The volunteers 'preserving the past' at the side of the road

Once a common sight at the side of British roads, with more than 600 constructed between 1911 and 1962, AA telephone boxes are now a rarity.

Only a handful remain in their original locations, where they once provided refuge for the breakdown service's patrols, storage for water and fuel and a telephone back to base.

Members of the Automobile Association (AA) were also given access to the boxes from 1919 onwards, to allow them to call for assistance, with around two millions keys issued over the folloiwng 80 years.

In the early 2000s some of the phone boxes were handed over to the local council, while many more were disconnected and decommissioned.

Now, after the birth of the mobile phone brought an end to this once invaluable network, just 22 remain scattered across the country.

One such location - AA Box 442, near Aysgarth in the Yorkshire Dales - is now looked after by a group of volunteers helping to preserve a piece of roadside heritage.

"We used to drive past and I'd think it was a bit rough," says Marjorie Workman.

"I read in the Dalesman [Magazine] that it was a Grade II listed building and I thought 'what a shame'.

In 2003, she took it upon herself to tidy the gardens surrounding the box, travelling from Barton, near Darlington, at least once every fortnight.

"People walking past used to stop and chat and even one person game me some money for a plant, it was lovely," the 83-year-old says.

"The young lads and lasses didn't know what an AA box was."

Marjorie's partner Peter Percival joined her efforts to help with more "rough stuff".

Although the box itself is the responsibility of the AA and the volunteers' primary focus is the surrounding gardens, Peter and Marjorie did once re-paint it.

But , as Marjorie's arthritis developed and Peter's eyesight deteriorated, their efforts came to an end, but they were taken over by Sheila Simms, about a decade ago.

As well as spending most Sundays tending to the gardens, the 82-year-old has created a display board in the box, featuring its history and highlighting Marjorie and Peter's work.

After they began working on the box, Marjorie and Peter discovered an unexpected family connection.

A member of the public told them George Percival - who shares a surname with Peter - was "the last AA man" at Aysgarth.

When thy made contact George realised he knew Peter's mother, and they worked out they were distant relatives.

George shared memories with Peter and Marjorie, before his death in 2006.

"After Marjorie did the AA box, his daughter came to have a look at it," Peter says.

"She cried and said 'thank you for doing that for my dad'."

Comparing pictures from before she started working on the box to when the gardens were in full bloom, Marjorie says she feels "pride".

"I'd done my bit for Yorkshire," she says.

Peter adds: "It's our heritage from years gone and if it goes, it's gone.

"And then who's going to know about it?"

Sheila says the group have been "preserving the past for the future".

"For people like us it's within living memory, but when we go, people won't know."

Sheila is hoping to find extra volunteers to help out in the spring.

"Coming up to 83, I'm not going to be able to be here forever to do it," she says.

Her plans also include "future-proofing" the gardens to reduce the amount of maintenance required and introduce more "drought-resistant" plants and flowers.

Yorkshire is home to two remaining AA telephone boxes still in their original locations.

As well as Box 442 at Aysgarth, Box 573 is found at Garrowby Hill, 4.5miles (7km) east of York.

George Flinton, a member of the AA heritage team, says he and the other members of the volunteer group, as well as current and former AA staff, have a "bit of fondness for the sentry boxes", he says.

Across Great Britain, 19 boxes still owned by the AA remain in their original locations, with three others at AA offices.

A further three are owned and maintained by local authorities, with an unknown number in private collections and museums.

In 2023, George and a colleague visited all but one of the remaining AA-owned boxes, covering 2,500 miles (4,000km) on motorbikes in less than a week.

"People were also stopping at the boxes and obviously not doing the full tour but people use them as a point of interest," the 31-year-old says.

"People who are interested in motoring will drive out to the boxes."

As those boxes are officially company buildings, they are maintained by the AA facilities team, with a small heritage budget dedicated to "whichever box needs the most work", George explains.

"They are such an important part of not just our history, but motoring history in general."

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