Back in January 2022 I answered Medway Council's call to create a public art installation in Strood to WELCOME shoppers back to the High Street. The only criteria was that it could be seen from the street and that it carried the theme of WELCOME as our masks came off and we shopped as normal - as "normal" at that time seemed.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I have a thing for phone boxes. There was a neglected phone in Strood, next to the Post Office, that needed some cheering up. I had an idea to cover it with green BT PhoneCards (remember them?), each one filled with a memory of using a phone box. It could be mundane, life changing, a feeling, a recollection, a quirk of using the foot square metal and glass box that so many of us remember entering.
With my commission accepted I went off - clipboard in hand - to the streets, businesses, care homes and people of Strood to record their memories. I found them to be generous and chatty, tearful and excited, serious and lighthearted. People were only too happy to share their memories and I was so grateful. It meant I could preserve those special moments and create my public art installation.
12 months on and the phone cards are on the move. I'm one-half of the duo that run MedwayArtBox and until 20 April they'll be on display at the art gallery phone box on Rochester High Street next to the Guildhall Museum and Café Nucleus. Enjoy reading over 100 memories and reflect upon your own.
Do you have a memory you'd like to share?
Please let me know by scrolling down to the footer and leaving a comment.
