A FEW weeks ago I followed up Mrs Joan Briggs' idea of seeking out some of Lancashire's old post boxes, writes RON FREETHY.

I asked readers if they knew the whereabouts of boxes from the reigns of Victoria and Edward VII and there was a good response.

Mrs D Marrow, of Kirkstone Avenue, Blackburn, sent me a photograph of an Edward VII post box which is situated on the road from Grasmere to Easedale Tarn, approximately one mile from Grasmere..

Edward Hartley, of Skipton Road, Colne, spends a lot of my time fishing in Cumbria and wrote to say he had noticed a Victorian box at Ulpha Post Office, just past the church I wrote about some time ago. Mr Warbrick, postmaster at Moss Bridge, Darwen, rang to say that there was an Edward VII post box outside his office. Frank Robinson, of Browsholme, near Clitheroe, wrote to say that there was a VR box outside Browsholme Hall and another at Bashall Eaves. Mr F Clayton, of Woodfield View, Whalley, sent in a bumper bundle, including a number of photographs of boxes from several eras.

The locations include Grindleton, Colne, Baxenden, Great Harwood and Whalley.

Mrs Freda Wood, of Gisburn Old Road, Blacko, wrote:

"There is an Edward VII post box on Bethel Street, Barnoldswick. Even rarer, I think there is an Edward VIII cypher on the post box at Knotts Lane, Colne. I believe there are only two in the country but I don't know where the other one is.

"Also, on the former employment office in Finsley Gate, Burnley, there is an Edward VIII cypher in stone on the face of the building. There is a VR post box on the A595 road near Waberthwaite, in Cumbria, on the way to Muncaster Castle."

The post box story set other readers in search of other bits of lost Lancashire. Carol Winstanley, of Liverpool, read the Evening Telegraph while staying with friends and wrote to ask about two aspects of old Lancashire. What about old toll houses and milestones, she asked. Did each turnpike road have its own design of house and milestone?

Yes, indeed they did. There are some splendid toll houses in Lancashire, including Brindle Bar, Simonstone Bar, Chatburn ice cream shop and Steanor Bottom, between Todmorden and Rochdale. The word milestone is often misleading because one set on the road between Chorley and Wigan was actually made of cast iron. Perhaps a better name would be mile marker and I wonder if readers know of any good examples, or can add to the list of toll houses.

Many are now private houses and it would be interesting to know what life in a toll house is like these days.

One thing that this postbag has shown me and that is I am not the only one to find the history of hidden bits of Britain so fascinating.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.