The fast disappearing red phone boxes are the subject of a new book by Princetown photographer Helen Jackson.

Helen’s book, ‘Dartmoor’s Disappearing Red Phone Boxes’, chronicles the disused, abandoned, adopted and transformed familiar landmarks.

But she has to be quick, as boxes are being removed all the time. Sometimes when she returns to a box she has photographed she finds it gone.

Her book is a timely reminder to village and town residents that their phone boxes are under threat if not adopted by communities and parish councils. A consultation is underway by West Devon Borough Council through parish and town councils on behalf of British Telecom who are about to remove the least well-used boxes, unless residents come up with a good case to maintain them at their own cost.

Helen said: “I have always been fascinated by the red phone boxes, they have a very pleasing and perfect shape and were perfectly designed 100 years ago by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott who won a design competition for the GPO – which is why they have lasted. They were red, of course, so they’d stand out when they were needed. It’s a uniquely British design which can’t be repeated.

“I decided to track down as many as I could because I like them as a photographer in their rural setting of Dartmoor. They make good subjects, but of course they’re a piece of social history and are disappearing fast due to the digital revolution. I found 70, but as soon as I cover them, they are taken down due to lack of use.

“On Dartmoor they are more important than in towns because mobile phone signals are not always reliable outside when there’s no wi-fi.”

Many phone boxes are finding new leases of life as homes for defibrillators (Hexworthy, Haytor, Sticklepath, South Tawton) or mini-book swap libraries (Wotter, Hennock, Bittaford) .

Just down the road from her Princetown home is the a box as a memorial to fallen military personnel, thanks to parish Cllr Greg Manning. Others are mini-tourist information hubs. Disappeared boxes include Horrabridge and Magpie Bridge. Another became a cake stand when it was moved to a new life at the Northmore Arms at Wonson near Throwleigh, north Dartmoor.

But in a rare positive sign, there remain working phones in boxes in Mary Tavy, Peter Tavy, Brentor, Yelverton, Rundlestone and Merrivale, among others.

Sometimes Helen has been bemused by isolated boxes with no apparent nearby residents to use them. One was near Lustleigh on the A382 with no population to support it which Helen discovered later was only there to be used by workers who lived in cottages only so they could work at a convalescent home that no longer exists.

Of course anyone can buy one and reuse it as a shower, mini-bar or garden shed.

“It’s a shame they are disappearing. I hope my book will inspire some people to take more notice and be aware that they might no longer be part of the Dartmoor landscape,” she said.