British Ericsson blue police public call post - at Liverpool Street (eastside) railway station, 53 Liverpool Street, London, England, UK, EC2M 7PR

More at https://rupertharris.com/products/police-call-posts-1 These cast-iron Police Call Posts were manufactured in the early 1930's by British Ericsson and sited throughout the City of London. The posts enabled the public to call the Police station and were also used for the station to contact the Policeman on the beat in that area. The red signal light would flash if the Constable were required to contact the station. The upper hatch opened to give access to the telephone; the middle door opened horizontally to provide a writing surface and lower door opened to a storage cupboard containing first aid kit and other useful items. All the posts were decommissioned in the 1960's, when radio communication took over, and the majority of their contents were removed at that time. A number of these posts were sold in the 1980’s The Liverpool Street Call Post had been particularly severely damaged by a vehicle collision. The fragments were painstakingly welded together and replacement cast-iron parts made only where absolutely necessary. All the posts were cleaned and repaired and their surfaces primed and filled where required to improve their surface quality. Prior to restoration, the condition of the City’s collection was in varying condition. Three of the posts, Aldgate, St Martin’s le Grand and Walbrook, were in fairly good condition, however the remainder required full repair and replacement of missing parts. The decision to remove cast-iron objects to the workshop for repair is one that requires careful judgement: as cast-iron is fragile, such objects should always be repaired in situ when possible to limit the risk of damage in transit. However, five of these posts could only be repaired off site, so having acquired consent, their temporary removal was carried out with great care.