Prof Esther Johnson’s ‘The Beacons of Hull’ featured in The Observer

3 images showing the cream coloured phone boxes in Hull and the book cover
Some of the telephone boxes in Hull. All images © Esther Johnson

Some of the telephone boxes in Hull. All images © Esther Johnson

It’s fantastic to see the photographs from Professor Esther Johnson’s ‘The Beacons of Hull’ book featured in ‘The Grid’ section of The Observer on Sunday 25th February:

Growing up in Hull, Esther Johnson loved the city’s distinctive cream telephone boxes. They are cream instead of red because Hull was the only place in England where the local council ran the public phone network. The artist and film-maker has now tracked down and photographed the remaining K8 kiosks, designed by architect Bruce Martin in 1965. ‘It’s a slick, functional design – modern and quite space-age, for the time,’ Johnson says. Nine of these kiosks, in the local Honeysuckle Cream tone, were given Grade II-listed status in February 2023. ‘The series isn’t just about nostalgia – it’s about noticing what’s in your environment and preserving these things for future generations,’ says Johnson. ‘Hull sometimes gets a bad rap, but there’s a lot of charm to the city’. , The Observer, 25 Feb 2024

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