You've probably chanced across a gold post box. These permanent memorials celebrate the achievements of the nation's athletes at London 2012. But where are the capital's golden post boxes? And where would we expect to find new ones, should Royal Mail extend the scheme to the 2016 success stories?
2012 gold post boxes
Handily, Royal Mail has long hosted a map showing the locations of most of the 100+ golden post boxes in the country. Here are the London ones, transposed onto our own map:
- Tothill Street, Westminster: The most central post box commemorates the Olympic and Paralympic teams as a whole.
- Broadway, Stratford: A double post box celebrating London's third occasion hosting the Olympic Games. Oddly, it's not marked on Royal Mail's map of gold post boxes.
- Southbury Road, Enfield: Dressage champ Charlotte Dujardin. She has another in hometown of Newent, Gloucestershire.
- High Street, Uxbridge: Natasha Baker who aced the paralympic equestrian was also granted Freedom of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Her post box stands beside Bakers Yard, which is not named after Natasha Baker, but is a pleasing coincidence.
- Church Road, Cowley: A second for Natasha Baker in the freestyle equestrian. This one's also missing from the Royal Mail map, but clearly visible in Google Street View.
- Heathfield Terrace, Chiswick: Pete Reed, men's four rowing.
- Church Road, Wimbledon: Andy Murray wasn't born in these parts, but he's firmly associated with Wimbledon. He has another in Dunblane.
- Worple Road, Wimbledon: Sophie Hosking was a winner at the double skulls rowing.
- Broad Street, Teddington: A post box for Mo Farah, celebrating his 5000m victory.
- Isleworth Post Office: Another shout out for Mo Farah, this time for the 10,000m gold.
- Ewell Road, Cheam: Women's team pursuit, a cycling event, included London's Joanna Rowsell. This was her second post box. A first, on Carshalton Road, was repainted red after the location in Cheam was preferred.
- Woodcote Road, Wallington: 5,000m T-54 winner David Weir gets a box on Woodcote Road, Wallington.
- Foresters Drive, Wallington: Another for David Weir, for his performance in the 800m T-54.
- Mollison Square, Wallington: A third for David Weir, this time for the 1,500m T-54.
- Mollison Drive, Wallington: London's most golden area is complete with this fourth for David Weir, in the men's marathon T-54
In addition, a gold post box could also be found in Heathrow Terminal 1 just after the Games, but has now been removed (along with the terminal).
2016 gold medal winners
Sadly, Royal Mail has decided not to commemorate the 2016 champions with gold post boxes. The scheme was, apparently, a one-off gesture to celebrate our role of host nation in 2012.
If Royal Mail changes its mind, it'll need to buy a few pots of paint for the London area. For starters, 2016 has seen new gold medals for Charlotte Dujardin, Mo Farah, Andy Murray, Pete Reed and Joanna Rowsell (now Joanna Rowsell-Shand).
New gold medalists include golfer Justin Rose, who lives in a riverside flat in Putney, the lucky devil. Men's eight coxswain Phelan Hill is another Putney resident and, no doubt, many of the other champion rowers have connections with the Thames. Upriver in Kingston, for example, a gold post box could be painted for local boy Mohamed Sbihi, who claimed a gold in the coxless four.
