Edinburgh Recollections

Recollections
1.	Tony Ivanov Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland	- Canongate
2.	George T Smith Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada	- Police Boxes in Use
3.	Neil Lawrence Colinton, Edinburgh	- Police Box Dump
4.	George T Smith Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada	- Photos - Photos and Recollections
5.	George T Smith Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada	- Torphichen Street and Corstorphine
6.	David Legge Colinton, Edinburgh	- Henderson Street, Leith
7.	George T Smith Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada	- Further Research - Blue Lamps
8.	Peter Stubbs Edinburgh	- Sky Lantern
9.	George T Smith Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada	- Interiors
10.	Peter Stubbs Edinburgh	- Photos of Interiors - Community Policing - Boxes Open

Recollections

Tony Ivanov

Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland

Thank you to Tony Ivanov who wrote:

Canongate Police Box

"The police box on the north side of the Canongate is remembered well by me.

As a child, I used to live at Chessel's Court which is just down a little and on the opposite side of the road. I remember, on a least one occasion, being taken inside this box by the local policeman only to have my 'lugs skelped' for doing something I shouldn't have. If I'd told my parents I would have had another 'skelp' for having done something wrong in the first place.

I'm not saying I approve of this but maybe it wouldn't do some youngsters any harm to receive this short sharp method of punishment when caught misbehaving."

Tony Ivanov, Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland: October 7, 2010

Recollections

George T Smith

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Thank you to George Smith who wrote:

Police Boxes In Use

"The Police Boxes were an assurance of prompt help in days when domestic phones were much less common.

Although the boxes were a constant part of the street furniture in my youth, I was never bad enough to see the inside.

I always understood them to be a useful facility for the beat policeman. I am surprised no former policemen have made comments so far.

My brother, a former sergeant who now lives in Italy, says they were a useful stopping places on a cold night, but I think they had some more formal purpose. I have asked him for any comments or anecdotes he has, and have referred him to your site."

Questions

"When were they made obsolete? What reason was given? Are there still beat bobbies?

We seldom see police on foot in the local streets here in Canada, though occasionally one sees a pair on bicycles wearing crash helmets sweat shirts and cargo shorts. Canada has an informal dress code of course."

George T Smith, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada: October 8 + 10, 2010

Reply

Hi George:

- I believe that the Police Boxes were phased out around 1970, when the police were issued with personal radios.

- I frequently see Police 'on foot' around the centre of Edinburgh. They are a less common site around the suburbs.

- I remember reading, a year or two ago, that there were plans for the police to start using the box in the Grassmarket again. There can sometimes be rowdy behaviour in the Grassmarket on Saturday evenings.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: October 10, 2010

Recollections

Neil Lawrence

Fountainbridge, Edinburgh

Thank you to George Smith who wrote:

Police Box Dump

"I have been following with interest the various pictures of the old Edinburgh Police Boxes on the EdinPhoto site.

I grew up at Shandon and one of our favourite alternative playgrounds was the 'Police Box Dump'. We used to climb over into the North Merchiston Cemetery at the disused gents toilets that used to be situated at the main gate to the Caledonian Brewery

Once in the Cemetery we jumped over another wall at the far side which took us into the area now occupied by Gorgie Farm.

This was the 'Police Box Dump' – so named because there were about 20 old Police Boxes in various states of disrepair, stored in the centre of the area. It was great for games when you were aged 14 or 15 (in about 1976/77).

Corporation Ash Depot

This area had formerly been the Corporation ash depot, where ashes from everybody’s fires were loaded onto waiting railway wagons. The roadways were ramped to allow carts to dump waste ash straight into open topped wagons.

My wife’s Grandad worked there 'till the 1940s, when he was killed there after being kicked in the head by one of his work horses in 1946. Here is a picture of Robert Porteous holding the horse. He was killed by the horse. I assume the flags and horse brasses might have been a celebration of the end of he war in 1945, but I might be wrong).

Robert was survived by his 5 children and beloved wife Alison Melville Porteous who died in 1994, my wife shares he name.

This photograph was taken in what is Gorgie Farm. The cottages in the foreground are demolished now. I remember playing in their ruins in the early 1970s. The tenements in the background are the current tenements in Newton Street, just off Gorgie Road."

Neil Lawrence, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh: October 13, 2010

Gorgie Farm

Thank you to Neil Lawrence for telling me about the history of this site at Gorgie. The site was once a Corporation Ash Depot and subsequently became, Gorgie Farm.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: October 16, 2010

Recollections

George T Smith

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Photos

Here are some recent photos of Police Boxes still standing in the streets of Edinburgh. None of these is being used for its original purpose.

George Smith wrote:

Photos and Recollections

"In these days of police with mobile phones and Bluetooth-type radios it is difficult to imagine what the function of a police box was.

A few photos of the interior, and a glance at the exterior emergency phone system (a flap to the left of the door containing a red speaker) might be helpful.

It might also get some retired policeman to write a brief description of their use, together with a few anecdotes from either a policeman or felons/drunks."

George T Smith, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada:
December 22, 2010

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the interiors of police boxes with their original furnishings and equipment. Perhaps somebody else might be able to email me with a photo, or a few memories of the boxes.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: December 30, 2010

Recollections

George T Smith

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

George Smith wrote again and added:

Torphichen Street and Corstorphine

"My brother was a policeman from 1958 until his retirement, at Torphichen Street and Corstorphine Police Stations. I'll ask if he has any recollections about the interiors of 'Poliss Boaxes' and of the uses to which they were put. I think they were still in active use when he started.

