Last time in this letterbox series, we looked at EIIR pillar boxes in Loughborough, and before that in Parts 1-3, we investigated our anonymous box, the Victorian pillar boxes, and the EVIIRs, GRs, and GVIRs. Today, let's have a look at other types of letterboxes, like lampboxes and wallboxes, from across the years.
Wallboxes
One of our best wallboxes is the one on the Midland Mainline railway station, but sadly, it's only in view if you happen to be on Platform 1. I wonder how much use it gets, given that it's so well hidden?! Anyway, it's a beautiful VR box, although I can't tell who made it, as the photo I took some time ago is a bit blurry, and the box has been repainted so many times, the maker's mark has lost its definition.
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| The VR wallbox at the railway station on Platform 1 |
As far as I know we only have another two wallboxes, both of which carry the GR cipher, so they were installed between 1910 and 1936.
The box in the wall at the bottom of Beeches Road, at its junction with Leicester Road, is on the side of the Lifestyle Express minimarket, which many will remember as Maher's Off-Licence, and which many years ago used to be the home of the Clemerson family, and was once known as the Paul Pry. The box was made by Derby Castings, which was the name used by the Handyside company, from Derby who made some of the pillar boxes we've seen in earlier posts. Derby Castings was operating from 1931-1933, so this box can be dated quite closely:
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| The GR wallbox at the bottom of Beeches Road |
The other GR wallbox is pretty spectacular, and always well-looked after, and sometimes the crown is highlighted in gold. This is another wallbox at a railway station, although this one is at the Great Central Railway on Great Central Road, and unlike the one at the mainline station, this one is actually outside the station. This one was made by W. T. Allen.
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| The GR wallbox outside the GCR station in 2014 |
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| Detail of the maker's mark on the GR box outside the GCR station |
Lampboxes
As you might expect from the name, the lampbox was originally designed to be attached to a lamppost, but very few today are, and are mostly supported on their own stick. They were initially placed in more rural areas, or areas where the volume of mail didn't warrant having a larger, pillar box. All the lampboxes I've found so far date from 1952-2022, and bear the EIIR cipher - except one! Most have been made by Carron, and one by Carronade, but there are a few where I haven't been able to identify the maker, while there is one that was made by Machan.
The ones on Manor Road, Meadow Lane at its junction with Ratcliffe Road (outside a corner shop that used to be a post office), Montague Drive, Nanpantan Road, Toothill Road at its junction with Cambridge Street (outside the corner shop), and the one on Woodhouse Lane, Nanpantan outside the Longcliffe Care Home, are all very, very similar, if not the same. Here's the one on Toothill Road:
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| Lampbox on Toothill Road at its junction with Cambridge Street |
The lampbox on Park Road, at its junction with Bowling Green Way, and almost opposite what used to be a post office, is slightly different as the marker's mark (Carron) is a separate piece of metal, screwed into the box, rather than being embossed. This is also the case with the box on Tuckers Road, although the maker here is Machan:
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| Carron lampbox on Park Road at its junction with Bowling Green Way |
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| Machan lampbox on Tuckers Road |
Meanwhile, over on Highland Drive, a new type of lampbox has been installed - it has no maker's mark, seems to be made from a material other than cast iron, has a metal plate screwed in that says 'Royal Mail', and the royal cipher - EIIR - is a silver-coloured plate, attached separately.
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| Lampbox on Highland Drive |
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| Close-up of the Highland Drive lampbox |
And here's the one that is different and to my mind, is far and away the most beautiful of the lampboxes I've come across! The lampbox in Woodthorpe comes the closest to its original support as I've seen - it's attached to the side of a wooden stake, rather than being on its own post. It carries the GR cipher, and therefore probably dates from between 1910 and 1936, and whereas most of the EIIR ones are an upright oblong shape, that round down towards the back, the Woodthorpe box is an upright oblong, with a curved top. Here's some pics that'll make more sense than my words!!!
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| The EIIR lampbox on Montague Road from the side |
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| Woodthorpe GR lampbox attached to a post |
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| A close-up of the Woodthorpe GR lampbox |
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| A view of the Woodthorpe GR lampbox from the side |
That's just about covered wallboxes and lampboxes! Pop back to the blog later, to find out about some quirky postboxes, and maybe a story about a rather special pillar box!
If you want to look back over earlier posts about Loughborough's letterboxes, here are the links:
Part 1 - the anonymous pillar box
Part 2 - the Victorian pillar boxes
Part 3 - pillar boxes 1910-1952
Part 4 - EIIR pillar boxes
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posted by lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for typos which are all mine!
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Thank you for reading this blog. You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:
Lynne
