After the boxes are no longer of use and decommissioned they're sent to specialist sites to be lovingly rejuvenated


These amazing photographs show two of the UK's 'telephone box graveyards' where the iconic British symbols are sent to get a new lease of life.

The rows and rows of rusted red telephone boxes which no longer ring may create a strikingly sad image but luckily these decommissioned symbols of Britain, as iconic as fish and chips or the Queen, have not been sent to die or decompose.

Instead they are taken to 'telephone box graveyards' where they are lovingly rejuvenated - and as these stunning images show, the vision of row upon row of boxes waiting patiently can be quite remarkable.

Mike Shores, 80, of Carlton Miniott, Yorks, spent the best part of his career creating a place in the grounds of his home for the kiosks to await their afterlife abroad with a loving collector or as a bold statement in a British garden.

Until he retired just two years ago staff at his village garage would devote 100 hours of tender loving care to each booth - stripping them, repainting them in the red once stipulated by the General Post Office and putting in new glass to restore them to their former glory.

Mike said: 'People don't realise how long it takes to restore them properly. Some people just repaint them but we would do everything. It was a labour of love.

'They are real collectors' items. We never advertised, it was all just done by word of mouth, but we'd have people coming to buy them all the way from America.

'They were fanatics and some people might call them nuts. But some people just like old things and I like old things.

'They are gradually disappearing and the new ones don't have the same character. It is such a shame because they are pieces of history.'

Amateur snapper and retail worker Guy Hatton, from Rochester, Kent, went to Carlton Miniott, North Yorkshire to pay his respects to these pillars of British Telecom's history and immortalise them in his own way with a series of magnificently melancholy shots.

This is one of two of the UK's only 'telephone box graveyards' where the iconic British symbols are sent to get a new lease of life

The rows and rows of rusted red telephone boxes create a strikingly sad image but luckily these decommissioned symbols of Britain have not been sent to die or decompose

The largest active 'telephone box graveyard' is owned by Unicorn Restorations, near Merstham, Surrey, where around 70 kiosks are currently laid to rest

The 55-year-old said: 'I saw them first driving past with my partner but didn't have my camera so I went back, which is something I never do. It is very rare I see something and think I must go back.

'I loved the effect of the way they are all laid out. I'm all about shapes and patterns, that's what interests me the most.

'It's interesting to see things that are so iconic at the end of their life. It is quite sad and there is almost a sense of bereavement like something has died or been put out to pasture.

'But it is so reassuring to know they are going onto their second life.'

These booths have featured in art installations over the world and have been used as green houses, mobile phone charging ports, house defibrillators, mini libraries and even a coffee shop in Brighton.

Amateur snapper and retail worker Guy Hatton, from Rochester, Kent, went to Carlton Miniott to pay his respects to these pillars of British Telecom's history and immortalise them in his own way with a series of magnificently melancholy shots

Professional snapper Nicolas Ritter, 30, who now lives in Berlin, visited the yard back when he was just starting out as a photographer's assistant in 2012

They sell for between £2,000 and £10,000 once fully restored and the price can shoot up for older designs such as 1920s model K2.

The K2 was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott as part of a competition in 1924 and much of his inspiration was drawn from Sir John Soane's mausoleums in St Pancras' Old Churchyard, London.

The largest active 'telephone box graveyard' is owned by Unicorn Restorations, near Merstham, Surrey, where around 70 kiosks are currently laid to rest.

Professional snapper Nicolas Ritter, 30, who now lives in Berlin, visited the yard back when he was just starting out as a photographer's assistant in 2012.

He said: 'Being at the telephone graveyard was a great experience for me. It felt like a journey back into the history of the country as the phone boxes are such a unique symbol of British culture.

'Viewing this museal location now after the beginning of a new age of communication the phone graveyard bears a mystic vibe of a past era.'

Telephone boxes are taken to 'graveyards' where they are lovingly rejuvenated, some back to their former glory

Pictures showing the glass panels of two telephone boxes, as iconic as fish and chips or the Queen, featuring various degrees of damage