Hobby's been fun but it's time to hang up now

Matua couple Carolyn Wilkey and Murray Wilkey have collected 14 traditional red English telephone boxes. PHOTO/John Borren

It was the grand finale to an eight-year-long labour of love for a telephone box enthusiast yesterday when five of his collection of 14 rolled up the driveway, fully restored to their former glory.

Murray Wilkey spotted a traditional red English telephone box in a garden in the UK 30 years ago and always hoped to ship one back to New Zealand.

Thirty years later and he had bought 14 for about £1000 each from across Britain in varying conditions, shipped them back to New Zealand in 2012 and began restoring.

The Matua man could not believe he had collected 14 and said it had become a bit of a joke in his family.

"I'll be divorced tomorrow if I buy any more," he laughed.

Mr Wilkey and his English wife, Carolyn, lived in England for eight years and the collecting started in Wales in 2007.

"It's just one of those quirky things you get hold of and it sticks with you. It's been fun, it's been a bit of a laugh."

The original 1936 telephone boxes had become collectors items after 50,000 of the original 60,000 were ripped out in 1960, he said, with a lot of English villages rallying together to buy them back.

The Wilkeys' 14 telephone boxes took up half a container when they shipped their lives back to New Zealand, he said.

He was looking forward to using one as a mini bar in his home with a mini fridge, shelves of glasses and a bar, after the idea of a shower was discarded.

"Today is a good day," he said as the delivery truck pulled into his driveway.

Converting one into a community book sharing library at the end of his driveway was another idea and he would hold onto about four for his family before selling the rest off.

Worth about $10,000 each, he knew he would have to be more creative than selling them online.

"The average person isn't going to buy a $10,000 telephone box on Trade Me," he laughed. Instead, he's set his sights on the British High Commission building in Wellington and architects working on larger-scale projects.

His hobby was a long way from his day job as a quantity surveyor but he said, for now, he was done with telephone boxes.