Thurlestone-Bantham-Buckland Villages
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Thurlestone Phone Box Exchange

In 2012 BT decided to remove one of the old under-used red telephone boxes from Thurlestone Village. They offered it to the Parish Council for the princely sum of £1. Kit, a parishioner, heard about this and offered to take care of the box if they agreed to purchase it. Which they did but in fact never coughed up the £1!
 
A Telephone Box Committee was formed who had it painted, which the PC paid for, and then built some shelves, filled them with books and called it the THURLESTONE PHONEBOX EXCHANGE.
 
It is unlocked and the idea is that you take a book and leave a book. If you can’t leave one then you can make a voluntary donation in the Telephone Box tin in the local shop.
Thurlestone Exchange
It is decorated for high days and holidays such as the Olympics, the Paralympics, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, St George’s Day and many a Royal occasion including the recent birth of Archie Sussex. It attracts a great deal of attention and has been the scene for broadcasts on BBC Radio Devon and for several years BBC’s  DJ Shep has turned on our sparkling lights at Christmas and gathered a large crowd to sing carols. We have held art exhibitions by the Parish School in the phonebox and to celebrate William Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary ran a limerick competition which attracted over eighty entries which were subsequently published in a small booklet. At the same time the Parish school ran a parallel competition which was won by an 8 year old. We have raised £3,000 for two defibrillators for the Parish and made donations to other local charities.
 
In May 2013 we twinned our Phonebox with a similar one in the village of Marden in Wiltshire run by Lalu and Sue. Six members of our committee plus two dogs spent the weekend in Marden, where the village feted us royally and a grand ceremony took place with the swapping of commemorative plaques. BBC Wiltshire did a live broadcast.
 
In September 2017 Thurlestone celebrated a unique Twinnathon event when their Phonebox Library hosted their equivalent from Marden Wiltshire that they had “twinned” with in 2013. Around a hundred people enjoyed  merry making of eccentric battiness compered by BBC Devon’s Shep. A local singing group, Razor Sharp plus friends got the party going singing the debut performance of “Devon so Fair” written specially for the event. The centrepiece of the celebrations was the introduction of two mannequins, Gladys the dusky maiden from Marden who was appropriately clad in a wet suit and snorkel and Thurlestone’s Tom who claims to be a direct descendant of Uncle Tom Cobleigh. Thurlestone’s Kit Marshall welcomed and thanked all concerned and Marden’s Sue Noble said that it was a sure sign of a thriving community when people could forget today’s problems and enjoy a bit frivolous fun
 
The Thurlestone Phone Box Exchange is all about having fun and it is very much enjoyed and appreciated by not only the villagers but by the many visitors that come to Thurlestone. We often find people posing for photographs beside it, particularly wedding parties as it is opposite the Church lych-gate and when possible is decorated specially for the occasion.

You can see more about the Thurlestone Phone Box on our Facebook page here.

Kit and Gillian Marshall, May 2019

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  • Home
  • Events
  • Clubs & Groups
  • Business Directory
  • Village Voice
  • Galleries
  • Contacts
  • Out & About
    • Introduction to Out & About
    • Getting Here
    • Thurlestone Rock and Beach Geology
    • Visual Landscapes
    • Recommended Walks
    • Eat & Drink in our Parish
    • Restaurant & Cafe Reviews
    • On the Water
    • Annual Events
    • Days Out - Attractions
    • Historic Attractions
  • Facilities
    • Thurlestone Post Office & Stores
    • Bantham Stores & Coffee Shop
    • Village Inn (Thurlestone)
    • Sloop Inn (Bantham)
    • Schools
    • Thurlestone Golf Club
    • Thurlestone Hotel
    • Thurlestone Phone Box
    • Buckland Phone Box
  • Parish Hall
    • Welcome to the Parish Hall
    • HALL ACTIVITIES UPDATE *****
    • HIRING PARISH HALL
    • HALL HIRING RATES
    • MAIN HALL LIGHTING >
      • Extra General Hall Lighting
    • MAIN HALL AUDIO / VISUAL EQUIPMENT >
      • Visual Display Projector
      • Multi Media Audio Player
      • Blue Ray Video Player
      • Sound Volume Control
      • Freesat TV to Projector
      • Radio Mikes
    • STAGE LED LIGHTING
    • MAIN HALL HEATING
    • Main Hall & Layout
    • Meeting (Yeo) Room >
      • Connecting to Yeo Room Visual Display
    • Kitchen
    • Equipment
    • Events Gallery
    • Location
    • Meeting Minutes Archive
  • Church
    • Welcome to All Saints' Church
    • Key Contacts
    • Church Services >
      • June Services
      • Recorded Services
    • Church Events Diary
    • Baptisms
    • Weddings
    • Funerals
    • The Church Building
    • Church Meeting Room
    • Fund Raising
    • Friends of Thurlestone Church
    • Contact the Church
  • General Info
    • UKRAINE APPEAL
    • Superfast Broadband
    • Parking & Toilet Facilities
    • Medical Help >
      • DEFIBRILLATORS (Cardiac Arrest)
    • Local Transport
    • Weather/Tides/Surf/Sunset
    • Marine Traffic Map
    • Waste Collection & Recycling
    • Bulk Oil Scheme >
      • Oil Enquiry
    • Emergency Numbers
    • Useful Links
    • How to Avoid Scams
  • Parish Council
    • Welcome to the Council
    • Contact the Council
    • Meeting Information
    • Parish Notices
    • Finances
    • Policies & Governance
    • Thurlestone Parish Neighbourhood Plan
    • Parish Improvements & Repairs
    • Archived Minutes
    • Planning Application Advice
    • Climate Change / Carbon Footprint / Pollution
  • Parish History
    • History of Thurlestone
    • Thurlestone's Timeline
    • Thurlestone's Past in Postcards
    • History of Bantham
    • History of Buckland
    • Bantham & Buckland's Timeline
    • Historical Map of 1765
    • Historical Beach Maps
    • World War 1