My Best Day In – a Dalesman reader’s lockdown diary – June edition Strictly this is not My Best Day In because lockdown/lockup/lockin has been eased. In fact, as from yesterday, I can travel to Scotland but unnecessary travel is still discouraged. However, how better to celebrate this hard won new freedom than by having an enjoyable read of my favourite monthly icon of Yorkshire – The Dalesman. Straight away I have the pleasure of another icon – the red pillar box. It is a pillar box because it is free standing as opposed to a post box. There are 115,500 in the UK. It is no surprise then that during my walks around The Dales I have encountered many post boxes and despite them usually being red they never seem to look out of place. Almost invariably I check to see which Monarch’s insignia is depicted on the front of the box. There are plenty of VR and numerous EIIR – but how many EVIIR boxes are there? There are 271 but I don’t think that I have seen one but I should have because there is a famous example in Tobermory and I have been there but I was not looking for post boxes or Uncle Bulgaria for that matter! So where did I find this information? Well, from Wikepedia and that is part of the problem with reading The Dalesman – it makes me want to know more and such research takes time.