Up until the mid 00s the school maintained a number of payphones in the boarding houses, as well as on the ground floor of Ashburnham House. As mobile phones became more widely owned and used by pupils the number of calls made using these payphones dwindled and the income was insufficient to cover their maintenance. The school’s Housmasters’ Committee discussed their removal in the Play Term, 2006 – but it was agreed that it was important for all pupils to have access to a payphone, especially as they might wish to make a private call to Childline or a similar organisation. In the end a solution was found in the shape of a red telephone box. These iconic kiosks, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott were increasingly falling out of use and the school was able to purchase and install a refurbished K6 model in the recently renovated Busby’s Yard. The photographs below show the box’s installation in the Lent half term, 2007.
