One of the oldest post boxes in Port Elizabeth stands on the Donkin Reserve next to the old lighthouse keeper's cottage, now occupied by the NMBT visitor information centre. The post box has the Royal Cipher "GR" on it, indicating that it was erected during the reign of King George V somewhere between 1910-1936. The first roadside post boxes appeared in 1852 on the Channel Islands. Since then all post boxes in the UK has been painted red and bear a Royal Cipher that consists of two letters to signify the monarch under whose reign they were manufactured. As South Africa was a British Colony our early post boxes also bore the Royal Ciphers.
I saw one of these at Pilgrim's Rest.
ReplyDeleteGosh - it looks like the one on top of Table Mt. Maybe the colonial govt bougt i bulk!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that all the post boxes had the royal mark. The Nats, to get rid of anything British ground these castings of virtually all the post boxes.
ReplyDeleteVandals.
Billy Fletcher
I saw in central a post box built into a wall of a house with VR on it. This was some years ago. I have looked for it since but cannot find it.
ReplyDelete