New Phone, Who Dis?

A restored K6 telephone box designed by the renowned British architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 has found a new home at Government House.

Manx Telecom CEO, Gary Lamb, presented the recently restored iconic red box to the Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer and Lady Lorimer on Tuesday.

Also in attendance were MT’s facilities and access network teams, local sandblasting company and civil engineers who were involved in the restoration process.

Describing the phone box as an ‘icon’, Sir John said it would be right at home in the garden of Government House to go along with the postbox and wallaby which will help with his and Lady Lorimer’s ambition to make the grounds more open to the public.

Gary Lamb, CEO of MT said: ‘Telephone boxes have been a familiar site on the Island for almost 100 years, but as technology evolves, they’re no longer being used for their original purpose. Seeing them restored and given a second lease of life is great, and we are delighted that His Excellency and Lady Lorimer are preserving a little Manx history.”

In recent years, the decline in telephone box usage has prompted MT to explore new ways of repurposing these iconic boxes with the help of local charities and communities. Over the years, many telephone boxes across the island have been transformed into community libraries and life-saving defibrillator hubs, to name a few.