It's Still Life

15 June: A Thursday Door

the Dunmail Raise AA Sentry Box.

Bushboy (Brian Dodd) shares photos of doors, but not just any doors. Spectacular doors from his journeys. Dan’s Thursday Doors opened the door on this. I love doors of all sorts. I’ve trawled through my holiday snaps and found a few to share.

This door photo is from a road trip in the Lake District. The Automobile Association’s Sentry Boxes used to be seen throughout the UK, serving as shelters for stranded drivers whose vehicles broke-down. Only a couple of dozen remain out of the original thousands. This one is is located at the crest of Dunmail Raise pass.

©Misky 2023 Shared on Twitter #amwriting @bushboywhotweet and @DAntion 

Misky

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11 responses to “15 June: A Thursday Door”

  1. The Sicilian Storyteller avatar
    The Sicilian Storyteller

    Oh, so a porta-potty! 😂

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    1. Misky avatar
      Misky

      Gosh, no. Members have access, by key to that door, to shelter out of bad weather if their car breaks down, plus a tin of lovely biscuits, and tea making stuff. And of course a kindly AA man to get them back on the road again.

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      1. The Sicilian Storyteller avatar
        The Sicilian Storyteller

        Just a bit of NY humor!
        I’m not aware of anything like that here. Fortunately, I’ve never found myself stranded on the road; how reassuring to know cozy conveniences like that exist.
        Hope you’re doing well; I’ve missed you. ❤︎

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        1. Misky avatar
          Misky

          Yes, I know it was in jest, luv. There used to be thousands of these boxes along roads in the countryside or where the nearest town was too far away to walk. They’re actually registered as historic landmarks now, as there are less than 20 of them still in existence. And the AA repairman use GPS and phone signals to find stranded drivers nowadays. I doing okay, Nancy. Had a CT scan a few weeks ago, results of which were as expected but still not as I’d hoped (nothing deadly I add), so I was a bit bummed by that. I’ve since bounced back. I do that. Bounce. It’s been so hot here recently, so my online schedule has changed a bit. I get every thing that needs doing done in the morning while it’s still cool, and then catch up with you and Peter and all, after dinner (because evening telly is so bleeding boring!). Oh, and I did a poetry workshop this afternoon via Zoom. Paid for the course with Apple Pay, and attended the workshop with Zoom. Crumbs, what’s the world coming to!

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          1. The Sicilian Storyteller avatar
            The Sicilian Storyteller

            Oh, dear! I can empathize with you about the scans. Mine always come back as nothing dreadful but nothing that can be done to help, either. There’s the relief it’s nothing terrible followed by disappointment. I’m a bouncer, too; what choice do we have really? Bill keeps the bicycle pump at the ready when I’m feeling low. It’s been a busy week and hot, too; now I’ve got a case of cankles (that’s new!) and I’m icing with my feet up. No babysitting today, so a bit of of a break. Back to the trenches tomorrow.
            We’ve got AAA which I assume is like AA. I do love the idea of those sentry boxes, especially the tea and biscuits!
            Don’t ask what the world is coming to; you don’t want to know! Take care, lovey. ❤︎

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  2. Mister Bump UK avatar
    Mister Bump UK

    One of my old Age UK chaps, he’s in his 80s now, told me about his membership of the AA going back over 50 years. He seemed to think he was in some special “club”, that they treated him better than the rest of us, but I’m not sure how true that was.

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    1. Misky avatar
      Misky

      I think there’s some truth to that, but I can’t recall what the reason is. Something about it wasn’t easy to be approved for AA’s membership; they were persnickety. And the sentry boxes came equipped with a tin of biscuits, a kettle and tea.

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      1. Mister Bump UK avatar
        Mister Bump UK

        Almost worth a visit!

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        1. Misky avatar
          Misky

          Which we did, as the photo attests to, but we’re RAC members so we couldn’t get in the door. LOL!

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  3. Dan Antion avatar
    Dan Antion

    These were a great idea. I don’t know of anything in the US that compares.

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    1. Misky avatar
      Misky

      It’s a pity that they aren’t in use anymore, less than a couple of dozen remain. I’m always surprised when I see one, quite by accident, although there are people who go out searching for them, or use them as landmarks in car rallies. (sort of like train spotting).

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