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Today only some forty remain, but just after the second war there where some 1,000. They where once a welcome sight for the motorist well into the 1960,s. Also a reminder when motoring was sometimes still a adventure. They where so common that they never rated a second glance. But the rise of modern communications was the signal for there demise. They have more than once helped the stranded motorist, and a few buses in their time. If you find one today you can look but not use, they remain a silent and unused a reminder of a past age. One of when the roads where much less crowded, and personal communication's was the phone (Kiosk or at home). This reminder the humble A.A. roadside phone kiosk.

First, introduced in 1912, and called sentry boxes, they where used to give shelter to A.A. patrol men in bad weather. Soon phones where installed in the early boxes allowed members who had a key, to ring for assistance. Today no pre-war style boxes remain, only the boxes of the 1947 design. It may come as a surprise, that a number of the A.A. boxes now have preservation orders on them. At one time the A.A. said, they where to renovate the reaming boxes to the 1947 style with the old winged A.A. Badge on them, but at this moment I do not know of this work been undertaken. Long gone are the days of your membership book and kiosk key.

During the 1970s and 1980s new smaller economical cabinets where used to replace the kiosks. Today with the expansion of the telephone network, and now mobile phones, the A.A. kiosk is defiantly accorded to the history books.

The R.A.C also had a number of roadside boxes, like the A.A. though not as numerous as the A.A. Though the history of the R.A.C boxes had a similar history. First introduced in 1913, as a form of protection for roadside patrolmen in inclement weather. Like the A.A. the R.A.C soon decided to add a phone in the boxes the first in 1919. This allowed key-holders to make phonecalls to summon assistance. The number of R.A.C boxes only numbered some 550, compared to the A.A having some 1,000. Though I believe they both used the same key allowing use by both organisations. Unlike the A.A. boxes, no R.A.C. boxes have survived on the roadside. So they now only survive as photographs. The box photographed here was found at the Tramway Museum, Crich. But on a recent visit was not to be found.

The Bundy clock was once a common site on the streets of the larger towns and cites of Britain, they where used to regulate the time keeping of trams and buses. Usually places at the terminus of a tram or bus route. The crew had to use the Bundy clock to register the time of arrival at the terminus. Some where operated by a key usually given to the conductor, and this receded the time of arrival. Some punched a card like clocking on at work. To prove what time they arrived. They slowly went out of use in the 1960s. And today have vanished from the street of Britain. Today with the advent of modern communications, soon buses will be tracked in real time.

This example is to be found at the Tramway Museum, Crich.