2021

SJ8398 : VR postbox (M4 127) plaque

taken 3 years ago, near to Manchester, England

VR postbox (M4 127) plaque
VR postbox (M4 127) plaque

The plaque on the postbox SJ8398 : The postbox that survived reads:

This postbox remained standing almost undamaged
on June 15th 1996 when this area was devastated by a bomb
The box was removed during the rebuilding of the city centre
and was returned to its original site on
November 22nd 1999
The Post Box on Corporation Street

This unremarkable-looking Victorian pillar box, built by Handysides of Derby, stands on Corporation Street, near to the bridge between Marks and Spencer’s and the Arndale Centre. It achieved fame in the 1990s.

On Saturday 15th June 1996 a huge (1500kg) terrorist bomb, planted by the IRA, exploded causing devastation to Manchester’s commercial district. Twelve buildings, some of historic significance, received structural damage from the blast. Six of these had to be demolished subsequently. The press reporting the next day made much, however, of a red post box (an icon of Englishness) that came out of the blast completely unscathed even though it had stood only a matter of feet away from the van that had contained the bomb (claimed to be the largest to explode in a British city since the Second World War). A few days after the blast, a postman was allowed through the debris to retrieve the post from inside the box.

The post box was removed whilst the area was rebuilt but was returned to its original position in 1999 once redevelopment work was completed.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Gerald England and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: City, Town centre Communications Date: 1999 1996 Postbox: VR other tags: Plaque Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Manchester City Centre [160] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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SJ8398, 3266 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Gerald England   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 3 April, 2021   (more nearby)
Submitted
Wednesday, 5 May, 2021
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 8395 9857 [10m precision]
WGS84: 53:29.0160N 2:14.5998W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 8395 9856
View Direction
NORTH (about 0 degrees)
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Image Type (about): close look 
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