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All the United Kingdom England The Time Tardis
AO Edited

The Time Tardis

This classic red telephone box is now a community art installation celebrating local history.

Ormskirk, England

Added By
Yvonne Curran
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Phone box showing two sides with dioramas.   Yvonne BC / Atlas Obscura User
Phone box showing two sides with dioramas.   Yvonne BC / Atlas Obscura User
Full length shot showing several dioramas.   Yvonne BC / Atlas Obscura User
Close up of one diorama.   Yvonne BC / Atlas Obscura User
Close up of information panel.   Yvonne BC / Atlas Obscura User
Full shot of panel.   Yvonne BC / Atlas Obscura User
Close up of the plaque and wings.   Yvonne BC / Atlas Obscura User
Ormskirk’s clock tower behind.   Yvonne BC / Atlas Obscura User
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About

This iconic red K6 phone box from the 1930s is no longer in operation. Instead of picking up a phone, visitors can step into an art installation celebrating the history of Ormskirk, West Lancashire.

A set of silver wings sit on top of the red booth. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Artist Julie James-Turner worked with communities members via Zoom, coordinating the creation of a series of small dioramas as part of the community arts project "Once Upon a Town."

A small plaque on the booth's side labels it "TIME TARDIS 2021," referencing the fictional time machines and spacecrafts from the British TV show "Doctor Who." A panel of text on one side explains is origin; "It is prophesized that in the year 2021, in a Lancashire town know as Ormskirk, visitors will experience a strange phenomenon where the town's past, present, and future collide."

Inside the booth, dioramas depicting the history of Ormskirk, including one that commemorates the town's World Wars veterans. Another celebrates the town's gingerbread baking traditions, a trade that dates back several centuries in the area.

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Installations Artists Television

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Yvonne BC

Edited By

rbenn250

  • rbenn250

Published

March 6, 2025

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The Time Tardis
Ormskirk, England, L39 2XN
United Kingdom
53.567442, -2.885966

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