Arthur's first class collection

11:34am Tuesday 26th February 2008

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THERE'S A LINE BETWEEN HAVING an interest in something and being an enthusiast.

Isle of Wight electrician Arthur Reeder, proud owner of 190 letter boxes, passed it some time ago.

If ever anyone was passionate about postboxes it's Arthur.

In fact, he's probably the world's foremost authority on postboxes - British ones at any rate.

Chatting with Arthur, 52, in the mother of all sheds, which houses most of his collection in the garden of his and his wife's Newport home, his passion is tangible.

But, to an outsider, that doesn't necessarily make it any easier to understand.

Not that that worries Arthur, mind.

He happily refers to himself as a strange man' and is delighted to have received an award for being one of Britain's great eccentrics. And luckily for him, while his wife Kim doesn't share his enthusiasm she does indulge it, finding it rather charming.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Arthur is quite happy for the vast majority of people to think he, or his love of letter boxes anyway, is rather strange is because there is a small but dedicated band of people worldwide who share his enthusiasm.

Many of them, like Arthur, are members of the Letter Box Study Group, an international organisation which celebrates, investigates and supplies information on these pieces of street furniture which go unnoticed by many.

And a number of them also travel hundreds of miles to visit him and his collection - addresses in his visitors' book include ones in Ireland and Switzerland.

Arthur calls his 190-strong collection the Isle of Wight Postal Museum' but while he welcomes visitors, it isn't a public collection.

"I haven't acquired these things for show," he says.

"I've acquired them for myself. I wouldn't mind if no one ever came to see them."

But that said, he does love showing people round and although he is self-employed will happily miss out an afternoon or even a day's pay to show his collection to visitors.

To get to the root of Arthur's collection we'll rewind to 1990, when his daughter gave him a book on postboxes as a Christmas present.

Arthur had always been interested in other connections to the past such as old modes of transport, antique street lamps, road signs and telephone boxes and used to enjoy travelling round the country to photograph them.

He became fascinated by the way you can tell which era of history each postbox is from just by looking at it - for instance which monarch was on the throne when it was made.

While on a trip to North Wales to look at some trains he decided to visit Rhyl station, where there was a rare postbox.

But on his arrival he learned that the station buildings were being demolished and the letter box had been removed.

"I asked around and found the remains on a skip outside," says Arthur who, dressed in a bright red jumper and black trousers looks rather like pillarbox himself.

"It was made of timber and vandals had kicked in the front and set fire to it.

So I bought it for £20.

"My family thought I was raving mad, but I took it to bits, sanded it down and recreated everything on it. And when I finished it I posted some pictures on the Letter Box Study Group website. It was amazing - people came hundreds of miles to see this restored thing!

"One of the guys who came asked if I wanted any more because he knew someone who had a couple for sale and it went from there."

Perhaps surprisingly, letter boxes are the first thing that Arthur has collected.

"I'm not a hoarder," he says. "I used to chuck stuff away rather than hang onto it. But with letter boxes I've started to look at things differently. I give talks about postboxes and one of my themes is that just because something is old that doesn't mean it isn't capable of doing its job. That goes for people too. With postboxes, you get one that's 150 years old and if it's maintained properly it will still be there in another 150 years.

"When you modernise things you build in obsolescence. It drives me mad when I get a call from an old dear asking me if I repair washing machines and I have to say no because you can't get the parts and it's cheaper to buy a new one.

"That's why I persevere with this. Okay, so a postbox has a broken door. If there's enough bits there to put it back together I'll get it welded up and paint it and it will look as good as new."

Talking to Arthur, the humble postbox begins to take on rather more impressive status and as he continues to explain why he likes them that effect is compounded.

"It's the history I like, really. There's a lot of stuff been said about the icons of British life but I don't think the British Empire would have existed in the way that it did if it wasn't for the post office.

"The post office is what bound it all together. These little things (letter boxes) should never, ever be allowed to go because they were the cement that held the British Empire together and still holds the UK together in many respects."

Arthur's love of postboxes also stems from the almost childlike wonder at the process of delivering letters.

"You can write a letter and put it in a hole in the wall and you are pretty certain that whatever the address is, if you put the right stamp on it, it will end up there.

That fascinates me. I suppose there's a bit of romance there."

There's a bit of romance to Arthur Reeder too. His passion for letter boxes, which has nothing to do with their value or making a profit but rather their history and durability flies in the face of modern consumer society.

He's a man who has dedicated his life to his passion, regardless of what other people think of it.

Indeed, in many ways, much like his beloved letter boxes, as a charming eccentric he is himself a symbol of what it is to be British and also deserves to be celebrated.