An iconic photo of England is often the Red Telephone Box.
It's an image known world-wide.
But do such telephone boxes still exist?
Well, the good news is... yes, they do.
The bad news is that they are not in great numbers.
Over 300,000 of them were installed from 1926 onwards. Sadly the majority are now removed, with some travelling the world after being exported from the UK. Others have been destroyed.
So why have we English removed such a loved item of the UK?
For practical reasons really
1) Privatisation of the Post Office Telephone services brought new ideas about telephone boxes and the dreaded word - "modernisation"
2) The red boxes are made of cast iron, so the doors can be very heavy
3) Access for the disabled was extremely hard
4) The boxes were often hard to keep clean
More recently, many modern telephone boxes have been removed too; due to the mobile phones of today's era.
So in many ways, the reduction of Red Telephone Boxes was always destined.
It's called "progress" and I admit, it has some merit.
But I still miss them!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Red_telephone_box,_St_Paul%27s_Cathedral,_London,_England,_GB,_IMG_5182_edit.jpg
UK roads are often very busy. Especially during the rush hour in the week-day morning and evenings. For that reason, road safety is essential for children who walk to school.
So, we have the lollipop-lady or lollipop-man.
A person who is employed for about two hours a day, to help children cross the road at School Crossing areas.
The children usually kindly greet the lollipop-lady or man, who over the school year often develops a very good rapport with both children and parents. The lollipop-lady or man are often people who are approaching retirement, but they can be much younger depending upon their circumstances.
And of course, it is law for motorists to obey the lollipop-lady or man. To ignore them and continue to drive would constitute a motoring offence.
But why "lollipop"?
Very simple... they hold a huge "lollipop" to stop the traffic !!
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02380/lol_2380693b.jpg
