A new look to the bridge joining Barga Vecchia and Barga Giardino this morning as a bright red British telephone box was winched into place and installed in front of a curious group of onlookers unsure as to just what was going on. In fact the telephone box is a gift to Barga from retired fish and chip shop owner Mauro Cecchini – who’s family were originally from Barga but who has been living and working in Edinburgh Scotland for many years.

Mauro bought the K6 cast iron telephone box in an auction back in 1986 and installed it in his garden where he had a working telephone connected to his house so that he could make and receive calls in the comfort of his own home. When he moved to a smaller house without a garden a few years ago he was forced to leave the box behind.

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A chance meeting with the Mayor of Barga, Umberto Sereni and connections with an export/import company in Scotland who moved the 750kgs box for free was enough for the idea of donating the box to the city to pass from just an idea to being a concrete reality – and so this morning the bright red box is now part of the Barga landscape.

The iconic cast iron red painted box with its distinctive small window design, crown and telephone panel, was the idea of noted architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. He was commissioned to design the box in order to commemorate George V’s Silver Jubilee Year, which heralded a policy to install the so called ‘jubilee kiosks’ into every town or village with a post office. The design, which built upon various prototypes from the 1920s became known as the ‘K6’ and soon became a welcome sight at the roadside across the United Kingdom – more information about the K6 design here

Click on the link below for a short interview recorded with Mauro outside his box (in English)

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