Phoneboxgate: The latest
February 12, 2010 by Ally Who says blogging never changes anything? Just over a week ago we ran a light hearted post about the bizarre phone box that has been left "orphaned" in a parking bay on Leith Walk.
Well, little did we know that as a result that post would catapult that poor phonebox to fame, if not fortune. Our blog post was on the 3rd of February. It garnered a number of comments on the 4th and 5th from people more knowledgable than us, on the history of the phone box. It turns out that the phone box used to be on the pavement, but it was never moved when the pavement was narrowed by TIE.
On the 5th, we got a call from the Evening News because they love a tram bashing story, no matter how small. We told them we didn't know anything. By the 9th, they had a story in the paper with a different photo. Yes - they must have sent someone especially to take a photo of the phone box. You can see the photo on-line.
Also on the 9th, the Deadline Press and Picture Agency had a story on their website too, with yet another photograph. This time it was a daring arial shot. Do they have offices above Barnardos or did someone make a special visit to those offices to get that unique angle? We think we should be told...
Then, the story got really exciting. On the 10th, The Leith Business Association, who first alerted us to this fast paced media circus published their own post on the matter - with a different photo again - and there was a development! TIE themselves had got in touch with them to let them know that the phone box would be removed the following day! Victory!
Except that it wasn't.
This afternoon, February the 12th, it looked like this:
Clearly, the phone box had become so famous as a result of the media frenzy, that it needed to be fenced off from its fans, desperate to join in with the vandalism trend. A lot of effort has gone into putting up those railings. If you look carefully you'll notice that the traffic barrier has been carefully drilled earlier in the day so that the railings would only inconvenience pedestrians quite a lot, instead of completely. Later in the day, the railings had been removed, but the phone box was still there.
What next for the most famous phone box in Leith? TV? Radio?
You can help to make the phone box even more famous - add your own photos of the phone box to the Greener Leith flickr group here.
Leith Walk, Local Environmental Improvements 
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