Gayles is a village of three steep stony streets. If there is a centre, then it is the phone box. Walks all start from here
The defib has been installed in the phone box – it is unlocked, just turn the perspex cover anticlockwise to break the tamper seal. The location in ‘What3Words’ is:
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The old phone box will be stripped, repaired and repainted by a working party over a week or two, once the bad weather is behind us.
There are outstanding costs that we need to meet to get this project finally up and running. It was agreed at Gayles Parish Meeting that all homes in Gayles would be leafleted to ask for donations to support the cost of electricity and maintenance of the kit. A suggested donation of £10 per household was sought. At the parish meeting, all present donated this amount. The monies have been banked by the Dalton/Gayles Village Hall on our behalf as we have no bank account for the village.
Houses in the village were leafleted over a weekend with an end date of 16 March for replies
19/04/2021
Finally, the weather was warm enough to start the glass replacement on two sides of the phone box. Removing the old Perspex panels was more work than envisaged, and all the old putty (85 years curing) had to be chipped out. On the other hand, fitting of the new glass and metal retaining frames was faster and easier than suspected.
This job has been completed. A few days will be needed to cure the silicone sealant and then touching up of the red paint can be done.
27/01/2021
Glass to be installed when the weather is more clement
17/03/2020
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this project. To date, a total of £435 has been donated from the village and we expect even more donations to follow. This is terrific.
Update 20/03/2020 running total is £455. Update 03/04/2020 total £465
Once the present Covid-19 emergency is over, we plan to start up sessions on CPR and use of the AED and to have a grand opening of our refurbished Phone Box
The PhoneBox
The Gayles phone box is a K6 phone box with the Tudor Crown. These were installed between 1936 – 1953
These are found at shoulder height on the rear panel interior. P1 appears to be a marker for Panel 1 of the box. There is another embossed P2 mark, which should indicate panel 2.
The box therefore has 2 identical P1 panels, 1 P2 panel – the plane metal panel without windows and the teak door with glazing.
I think that C.C. means Carron Company. This is one of 5 iron works that made the K6. The C.C. is famous as the company that made Carronades – short squat cannon in the Napoleonic wars. Based in Falkirk.
NB the foundry plate – usually found on the rear of the box is missing.
Works carried out
27/03/2020 Dan has started painting the box. Looking good already. The defibrillator signs look good on the KH box. The present telephone signage is faded and probably should go
12/03/2020 – cabinet and AED installed – ready for use
11/03/2020 2nd coat of white paint to ceiling.
Fluorescent tubes removed to source new ones for light
Back wall cleaned and paint flake debris swept out
Painting the phonebox
To do:
Inside needs to be scraped and sanded. – done
Walls and windows to be washed – done
Window glass to replace Perspex – costed at around £250 for replacement glass and metal frames to hold glass in position
Door to be patched
Then repaint
Red undercoat – done
Red top coat – inside now done
Second top coat to the outside after a light sand down to enable key in of paint
Gold for crowns
Remove splashes of paint from existing glass windows
Measure up and stick on Defibrillator sticky labels to top 4 panels
Finally, fit new glass to 2 sides of phone box
Cabinet installation for AED booked for 12/03/2020
10/03/2020 Ceiling scraped free of loose paint and first coat of brilliant white matt applied. This will need another 2 coats
I don’t know what these marks mean – could this be the date of manufacture?The
07/03/2020 South Panel scraped clean of loose paint. 1 door and 2 panels to go
More info found about box. Embossed letters on the East panel show that this is a No.6K (ie K6) P1 – C.C. box
I have just inspected the phone box in Kirby Hill. Theirs is identical and it still has the foundry plate on the rear panel.
This confirms that our box was made by the Carron Company in Falkirk
05/03/2020 .. Preliminary assessment.
Door planed down to allow proper closure
Crowns scraped back and manufacturers marks cleaned to bare metal
Old tree stump at rear cut off at ground level – unfortunately no foundry plate found.
Paint scraped back and moss removed from windows – the box appears to be in a sound condition
The Team (many thanks)
Admin
Ian Goulbourne
Ben Lamb
Cath Stanwix
Leaflet drop
Annie Burchnall
Tony Moss
Heather & Ian Roberts
Cath Stanwix
Phone Box restoration
Ian Goulbourne
Ben Lamb
Tony Moss
Dan Smith
External Agencies
The following agencies/companies have helped with grants, materials & advice
The Community Heartbeat Trust – they have co-ordinated the whole adoption process and helped massively.
Richmondshire DC Area Partnerships Fund – £1000
British Heart Foundation – £600
Teesdale Village Hall Consortium – £250
AkzoNobel (for the paints) – a member of the British Coatings Federation
Contact
This is a worldwide location system, with any point on the surface of the earth defined in a 3 metre square by three words. ↩