A red telephone box made famous by Stereophonics and hauled away by British Telecom is to be returned to its former spot - and could become the world's smallest music venue.
The iconic kiosk in the band's native Cwmaman , used for one of their early photoshoots back in the '90s, was loaded onto the back of a lorry and driven way late last year, angering locals .
One of several payphones across Rhondda Cynon Taf earmarked for removal by BT in 2019, it is now being adopted by charitable body The Cynon Valley Museum Trust and the organisers of annual village music bash CwmFest and will be put back in its rightful location on Fforchaman Road this summer.
And, according to the museum's manager Charlotte Morgan, one of the mooted plans for its future is to transform it into a tiny music venue.
"There's a few different ideas in the offing, from a heart defibrillator station to a DJ booth," she says.
"We also like the idea of having music pumped through the ear piece at you each time you pick up the receiver.
"But, ultimately, it's down to the people of Cwmaman to have the final say and we'll be working closely with them to ensure the right decision is made."
The phonebox is where Kelly Jones, Richard Jones and the late Stuart Cable posed for celebrated NME photographer Martyn Goodacre in 1997 and it's something Stereophonics fans claim is part of the area's cultural heritage.
Goodacre also photographed the likes of Nirvana and the Rolling Stones.
Retrieved from BT for the sum of just £1, its return to Cwmaman is part of a nationwide Adopt A Kiosk scheme which has seen little used and forlorn phone boxes in other parts of the UK turned into mini-libraries, miniature art museums, cake shops and information centres.
Watch Stereophonics at Cardiff City Stadium
And, while the final paperwork still needs to be completed, the hope is that the phonebox will be back in place by September, just in time for Cwmfest 2020 and the fourth anniversary celebrations of the Cynon Valley Museum's reopening in 2016.
The Aberdare facility was closed in 2014 due to Rhondda Cynon Taf council austerity cuts, only to be saved two years later by the tireless work of campaigners who envisioned it as a community-run arts hub.