I always believed they were a convenient place for beat bobbies to brew up tea, apart from possible use as a holding cell for drunks and other minor miscreants.

I recall a hand basin on the back wall and some sort of desk surface, no doubt for completion of log sheets, at our local box. It was on the 'Tram Island' at the junction of Gorgie Road and Balgreen Avenue."

George T Smith, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada: December 31, 2010

Recollections

David Legge

Colinton, Edinburgh

Thank you to David Legge who wrote:

Henderson Gardens

"I joined Edinburgh City Police in 1972 and was stationed in Leith. My first 'regular' beat was Box 2 at Henderson Gardens, opposite Deponio's? Chip Shop. This box had a wartime early warning siren on top that was tested every year."

Parties

"Each 'polis' had a 'box key' which you kept on the end of his whistle chain, along with your 'Metropolitan' whistle. The box comfortably seated two, but I have enjoyed parties in the box with five of us drinking 'bull', the drained wood alcohol from the empty barrels of whisky in the Docks."

Fire, Phone, Sink

"A one-bar electric fire kept us warm in winter, usually with a recovered cast out oil filled heater supplementing. There was a telephone which took you through to the Leith Police Station Operator or to another of the twelve police boxes that covered 'D' Division (Leith). Each shift had twelve officers, one on at each box, sometimes doubled up with new recruits. This whole area is now covered by 2 or 4 officers in vehicles.

A sink provided water for drinking and by standing on the stool and bench, one could manage a pee in the sink. A bottle of strong disinfectant was always at hand."

Communications

"The 'civvie driver' delivered all our mail daily. On each eight-hour shift, you got at least one visit from your Section Sgt. and maybe the Inspector. We used the two-piece Pye blue radios, ala Z cars and we changed the batteries each shift when we went into the station for our 'piece'.

On the night-shift, which was 9.45pm until 6am, you carried round a battery hand lamp and the beat keys and reference book which gave you access to properties to check the security and contact the owners if something was amiss."

Crimes

"On Tuesdays, the 'Stolen Car List' came out and, armed with this, you had to check your entire beat for dumped, stolen cars.

Each complaint received was recorded in the Box Complaint Book and dealt with and answered in 14 days.

You signed on in the Box Journal, did a 'half-hourly turn' then 'hourly turns' after that. All your beat was covered and you knew everything that was happening. If a property was discovered broken into after you had been on nightshift, you were phoned at your house and roused from your sleep to explain how you missed the crime!

Wonderful memories."

David Legge (Ex PC 96 - D), Colinton, Edinburgh: July 5, 2011

Recollections

George T Smith

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Research

Thank you to George Smith telling me about a Canadian contributor to the Tardisbuilders web site. The contributor's name is "Starcross".

Here are some of the facts "Starcross" has discovered.

- there were 142 boxes installed in Edinburgh

- the boxes appear to have been made at Caron Ironworks

- in other locations (i.e. not Edinburgh) they were made of concrete

- in all UK locations they were painted blue - except in Glasgow where they were painted red.

More Photos

Please click this Tardisbuilders link to see:

- blueprints of an Edinburgh police box.

- photos of some Edinburgh police boxes, interior and exterior.

- a press photo of the formal inauguration of the Edinburgh Police Box system on May 25, 1933.

- a press photo from 1962 showing the original police box in the Grassmarket, complete with siren on top.

- recollections about the use and testing of sirens on boxes, up to the early-1990s.

- a photo of the remote 'sky lantern' for the Hunter Square box mounted on the corner of North Bridge and the Royal Mile. These lanterns were normally mounted on top of the boxes.

Acknowledgement: George T Smith,Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada:
July 11, 2011

Recollections

Peter Stubbs

Edinburgh

Sky Lantern

In 'Recollections 7', George T Smith gives a link to a web site with various photos relating to police boxes, including one of the 'sky lantern' on the corner of North Bridge and High Street, for the police box nearby.

This sky lantern is still in place. I took a couple of photos of it recently. Please click on the thumbnail images below to see them:

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: July 26, 2011

Recollections

George T Smith

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

George Smith wrote:

Interiors

"I have always been curious about the interior of police boxes and wonder if the sale procedure will give you an opportunity to photograph an interior.

I always imagined that there would have been some sort of tea- making device, an oversized ashtray, sink and/or toilet facility and no doubt some sort of hold-fast for hand cuffed criminals awaiting the Black Maria.

I imagine my curiosity is shared by many others."

George T Smith, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada: May , 2012

Recollections

10.

Peter Stubbs

Edinburgh

Photos of Interiors?

Thanks, George, for your message. I'll try to photograph an interior to add to the web site. It might not be during the sales process, as boxes are only being opened by special arrangement for potential purchasers.

However, this recent article in the Evening News - under the heading 'Thinking Inside the Box' - suggests that there may be other opportunities.

Here is an extract from the article, which incidentally had the heading

'Thinking Inside the Box' !

Community Policing

"Three Police Boxes in East Edinburgh are set to be reopened for the first time in years in a bid to boost the force's links with the community.

The boxes in Duddingston Road West, Jock's Lodge and Craigentinny Road will be refurbished and used to host surgeries where residents can meet with officers to discuss problems with crime and other issues."

[Edinburgh Evening News, May 18, 2012, p.7]

Boxes Open

It is planned to open these boxes for just a few hours each week, at set times for each box. I hope the refurbishment mentioned will not have taken away too many of the original fittings in these boxes.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: May 24, 2010