1 week Ago By The Telegraph
Knitters are up in arms after Royal Mail introduced solar-powered post boxes. Modern pillar boxes with solar panels mean crafters can no longer decorate them with knitted and crocheted “toppers”. The new models use solar energy to power a barcode scanner for parcels.
But they can no longer be adorned by knitting enthusiasts , whose “quintessentially British” woollen creations have become a popular part of the urban environment. Melanie Delaney, 51, is now unable to decorate her local post box in Hertford, Hertfordshire, after it was replaced by one of five solar-powered post boxes, which are being trialled nationwide. “The thing about the post boxes is the public really love seeing them decorated,” the science teacher and member of the Secret Society of Hertford Knitters told The Telegraph.
She added: “I have a post box which has the solar panels on it just down the road from me and I’ve had a look at it and we wouldn’t be able to decorate it.” Ms Delaney said there will still be some post boxes to decorate as not all of them will be topped with solar panels. “For us, it would mean we would just do fewer post boxes.
We don’t just yarnbomb post boxes but for us there would be fewer we could do.” The eco post boxes are being trialled in Hertford, Ware and Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, as well as Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire. ‘Children adore them’ Paulene Jones, 65, a receptionist and knitter from the Wirral, Merseyside, said it was a “shame” that knitted toppers were now at risk.
“People absolutely love them, children adore them and pester to go and see the newest ones,” she said. “So many people tell me that seeing a good topper cheers them up. “They are quintessentially British.
But the new type of post boxes may help Royal Mail survive, and they won’t replace every single box with this type. I have a very small square box so I can’t see them replacing that one with a big new one.” Robert Cole, of the Letter Box Study Group, called on yarnbombers to embrace the “challenge” of adapting their creations to the new post boxes.
“The people who make the toppers are clearly very skilled and they will probably find ways to do the toppers in a way which doesn’t obscure the solar panel,” he said. “You can knit a hole in a jumper so you can do that. I should think it will probably be a challenge to them.
” A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “Royal Mail’s iconic post boxes are a treasured part of communities around the UK and we appreciate the passion and care that goes into the crocheting, knitting and decorating of toppers. “We are currently trialling solar panels on just five of our postboxes so customers can also post parcels through a larger drawer that opens when you scan the barcode. With 115,000 post boxes across the UK there are plenty that remain unaltered and that will remain the case in the future.
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