Kersall, the hamlet of the phone box without phone

Sometimes this country surprises us with the curiosities we find along the way. This time I wanted to tell you the story of the phone box without phone. The other day we wanted to visit some little villages in Nottinghamshire. In fact, what we really wanted to do was to find the farm where they produce handmade ice cream (since there are no ice-cream parlours in Nottingham), and in our way we found cute little English villages.

The hamlet of Kersall, nearby Ollerton, has only few houses around a two direction road where there is barely space for one car. The road divides the village into two parts and it is surrounded by trees and fields. The hamlet does not have pubs or shops, only few farms. However, it has a red phone box, as any other English village does. Like those red phone boxes appearing in all the pictures tourists take in London. But this phone box is not like the others. This one does not have a phone inside but flowers. Yes, the peculiarity of this phone box is that it is not useful to call anyone, but it is decorated with fresh flowers, which the residents put inside everyday. They had to fight to keep the phone box, which was the only feature the village had apart from the houses. Therefore, they converted it into the symbol of the hamlet. They covered the floor with carpet, and they even put inside a visitor's book.

During Christmas they decorate it with lights. British Telecom wanted to take it away some time ago, but the residents fought to keep it and they transformed it into something that today represents them and distinguishes them from the rest. No matter what, one should never lose its personality and identity. And sometimes, to achieve it, it is necessary to use some creativity. 

____

Spanish version HERE.