Remember?
Mr William Arnold works as a teacher at Falmouth College. He has a bit of a "thing" about phone boxes, very much a disappearing breed from the streets of the UK.
This particular phone box has recently benefited from his obsessional passion.
It does look a bit different with double doors rather that one single heavy door that always wants to stay closed! It is at Enaclete (or Enacleit, opinions vary).
Except that it isn't, quite.
This is a Google Earth view of Enaclete/Enacleit ...
... and, despite much zooming and peering, fbb could find no shop, no pub, no post office, no post box and, significantly, no phone box within the curtilage of the village, a k a hamlet, a k a group of cottages.
There was no bus stop either, which might make Part 2 of this blog a bit tricky.
Using Streetview, however, your frustrated blogger did find a caravan tied down with string, a telling comment on Enaclete's meteorological manifestations.
Oh, yes; Enaclete is on the Isle of Lewis, the larger part of the Isle with two names.
The box location is too small to feature on the above map, but it lies almost due west of the capital, Stornoway.
There are two ways to get to Stornoway; by big ferry from Ullapool ...
... or by a slightly smaller big ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye docking at Tarbert ...
... and a lengthy but picturesque W10 bus. Ages ago fbb and Mrs used the latter route outbound and the former to return.
That gets you to Stornway, so where next?
Take the RED A859 (the Island's ONLY main road) to Leurbost, then A858 (mostly a thinmer road) to Garynahine then the even thinner YELLOW B8059 and B8011 to somewhere near Gisla ...
... one of the larger places on the B8011. Indeed, a short distance north of Gisla you would drive straight past Enaclete which is smaller than Gisla and on a quiet (?) side road off the "main" B8011 ...
... so don't miss the turn!
But no phone box!
In fact, Enaclete's phone box is back on the main road well north of the bustling metropolis!
It is, indeed, Mr Arnold's chosen box with its own street lamp and those distinctive double doors.
So, how did the arcophonic*** enthusiast explain himself?
But, more to the point, how did he get there? Falmouth to Enaclete seems quite a challenge by public transport.
Spoiler alert! The journey involves three days travel with two overnight stops!
All will be revealed in tomorrow's blog!
But he did actually go; as shown here making a call from the box ...
... with double doors!
Phone Box Snippets
The red telephone box is a kiosk for a pay phone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for famous sites like Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station.
The archetypical UK phone box is the K6 ...
... but its replacement was never as popular with the public.
Cream boxes are standard in Hull, where the phone system is run independently of BT.
Some K6 rare varieties are green in rural areas.
This black and white box is in a little village called Achfary in Sutherland.
No, neither did fbb! Its almost at the top left of Scotland (blue arrow).
It no longer houses a phone, but, if you are ever in need of a defibrillator when passing through Achfary ...
... that's where you will find one.
One popular use for a redundant box is as a book-share mini library.
Mr Arnold's aim is to publicise phone boxes to ensure that they are not just preserved but preserved in use.
Excellent Executive Endorsement
Recently, Andy Burham, Prime Minister and professional northerner (remember him?), was asked which Greggs product was his favourite. Apparently ...
... he opted for the sausage, bean and cheese "thing". So here's how Greggs have reacted to his gustatory opinion.
Cheap advertising, eh?
*** Arcophone Arcophonic : from Greek 'arc' for 'box' - a possible word for a phone box enthusiast?
Next Enaclete blog : Saturday 15th August
