Postboxes in the UK have a “box number” assigned by Royal Mail, which comprises the first (outbound) half of the postcode, followed by a space and then 1-4 digits. There’s sometimes a single letter suffix appended to the end.
A mapper who’s been using my Post hoc postbox comparison tool, has come across a postbox with a collection plate that has an “X” suffix at the end: TA8 8X . It appears to correspond to the box listed by Royal Mail as TA8 8.
I’ve come across plenty of boxes with a D suffix (early collection times, since emptied by delivery staff on their rounds) and P suffix (Parcel boxes, usually re-purposed meter boxes). In these cases, it’s just a re-labelling of the original box number, rather than a different number. The Royal Mail website still lists the box by the number without the suffix - as appears to be the case with the X suffix box above.
But I’ve not come across an “X” suffix before, and I don’t know what it might mean. Does anyone else have any insights or suggestions?
I am the mysterious mapper that Robert is referring to.
The postbox in question resides in a Haven caravan resort. Sorry to disappoint previous posters but it is definitely not one of the fancy-pants-Solar post boxes.
I can’t remember if it was a pillar box or built into the wall.
Annoyingly I didn’t take a picture of the front as proof of the X suffix.
As a sanity check I have searched for postboxes with the X character at the end using overpass turbo.
[out:json][timeout:25];
nwr["amenity"="post_box"]["ref"~"X$"]({{bbox}});
out geom;
Across the British Isles it seems that the only postbox that matches is the one I added at Haven. I’m convinced that I added it correctly but having no others does suggest that I may have made a mistake.
This page suggests that “X” means “ex-Air Mail”, the former blue post boxes. But I don’t know in what context that applies, possibly just their own idiosyncratic website headings. X = ex-Airmail - Letter Box Study Group
On a similar line of investigation this website lists airmail post boxes around the country.
The post box that I found was in Burnham-On-Sea which is very close to Weston-super-mare. Weston is listed as having one of these air mail boxes, presumably due it being a tourist destination.
Perhaps the post box in question was moved at some point and kept the reference?
I would double check but I am miles away in Nottingham.
I think that’s just their entry for “X” in an A-Z of letterbox terminology, starting from https://lbsg.org/testimonial/a-airmail/ , so nothing to do with the X suffix on your box.
Could the X be linked to post box being on a private site? For example the site could be closed, or not accessible to general public for short periods.
I’d be interested in this topic, as my town was one of the first to get a solar box (with its original D prefix preserved), and I wasn’t entirely sure how to reflect its solarness! Node: SG6 157D (793351569) | OpenStreetMap