Sunday, December 12th, 2010
Did you know there is a storage solution for post boxes which are no longer in use? A man from the Isle of Wight is storing so many old post boxes; he has had to build a new house to contain them all! Arthur Reeder is believed to own the biggest collection of post boxes and mail memorabilia in the UK (possibly even the world). He has almost 200 different post boxes from a variety of decades and countries. His collection also includes hundreds of pieces of old post equipment such as signs, stamps, scales etc.
Arthur started the collection over 15 years ago when he discovered an old wall mounted post box in a rubbish skip whilst on holiday in Wales. He took it home and restored it to its former glory. He then developed a passion for Royal Mail artefacts and began collecting and restoring other post boxes. His oldest post box dates back to 1861. Many of the post boxes in his collection are displayed outside in Arthur’s paddock and the rows of red pillar post boxes can be seen from the road in Newport.
The Royal Mail rarely sell post boxes to the public, most of Arthurs collection has come from donations after boxes are removed due to damage or vandalism. If the boxes were still in working order, they would still be in use. Strangely enough Arthur is not the only person who stores old post boxes in his home. Steve Knight in Essex also has an impressive collection of about 100 post boxes as well as 19 stamp vending machines, documents, uniforms and other associated artefacts. Steve has also had to construct a purpose-built outhouse for his assortment of postal relics.
If you have an unusual collection that is getting out of hand, or just fancy making some space in your home then click on Quote and Reserve Online page to see if you would benefit from our secure self storage rooms.
Tags: Big Yellow Self Storage, clutter, collectibles, Did you know?, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage solution
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Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
With 58,000 self storage facilities globally more and more people are benefitting from the extra space in their homes. Ever wondered how other countries self storage compares to ours? We’ve taken a look at the USA, France and Spain to bring you the juicy facts to help put your mind at ease.
The self storage market in the US is a huge industry with about 45,000 facilities compared to 1,200 that are situated in the UK. The first billion square feet of storage space took 25 years to build and the next billion only took 8 years thanks to a boom within the industry. This is mainly because of the vast space available and their national Self Storage Association that was formed in 1975. Even most of the 50 states have their own self storage association! Also, many self storage stores are based on US military bases and over 700,000 rooms are rented to its personnel.
The self storage market in France is growing rapidly with 112 storage facilities and is the second most in Europe. As recently as 2005, only 5% of the population was aware of self storage and it’s a long way behind the UK but has come far in a short space of time. Paris is the hub of all facilities as 54% of stores are located in the area meaning it is still unknown is rural areas.
Before 2002 there were no self storage stores in Spain but today there are around 70 self storage facilities. Around 40% of stores are located around the Catalonia region and is seen as the stronghold of the self storage market. Many of the self storage facilities in Spain are used for Britons that have moved abroad with many setting up their websites in English to cater to the demand. The market is still in its infancy compared to Britain, but many facilities are providing the ex-pat community with the extra space they need.
To find out more information about how you can benefit from self storage here on home soil, visit www.bigyellow.co.uk/personal to get started.
Tags: armadillo self storage, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, byss, Did you know?, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, UK storage
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Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Did you know the British banking industry came up with the idea of self storage? In the 1800’s business men about to go on long journeys asked bankers to protect their valuables for them until they returned. The bankers stored their clients possessions inside the vault, but this space quickly ran out resulting in the bankers finding an alternative storage solution, renting loft space from moving companies instead.
However it wasn’t until the mid 1960’s in Texas that self storage facilities as we know them today were born. The concept was instantly successful and was quickly replicated across the rest of America and Canada.
England was slow to react and didn’t adopt self storage for the general public until the late 1980’s. There were many risks involved for early entrepreneurs who developed the self storage industry in the UK. Land prices were much more expensive in England than the US, due to limited space. It cost in the region of two to three million pounds to set up a self storage business in the UK and there was no proof it would be profitable. The public were slow to take to the idea of self storage, but eventually as British lives changed, the risks paid off for the early developers of self storage and the businesses grew to into the thriving industry we know today.
At Big Yellow Self Storage we know there are lots of ways people could benefit from using our self storage rooms. To find out more visit us in store or go to Quote and Reserve Online today.
Tags: armadillo self storage, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, byss, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, Did you know?, furniture storage, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, UK storage
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Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Did you know that in June this year an impressionist’s art sale fetched £152.6 million, beating the record for the most money ever made in a UK auction? The highlight of the sale at the London auction house, Christies was a 1903 painting by Pablo Picasso. The piece, named ‘Portrait of Angel Fernandez De Soto’, (also known as ‘The Absinthe Drinker’), sold for £34.7 million.
Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Art Foundation, a charity set up by the British composer to promote art, culture and heritage in Britain, bought the artwork for £19 million in 1995. They attempted to sell the painting at Christies in New York in 2006 but the auction was called off due to controversy over the ownership. Julius Schoeps, who is Jewish, claimed his family had owned the painting, but had been forced to sell it by the Nazis. Lord Lloyd Webber’s Foundation contested this claim and the court eventually ruled in their favour, saying it could not be sued by Professor Schoeps because he was not appointed to represent his relatives’ estate.
