SouthernRegionSteam

Sure. A public body should try and save money where possible, and a signal box is a small building that will be rendered obsolete by ROCs (Apparently! I don't even want to think about what happens during a failure of an ROC or 2, but that's another matter entirely...). I also understand NR purposefully got 26 boxes listed before they started their demolition sweep, so fair play on that front I suppose. What I cannot understand however is the wanton destruction of some very nice boxes, especially given ones that have had large public interest, and even given parties who have tried to save them. The usual excuses being "it's unsafe to leave a disused box", and "if left they are a target for vandalism". Of the ones I've looked up this morning, quite a lot look to have been in a very well-maintained state, some even with fresh paintwork up until their demolition.

I'm all for progress, but demolishing virtually every single box is extreme. And sure, BR demolished 100 a year in the last few years, but at least they left some of the local history intact, by this rate there'll be sod all left of historical importance. Anyway... this is getting too long for a status update! 

Feels like a topic in itself doesn't it.

I guess if they offer it for sale and a group makes an offer then Network rail are probably duty bound to ensure they can deliver on what they propose to do with the box, ultimately it will remain on NR land and if the group fails it will fall back on NR to dispose of the box.

I've seen so much of the fabric of my life swept away that nothing really remains of what I climbed on or lived in as I grew up and I've rid myself of the sentimentality I had for the past preferring to live in the present.  I still reminisce, but I accept the inevitable that everything eventually gets swept aside.

Quick answer is nowhere near as many as BR demolished - the number BR knocked down ran into lots of thousands.