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Village that decorates its phone box every Christmas

Cary Outis A Santa train on phone box. A giant Santa face including beard, a hat and a large red nose covers the telephone box while the train engine, which is green and red is made from plywood and aluminium - with plant pots for the chimneysCary Outis
In 2019 the artist and sculptor, Cary Outis, created a Santa train for the phone box

A Fenland village has enjoyed a "blinged-up" defunct telephone box every Christmas after it was bought for £1 in 2010.

Local artists have helped decorate the box in Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire, but the majority of the designs were created by Cary Outis, who has transformed it into pieces of art enjoyed by both locals and visitors alike.

Here is a selection of some of the festive guises that have graced the phone box over the years.

Cary Outis A sculpture of a reindeer attached to a telephone box. It has a large head made from fabric and its wooden body is covered in fake fur Cary Outis
Cary Outis A close-up of the face of a reindeer sculpture. The large head is made from fabric and it has a nose painted red Cary Outis
Rudolph came to the village in 2021
Rudolph's nose was painted a suitable colour

Mr Outis, an artist and sculptor, tries to reuse as much material from previous years, and his giant Santa face creation has been repurposed and "improved" over time, he said.

For his giant Rudolph sculpture he used old pipe insulation on wire for the antlers, and draped fake fur over the plywood reindeer's body.

"I felt a bit sorry for Rudolph, as Santa was getting all the action," he said.

Cary Outis A phone box is made to look like a post box and there are lots of letters, cards and messages spilling out of it onto the ground Cary Outis
Cary Otis A Santa face on a telephone box. There is a red hat on the top of the box and the Santa model has large eyes, a big red nose, ears, and a beard Cary Otis
In 2023 the phone box was turned into a post box with giant letters and cards spilling out of it
An early incarnation of the Santa face was changed over the years

Mr Outis said some of the pieces he has created over the years have thrown up particular challenges.

Not least was this year's design - a larger-than-life emperor penguin.

Admitting he was not the best at sewing, he said it took him about three days to make from fabric with wooden supports, and attaching the head to the body was not the simplest of tasks.

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