'We took on our village phone box when BT decommissioned it - now it's an advent calendar'
A south Shropshire village has found another unique use for its disused call box - turning it into an advent calendar.
The former BT call box in All Stretton was taken over by Church Stretton Town Council last year.
The old pay phone, at the base of Castle Hill, where it meets Shrewsbury Road, was handed to the All Stretton Village Society.
Earlier this year, after brainstorming ideas of what to do with the callbox, the group turned it into a “micro museum”.
Local man Rick Clarke was tasked with making a model of the area and spent three weeks recreating All Stretton in tiny detail.
The call box was also filled with information about key locations and buildings in the village.
Now in the run-up to Christmas, the society has turned the phone box into an advent calendar.
Caroline Crump from the village society said it was a new villager that came up with the idea.
"We took on the phone box when BT decommissioned it. We turned it into a micro museum earlier this year, and last month we had a remembrance exhibition in there. Then Jane Hickman from our society, who is a new member, came up with the idea for an advent calendar. So it was a great way for her to get involved.
"We then asked people for their artwork and pictures, and every day you can unveil them."
She added that the callbox advent calendar was only part of the village’s festive celebrations.
“You can come and visit Santa in the bus stop and enter our competition for the funniest letter to Santa,” she said. "It is not just for the villagers too, when we did the micro museum people coming through stopped by so people are more than welcome to visit.
"We have a good community here. We're probably the optimum size for a village with around 200 houses so we have our own distinct identity."
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