Chiswick's Gold Olympic Post Box Gets A Facelift

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Royal Mail say the golden colour will remain permanently

The Royal Mail says the gold post box outside the Town Hall in Heathfield Terrace is getting a permanent gold coating. A plaque honouring local rower Pete Reed's Olympic achievement will also be placed there.

Last year the box was painted golden after Pete won a gold medal as part of Team GB in the Men's Four final at Eton Dorney in the 2012 Olympics. However local people in Chiswick became concerned recently when they saw workmen stripping off the gold paint and wondered if it was being repainted the traditional red colour.

Post box after painting in 2012 Pic: Mike F Abbott

However in answer to a query from ChiswickW4.com, the Royal Mail spokesperson Sally Hopkins said: “Last year we painted 110 of our red postboxes gold to celebrate the fantastic achievements of British gold medallists at London 2012.

“All our gold post boxes are receiving a permanent coat of gold paint and will include a plaque commemorating the athlete’s achievement.  We have to strip down the boxes in preparation for their permanent gold coating.”

The UK became the first country to paint post boxes gold to celebrate Olympic and Paralympic gold medal wins. It was also the first occasion in modern times when Royal Mail changed the colour of its post boxes. Red has been the standard colour for UK boxes from 1874, with few exceptions.

June 28, 2013