Phoneboxgate: The End Game
February 19, 2010 by Ally If you've not been following the story about the most famous phone box in Leith (where have you been?), let us bring you up to date.
We first wrote about the orphaned phone box on February the 3rd, and following a mini media circus that this post triggered, the Leith Business Association let it be known that TIE had made arrangements to move the phonebox on the 11th of February. It never happened on the 11th and so we were beginning to get despondent about the whole thing, especially after we saw some railings go up around the box on the 12th, only for them to be taken down again at the end of the day with the phone box still intact. Was the phone box destined to stay there for many more months to come afterall?
Well it turned out that the emotional rollercoaster hadn't ended. We're sure you'll be able to imagine our elation when, by some strange coincidence, we managed to snap this photo today, just minutes after the phonebox had been removed!
There's the phonebox on the back of the truck! Going, going, nearly gone! Of course, feeling compelled to thank the contractor for making such a massive improvement to the Leith Walk streetscape, we couldn't help but ask the guy in the cab ,"so are you just taking a break before you get the bin up on the back of the truck too?"
"Naw," He said, "My line is just for the phonebox...."
It looks like this one has panned out just as Michael Traill predicted on Twitter over a week ago.
Now, to be fair, these bits of street furniture are 'managed' by different organisations, so perhaps it's unreasonable to expect them both to go on the same day. And, yes we should of course thank the people who took action behind the scenes to finally get rid of the broken phone box. But, at the end of the day - neither the bin, nor the phone box should have been left there in the first place. So, shall we open a book on when that expensive parking bay will finally be available for use?
Stay tuned for the next gripping installment of phoneboxgate bingate. We know you can hardly wait.
Leith Walk, Local Environmental Improvements 
Reader Comments (4)
Linda R
Thank you for your good wishes. I have been to see the garden project up along near Oceon Terminal today and it is looking good. I would like to be involved with this and donate some veggie and flower seeds. Also I have some good gardening tools which I will never use here. I would like to know when the next gardening day is so I can come along and help. I have been out of action recently but want to be involved with things, especially the gardening and the food group. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Regards.
Linda R