AA emergency roadside telephones

[TheOstrich]

Going through all the old stuff for shredding - I've found a key!!

Do AA emergency roadside telephones still exist anywhere? Can anyone recall ever having used one?

Should I put in our current car??

[meriad]

Keep it until the Antiques Road Show comes to an area near you - it could be of value you know!

but seriously - didn't even think they had keys for them. I've been an AA member for nearly 17 years (I think it is) and have never had a key. That sounds rather quaint

[TheOstrich]

Yes, it's big and it's shiney; it's a Yale type key and it's got "Property of the Automobile Association" stamped on it ..... came in a sealed envelope!!

Must be thousands of keys like that from the '70s and '80s still out there at the bottom of folks' glove-compartments ...

[Suff]

Haven't had one in decades. The last AA phone I used was an AA sponsored public phone between Glen Shee and Braemar and that must have been 25 years ago.

The last actual box I saw was in FIFE and that vanished more than 2 decades ago....

So I'd guess it's a curiosity unless you can find one in the far north of Scotland.... They live a slower pace of life up there...

[Suff]

Just out of interest it seems they were decommissioned in 2002.

However if you wished a short road trip, you could see if the key still works in this one...

[TheOstrich]

Thank you Suff, that's very interesting.

My own memory of Porlock Hill was descending it in a Mini, many years ago, constant low gear and braking .... when I got to the bottom, I decided to turn off into the petrol station there to fill up - and nearly went straight through it! - brake failure! Had to park up for an hour so they could cool off ....

[Aggers]

I used to have an AA box key, but where it finished up I don't know.
I used it once, one day when my old car packed up. The box I used
had been well looked after by a local resident, was spotlessly clean
and even had a potted house plant in it.

In those far-off days, one hazardous road junction between Worcester
and Kidderminster had a full-time AA man there controlling the traffic.

Happy days.

[Kaz]

My Aunty Rose worked for the RAC once, she had a very snazzy uniform She wasn't a mechanic, I think she was just supposed to stand, salute and look pretty, or perhaps it was in their offices somewhere but she definitely had a uniform