which is likely to push up costs for collectors.

Part of the reason is BT’s Adopt-a-Kiosk scheme， in place since 2012， which allows councils and charities to purchase a red phone box for ￡1， ensuring it stays in place.

Several now house 10）defibrillators. Two phone boxes near Brighton’s Pavilion have been turned into a street cafe. Villagers in Draughton， North Yorkshire， used a vacant red box， as a replacement when the local shop closed down. It operated on an “honesty” basis， users leaving money after taking goods stored inside.

And the greenhouse-like qualities of a red box in Cumbria， allowed villagers to use it to grow tomatoes. Others in central London have been used as mobile phone-charging points， powered by solar panels on the roof.

“It’s great what they’re doing to keep them in use，”says Lewis. “If you wanted a three-foot square space on a pavement to set up a business or anything else， you’d never get planning permission. It provides a great vantage point， because it’s so distinctive and visible.”

“They used to be the only way lots of people could use a phone，” says Lewis. “For a long time you had to go on the waiting list to get a home phone， so seeing a phone box was reassuring. You used to have to queue to use them， though.”

它們變得破舊不堪、銹跡斑斑、支離破碎，部分電話亭無人照看，在日曬雨淋中度過了三十年。

有些電話亭的玻璃已剝落，縫隙中長出了雜草。成排成排的廢舊紅色電話亭立在薩里郡梅爾薩姆附近的一個院子里，等待著命運的宣判。幾周后，也可能是幾年后，它們會有一個新的使命——被運送出國，或者，很可能被放置在英國的公園里。

獨角獸修復公司的員工要花長達30個小時來給這些殘舊的電話亭剝去舊漆，重新涂上一樣的紅色（郵政總局規定的紅色）和裝上新的玻璃。修復好的亭子會被裝在木箱里等待運送，這些木箱有點像大號棺材。”這些翻新過的尸體將在另一個地方從箱子里出來，”該公司的修復經理克里斯琴·劉易斯開玩笑道。

在2002年，英國有92，000個電信收費電話。今天還有57，500個，其中只有9，400個是傳統的紅色電話亭。移動電話使得大部分公共電話失去使用價值。

但它們仍然討人喜歡。在今年早些時候，這些經典的紅色亭子在大眾投票中得分最高，被認為是英國歷史上最偉大的設計，排在第二、第三位的分別是“街頭霸主”雙層巴士和英國國旗。

“我認為紅色電話亭有兩個吸引之處，”設計評論家斯蒂芬·貝利說。“首先，賞心悅目的新古典成分和細節使得它們無論放在哪里都讓人覺得合適，其中的原因很難說清楚。……