“Why are all the phone boxes cream in Hull?”
That was the burning question that David Burnip, aka the Wandering Turnip, decided to answer on a history tour of the city’s iconic phone boxes. Burnip, who hails from Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, is a documentary film-maker whose YouTube channel has thousands of subscribers and captures fascinating industrial history, mill chimneys, dry stone walls, and “explores strange places”.
In a film lasting just over 30 minutes, Burnip starts off his tour in Hull city centre with an unexpected “spanner in the works” phone box of “goldy-purple” – he later finds out the colour changes are for Pride – but he soon spots his first cream example in the pedestrianised Jameson Street.
Recording his video inside the box, and acknowledging the unfortunate odour, Burnip explains how under the Telegraph Act of 1899, local authorities were able to take control of their own telephone network – “not many places wanted to do this at all” – but Hull did.
“It’s really nice that Hull seems to be keeping that history on show,” he said, explaining that eight of the boxes in Hull city centre had grade two-listed status. “It’s awesome, the city preserving its heritage.”
In KCOM’s headquarters in Carr Lane, Burnip is invited to take footage of one of Hull’s original K1 phone boxes, preserved in the building. “It’s so cool,” he said, praising the “very friendly people inside KCOM”.
“This is turning out to be a great day. So, so fun. Super-friendly people in Hull today, everyone’s helping me out. It makes it easy when you are searching for telephone boxes.”
Pointing out the “beautiful architecture” and “wonderfully nice buildings” of the Whitefriargate area, Burnip talks about Hull being a former City of Culture. “I’ve never been to Hull before, I’m pleasantly surprised with how it looks, how it feels, how busy it is.”
(Image: Wandering Turnip)
A k6 phone box, in Lowgate, was “the best-smelling one of the day”. Burnip said: “I was worried I wasn’t going to find many today and yet I’ve found loads, so it’s so great to see, I do love them.”
Thanks to Denise’s Pantry in Caroline Street, where Burnip bought a pie, he also got 50p in his change to try making a call from a cream phone box “to see if it works”. It did.
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