h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Boscombe Police Box, Dorset, UK - A87837079
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

What I saw on my summer holidays, by Bluebottle, aged 34 1/2.

<BB<

On a quick read through this, I can see two things.

1. You say that by 1937 the boxes' days were numbered, but then go on to say that the numbers kept increasing for the next 20 years or so. These two facts don't really fit together. Perhaps move the "days were numbered" to later one.

2. You say that the Earls' Court box was opened the same year as the BBC got the patent, but don't say whether the Metropolitan Police had to pay the BBC for using the design. I've heard that they did, but this might be a legend.

I'll try and give it a detailed read through later.

I've moved that sentence as requested.

I've also added some information about the Trademark case and a link about it. Looks like the Metropolitan Police did have to pay for the court case and costs: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2352743.stm

<BB<

Well done BBC

This is so frustrating - I was in Boscombe last week and didn't know about this, so I missed it. (From Bournemouth we did a guided bus trip in an open-topped double-decker which included Boscombe and Christchurch, but they didn't mention the police box )

Great fun, anyway.

In the Chris Amey quote it says "hard word" instead of "hard work" - I know it's a quote, but as it's a transcription of what he said, and not what he wrote, this can be corrected.

So how did they get round the BBC patent? Is that included in "they were granted permission" (that sounded to me as though they were granted permission by the police and/or the local council, did it include the BBC)?

And I think the sonic screwdriver ought to be explained in a footnote to the uninitiated.

It would have taken me from Dover to Bournemouth to explain to my hubbie about Doctor Who, so I wish I'd known about it before we left home!

Having fully read through the entry, I fail to see how the introduction of the box solved the problem of road trains running rampant through the town.



where members of the public knew they may be found -->
where members of the public knew they might be found

(A handy guideline is to think of may as future and might as past)

but it was not until 1928 that the London police box was widely introduced, with the erection of 22 boxes designed by Architect and Surveyor to the Metropolitan Police, Gilbert MacKenzie Trench in 1929. -- this is slightly confusing. Strip out the extra detail and it seems to say:

but it was not until 1928 that the London police box was widely introduced, with the erection of 22 boxes in 1929.

So in 1928, many police boxes were erected in 1929.

had never registered a police boxes as a trademark -- remove the word "a"

the funds raised by local businesses sponsoring the box's erection -- you've already used the word "erection" earlier in this sentence. One erection per sentence is enough.

You could just say:

the funds raised by local businesses donating £1,500 each

The police box has attracted people -->
It has attracted people
(The previous sentence also starts with "The police box")

Now only the second of two operational Police Box in the country
-- Police Boxes

used by policemen --> used by police

(don't forget there are female police as well)

Sorry to hear you were so close and didn't get to see it - as it is in the pedestrian area, the buses don't go by it.

I've added a footnote about sonic screwdriver and made a correction.

I *think* that they were able to get around the BBC patent through not having the Police Box TARDIS blue. As it is a different colour, is not being marketed as being a space/time capsule and is not being sold as merchandise, I get the impression that it does not infringe on the patent - but I've not seen anything to definitively confirm that. The permission was from the local police and council rather than the BBC.

<BB<

Changes made. The police box now serves as an obstacle that the road trains have to swerve around, thus slowing them down, and is located where they stop. One still almost bumped into me, though...

<BB<

Fun article. I always wanted to know if there were still any police boxes around. Now I do.

to Boscombe. (Wasn't that place mentioned in Sherlock Holmes?)

There is indeed a Sherlock Holmes story 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery', but Boscombe Valley is in Herefordshire and is a similarly named place.

There are indeed police boxes still around, though only 2 in use by the police. There are police boxes which are listed buildings still in their original position, I've seen one in Scarborough, but they're not used for their original purpose any more. Few of the London ones still exist but similar Glasgow ones are apparently more common.

<BB<

The original police boxes were made from cast concrete. Is it worth mentioning?

Presumably they made this one from steel because it was cheaper and they didn't have to create a wooden mould from which to cast, not because it was more robust.

That's a good point, I've mentioned that the originals were made from concrete in the article.

I wonder whether another reason they chose to use steel was that concrete would be very damp, especially in winter?

<BB<

Having lived in Springbourne which lies between central Bournemouth and Boscombe it is worth noting that far from being a village Boscombe is part of an urban sprawl that includes Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole with a population of over 400, 000 people.
The anti-social behaviour you referred primarily involves class A drugs and has included several drugs related murders. The police have concentrated on the shopping area and driven the junkies into areas like Boscombe Chine which are inaccessable by vehicle, a safe haven given that if you see as Dorset Police officer on foot it means their van has broken down and they are nipping off for some donuts while they wait for a breakdown truck. If like me the police had read Tobias Elwood MP's expensenses claims they could of done the people of Bournemouth a favour and locked him in the police box.

I've added a brief bit about drug-related crime. You're right, Boscombe was a former village that has been engulfed by Poole/Bournemouth/Christchurch, a conurbation so intertwined that when they redrew the county borders, it was impossible to tell where Poole ended and Bournemouth and Christchurch began, and so moved the latter two towns into Dorset.

Tempting though it is to suggest that MPs (especially Tory ones) should be locked up in police boxes, I suspect I can't really say that in a Guide article...

Did you know that the Isle of Wight and Dorset are the only places in the UK that have 'Chines'? Though Boscombe Chine sounds less of a tourist destination than Shanklin Chine or Blackgang Chine.

<BB<

There are some chines in Devon as well.

Are there? Okay, I'll throw away that guide book...

<BB<

A chine is also part of a small boat

You mean
noun, British Dialect
a ravine formed in rock by the action of running water.

Are there any in other parts of the West country if the dictionary is correct they could be inland as well.

Surprising other meanings
1.
the backbone or spine, especially of an animal.
2.
the whole or a piece of the backbone of an animal with adjoining parts, cut for cooking.
3.
a ridge or crest, as of land.
4.
of Chinese origin.

Good entry BB

How many times have I told you that eating dictionaries is bad for your health?

<BB<