Telephone Kiosk, near 112 Ballylesson Road, Belfast BT8

A well-preserved K6 type telephone kiosk dating from between 1938 and circa 1953, located on the southeastern side of Ballylesson Road on the southern outskirts of Belfast, close to the junction with Purdysburn Hill. The kiosk stands in semi-rural surroundings next to 112 Ballylesson Road, a property that served as the local post office.

The kiosk is constructed in cast iron painted red, with a cast-iron body in the standard K6 design. Each elevation displays the Tudor crown motif above a glazed TELEPHONE panel. The glazing is largely replacement. The door opens to the southwest-facing side, while the opposite side, which backs directly into a boundary wall, is blank in the standard arrangement. Attached to the western corner of the neighbouring property is a Victorian (VR) wall-mounted post box.

The K6 model was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Constructed in cast iron with a teak door, it was compact and easily mass-produced. The design developed from Scott's earlier K2 (introduced 1926) and K3 (1929) models. Distribution throughout the UK began in 1936, making the K6 the most successful and populous kiosk type, with approximately 60,000 placed across the country. About 8,000 were installed under the Jubilee Concession scheme, which allowed towns and villages with a post office to apply for a kiosk. A further 1,000 kiosks were installed over 12 years under the Post Office Tercentenary Concession for local authorities paying a five-year subscription of £4.

A minor design alteration occurred following the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, when the Tudor crown motif was replaced with St Edward's crown. From 1955, kiosks in Scotland incorporated the Crown of Scotland, with a slot in the fascia allowing either version to be inserted into all kiosks manufactured from that date onwards. The K6 remained in production until 1968, when the more modernist K8, designed by Bruce Martin, was introduced.

This particular kiosk is not marked on the 1938 Ordnance Survey map but appears on the 1972 map. Map evidence suggests the adjacent property functioned as the local post office from at least 1955 until at least 1974, though the presence of the Victorian post box suggests it had served that function from much earlier. Once common, these iconic pieces of street furniture are now increasingly rare, and intact working examples such as this are even rarer.