11 February 2019
As the nation prepares to send their Valentine’s Day cards and love letters, Royal Mail unveils four ‘romantic’ postboxes across the UK, which honour the life and works of some of Britain’s greatest writers on love.
The postboxes are adorned in quotes from some of the best-loved work of romantic poets and authors John Keats, Thomas Hardy, Anna Seward and Robert Burns, and are located close to places of significance to the writers*. They will be in place for a month.
It is hoped that the four boxes encourage lovelorn wordsmiths to send their own literary masterpieces in the form of love letters and Valentine’s Day cards this year.
Mark Street, Head of Campaigns at Royal Mail said: “As one of the guardians of the written word, we relish the opportunity to celebrate the life and times of some of Britain’s most treasured writers. With such a rich history of producing some of the most famous romantic works of all time, it seems only fitting that their work is honoured on some of our iconic postboxes.”
Rob Shakespeare, Principal Curator, Keats House said: “Keats’s letters are some of the best known in the English language, and his letters to Fanny Brawne are particularly touching. None of her letters to Keats survived and the last ones were unopened and buried with him in Rome so, rather poignantly, we know how he wrote to her, but we won’t ever know how she expressed her feelings for him.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of this romance, captured forever in his tenderly worded love letters.”
*The postboxes are situated in the following locations:
UPDATE 12 February As the nation prepares to send their Valentine’s Day cards and love letters, Royal Mail unveils four ‘romantic’ postboxes across the UK, which honour the life and works of some of Britain’s greatest writers on love.
The postboxes are adorned in quotes from some of the best-loved work of romantic poets and authors John Keats, Thomas Hardy, Anna Seward and Robert Burns, and are located close to places of significance to the writers*. They will be in place for a month.
It is hoped that the four boxes encourage lovelorn wordsmiths to send their own literary masterpieces in the form of love letters and Valentine’s Day cards this year.
Mark Street, Head of Campaigns at Royal Mail said: “As one of the guardians of the written word, we relish the opportunity to celebrate the life and times of some of Britain’s most treasured writers. With such a rich history of producing some of the most famous romantic works of all time, it seems only fitting that their work is honoured on some of our iconic postboxes.”
Rob Shakespeare, Principal Curator, Keats House said: “Keats’s letters are some of the best known in the English language, and his letters to Fanny Brawne are particularly touching. None of her letters to Keats survived and the last ones were unopened and buried with him in Rome so, rather poignantly, we know how he wrote to her, but we won’t ever know how she expressed her feelings for him.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of this romance, captured forever in his tenderly worded love letters.”
*The postboxes are situated in the following locations:
- John Keats (London): North End Way, London, NW3 7HA (on Hampstead Heath). Keats lived in Hampstead for much of his life.
- Anna Seward (Lichfield): Conduit Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 6JR. Anna lived in Lichfield for much of her life.
- Thomas Hardy (Dorset): Cuckoo Lane, Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, DT2 8QJ (close to Hardy’s Cottage).
- Robert Burns (Ayr): Murdoch’s Lone, Alloway, Ayr, KA7 4PQ (Close to Burns’ Birthplace Museum). Burns was born in Ayr.
Thanks to several readers I can now show pictures (provided by Royal Mail) of three of the boxes which I couldn't find on their media page.
Putting the finishing touches to a postbox decorated in honour of author
Thomas Hardy in his birthplace of Higher Bockhampton, Dorset Credit: Royal Mail
Postbox honouring poet Anna Seward in her hometown of Lichfield, Staffordshire Credit: Royal Mail
Actors from Keats House Museum with a postbox decorated by Royal Mail in honour of poet John Keats in Hampstead Heath, London Photo: Royal Mail
Some more images
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/uk-ireland/gallery/special-valentines-day-postboxes-spring-13979291
Was there any announcement of decorated boxes for Xmas? Saw one today in Birmingham
ReplyDeleteWeren't they the snow-capped ones that played Winter Wonderland? I forgot to look for the Greenwich one when I was there last weekend.
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