Crowland readies ‘information’ phone box as historian visits town

TV historian Dan Snow has been to South Holland to take a close look at a veteran military vehicle recently pulled from the South Holland mud.

The 1944 Water Buffalo LVT 4 was almost 30 foot under the Crowland soil until it was recovered by local historian and farmer Daniel Abbott recently.

It will feature in Dan’s show History Hit, a podcast and online channel for history buffs.

“He was here for the whole day with us,” said Daniel, who is raising money for a museum to house the Water Buffalo.

“He was really fascinated by it and what we have done,” he added.

Since recovering it from a field last month, the historic vehicle has been cleaned of more than three tonnes of mud and work is continuing to preserve and restore it.

A £5,000 appeal towards restoration and create history boards is more than half way towards its target. There is a further £30,000 appeal to create a museum housing the Buffalo in the area.

The Buffalo had been sent to Crowland to help in severe floods, but was lost when it sunk completely.

Mr Abbott has also been involved in returning an iconic landmark to its home town.

The 1937 red telephone box was first used in Crowland when King George VI was on the throne and the first ever 999 calls were made.

It was used by generations of residents until 2016 when British Telecom axed the service due to the rise of mobile phone use.

When the box was bought by a group in the village, it still had its handset but was otherwise a bit unloved.

Now it has been restored to its former glory, complete with a gold leaf on the royal crown.

A committee, including local historian Daniel Abbott and councillors Nigel Pepper and Jim Astell, saved the box and raised money to have it refurbished and replaced.

It is now standing proudly on the corner of Albion Street and West Street as the town’s information hub.

There will be an official unveiling for the new facility on June 12.