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The Red Telephone Box Graveyard, North Yorkshire
The Red Telephone Box Cemetery in Carlton Miniott, North Yorkshire is a nostalgic location that showcases the history of public telephone boxes in Britain.
![Red Telephone](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/654d080e64a51407294bfe52/b11e380f-db6d-47ab-8f19-12676b01261a/Beige+Modern+Business+Contact+Us+Instagram+Post-20.jpg)
Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, these iconic red telephone boxes once lined the streets of the UK.
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott also worked on the design of the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral – the cathedral’s construction spanned several decades and it stands as one of the largest cathedrals in the world.
As technology advanced and mobile phones became more widespread, public telephone boxes became obsolete and were eventually removed from the city streets.
![Red Telephone](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/654d080e64a51407294bfe52/03c2d3b2-a35b-492c-900e-a4219a9a70d0/Beige+Modern+Business+Contact+Us+Instagram+Post-21.jpg)
One such storage area is located in Carlton Miniott, where hundreds of decommissioned phone boxes are found in various stages of decay.
The site is part of an Imperial Service Station, which once served as a maintenance facility for British Telecom.
A man from a small North Yorkshire village took over the responsibility of spending the best part of his career restoring them to their former glory.
The phones no longer ring, but they were lovingly given a new lease of life by Mike Shores prior to his retirement in 2015.
![Red Telephone](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/654d080e64a51407294bfe52/92fff980-86f2-4364-8e35-2a72339ef6e9/Beige+Modern+Business+Contact+Us+Instagram+Post-22.jpg)
He told the Daily Mail in 2016 that he spent over 100 hours stripping and repainting them with their classic red shade once stipulated by the General Post Office. He described it as a “labour of love.”
Once the booths are restored, they’re sold on to feature in art instillations around the world, as well as being used as green houses, housing defibrillators, tiny libraries and even a coffee shop in Brighton.
Perhaps most fittingly, they are sometimes used as mobile phone charging ports.
These telephone boxes were not only functional, but also became a symbol of British culture and design.