The red phone box is a true icon of London. Now essentially redundant, the humble kiosk remains a magnet for tourists and Instagrammers looking for an authentic London backdrop. But what of London’s other street furniture? Most of us walk past without a second glance, but this is to miss a world of enchantment.
Have you ever hunted the city’s rare Edward VIII post boxes? Do you know where in London one can find a bollard shaped like a policeman, or a penis? Our city contains musical benches, anti-urination guards, hidden ventilation shafts, stink pipes, 1,500 working gas lamps, and railings made from WW2 stretchers. Even the humble junction box has become a canvas for street artists, while coal hole covers are collectors’ items. In Abbey Road we even have the world’s most famous (perhaps the world’s only famous) pedestrian crossing.
Londonist Editor-at-Large Matt Brown promises that you’ll never look at your street the same way again after you hear him talk a load of bollards for an hour.