Crochet hats for postboxes are taking over south London

Popping to the post box might not be a daily activity for many of us these days – thanks, internet – but some south Londoners are brightening up that rare, mundane task. 

Post boxes across the south of the city are being decorated with cute and colourful new creations in the form of crochet hats. While it’s unclear who is behind the adorable new adornments, quintessential red post boxes in areas including Sutton, Colliers Wood and Dulwich are being jazzed up with the homemade wares. 

 Fans of ‘Doctor Who’ can send their letters on their way in a post box wearing a hat topped with a Tardis, Daleks and The Doctor in Sutton, while residents of Dulwich have gone for a more magical theme with a rabbit peeping out of a top hat. 

In Colliers Wood, letters are guarded by a very studious owl in a mortarboard hat, sat in the middle of a ring of pencils. 

Over in Herne Hill, meanwhile, there's a whole project underway, dubbed #postboxhappy. Its creator has so far made designs including an underwater menagerie, The Hungry Caterpillar and a bright bed of roses. 

This isn’t a phenomenon exclusive to south London, of course. Similar hats have been popping up on post boxes across the country since the third lockdown went into action at the start of the year. Crafty creators in the UK started making the decorations to help brighten up lockdown and give their neighbours to look forward to on their daily walks around local areas. 

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