It might not look like Doctor Who’s Tardis, but this building is an example of the police boxes which used to be found across the Black Country.
Although it might not resemble the Time Lord’s famous way of travelling through time and space, the building is certainly from another era.
The building was spotted by pensioner Mick Coyle who discovered it following a conversation with an ex-policeman friend who tipped him off that it might still be there.
Although the building has stood empty for around 40 years and is on a piece of heavily overgrown wasteland, the structure in Lister Road, in Netherton, is still intact and the words County Borough of Dudley Police are still clearly visible.
Mr Coyle, aged 82, from Pensnett, said he was amazed to find the police box still standing after all these years.
“I was having a conversation with an ex-policeman friend who said ‘Do you realise that there’s nothing in the borough to mark the fact there was ever a Dudley Metropolitan Police Force?’,” he said.
“He said there used to be lots of police boxes around Dudley and was sure there was one down Lister Road where he used to go and have a cup of tea.
“I decided to go down there and was amazed to find it still standing.”
The idea of the box was suggested a year after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876 by police who quickly realised the new-fangled gadget could help fight crime.
The first one was installed in Albany, New York, but it was another 14 years before the concept caught on in Britain.
The first box was unveiled in Glasgow in 1891. The boxes soon spread across the rest of Britain.
In 1929 Gilbert Mackenzie Trench was commissioned by the Metropolitan Police force to design a new-look box which is today recognised as Dr Who’s Tardis.
The typical box contained a telephone linked directly to the local station allowing officers on the beat to keep in contact with the station.
The boxes continued to play an important part in police work until the mid-1960s when they became redundant following the introduction of personal radios.
By Jon Wood
9 Comments
Not the Police Box I Remember from my youth.
The one I recall used to be in Toll End, Tipton. I think it was made from cast iron, about 6feet tall. Basically it was a post with some sort of communication device on the top. To activate the device you opened the door and spoke into it. It may even have had a blue light on the top, but my memory is not that good.
I remember this Police Box very well. as achild I lived close by and remember the Policemen brewing up in it and chatting to the local children.
I am amazed it is still standing
I remember one at Eve Hill in Dudley. I think it’s still there with the front bricked up. It’s a shame we can’t find some old coppers from this era. Maybe they would sort out the criminals, unlike the ineffective cardboard cut outs of today.
yes right dave you might find them in the cafes
your’e both wrong…. they can be found at the pub or the local chippy podging the queue!
be realistic…. coppers fom years gone by would not have a clue…. they rarely faced guns, knives and swords.
mind you michelle if you was sitting in a warm office all shift you would like a few beers
i doff my cap to you phil;0)
thats a very good point. you know a few years back we had a problem with vandalism and were told by an officer ( gods truth) that if a crime happened between certain times in the day there would be no officers to cover it because they would be changing the shifts over!
thats right michelle but now they wont come out until its to late or not priority enough abit like stolen mobiles and my moms stolen purse reported to police and asked if she saw them she said no and was told it was classed as lost even though money was taken out of her account