It seems that all high profile art is recession proof. A sculpture by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti was sold in February this year at Southby’s in London for a world record breaking £65 million. The sculpture named ‘L’Homme qui Marche’ which depicts a grimly determined walking man, broke records as the most expensive piece of artwork ever sold.
At Big Yellow Self Storage we understand the importance of looking after your valuables. Not only do we have 24 hour digital CCTV, but every self storage room has its own alarm. We also have coded electronic gates, perimeter fencing, smoke detectors and fire alarms to protect your belongings. To find out how you could benefit from self storage, go to our Quote and Reserve Online page or visit us in store.
Tags: armadillo self storage, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, collectibles, Did you know?, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage solution, UK storage
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Friday, October 8th, 2010
Did You Know that a collection of McDonald’s memorabilia was sold for a whopping £8,130 last year? The 5,000 items from the fast food chain consisted of toys, posters and Happy Meal boxes and made the owner Luke Underwood a small fortune. Luke was only 11 when the collection was sold in March 2009. The young entrepreneur from South Clifton, Nottinghamshire persuaded his dad to buy the memorabilia dating from 1990-2000 for him for just £250 in 2005. Luke sold it 4 years later after running out of space in his home to store the thousands of McDonald’s promotional items.
The collection was thought to be the largest of its kind in the UK and included the only known complete set of the 101 Dalmatians promotional toys, in their original bags. The auction, held by Unique Auctions in March 2009, attracted buyers from across the world. Items were then split up and sold in around 300 lots, fetching Luke a tidy sum. Successful bidders came from as far as America and Germany. Luke was not keen to sell the items but his family could no longer store the massive collection. Boxes full of McDonald’s bits and pieces were taking up all the space in their loft, living room, hall and landing.
Big Yellow Self Storage cannot guarantee your collections will fetch you as much cash as Lukes’s but we do provide 24 hour digital CCTV and individually alarmed storage rooms for any valuable stuff you may have. You can rent a self storage room for as little as a week, month, year or as long as you want. Visit our Quote and Reserve Page to get started.
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, byss, clutter, collectibles, de-clutter, declutter, Did you know?, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, UK storage
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Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Did you know there’s a desert located in Tucson, Arizona that’s the home of US military planes that are no longer in service? The Davis-Monthan Air Force Base had become the home of retired airplanes shortly after World War II and now has a collection of over 4,000. Nicknamed ‘The Boneyard’, the area is spread across 2,600 acres, which is the equivalent of 1,430 football pitches.
The site was chosen as a storage facility because of its high altitude and the favourable conditions that allow the aircraft to be left outside for long periods of time without deteriorating too quickly. Among the aircraft kept in ‘The Boneyard’ are B-52 Cold War-era bombers and dozens of F-14 fighter jets. The area has even featured in a series of Hollywood films with the most recent being Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
High-resolution satellite images released by Google Earth earlier this year show incredible detail of the full range of aircraft that can be found at the site.
Tags: armadillo self storage, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, byss, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, Did you know?, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, UK storage
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Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Did you know that Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 50GB of data, which is around five or six times the amount a standard DVD can hold? They are a high definition storage alternative to DVDs and they get there name from the colour of the blue laser that reads the discs inside of a player.
Having a large amount of storage space is essential for high definition discs as the quality of film takes up to ten times the amount of space that a standard definition disc requires. The 50GB capacity is for a dual-layer disc which is made up of two layers, a single layered disc can store 25GB of data which is enough storage space for at least two hours of high-definition video.
The increased storage capacity allows Blu-Ray discs to provide a much sharper and clearer picture than DVDs, as well as improved sound quality. Blu-Ray discs also have many more special features than DVDs, as a result of the extra space.
The physical structure of a Blu-Ray disc means that it is even more susceptible to scratching than a standard DVD. To resolve the problem, manufacturers decided to add a hard protective coating on each disc meaning that scratches won’t make your favorite films unwatchable.
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, blu ray, Did you know?, dvd, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog
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Friday, March 12th, 2010
A woman in America was surprised to discover that her car’s indicator had stopped working because there were thousands of nuts stored under the bonnet of her car?
As reported in the Metro, Hope Wideup of Indiana came across the horde of walnuts when she opened the car’s bonnet to see what was wrong. ‘There were thousands in there. They were everywhere,’ she said.
Wideup suspects that it all started when a chipmunk snatched a garden glove from her yard. She later found the glove in the engine compartment when she was trying to repair the broken turn signal. Unable to fix the problem, however, Wideup let the car sit unused for a couple of weeks, before hearing an unusual noise from the engine when she finally tried to start the vehicle.
The moral of the story? Check under your bonnet regularly and make sure that one of your furry friends hasn’t taken up residence.
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, chipmunks, clutter, collectibles, de-clutter, declutter, Did you know?, fact, furniture storage, interesting fact, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, student storage, UK storage, weird and wonderful, wine storage
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