Large umbrellas on a windy day!
Those of you with long memories might recall that in 1964 our quintessentially English road signs were changed for European types, following the report of the Worboys Committee which had been set up to look into the modernisation of road signs. Such gems as the torch of learning (the sign which indicated a school) were phased out and in came the new 'European' triangular signs which had symbols but no words - classic amongst these is the road works sign which, despite the intention to depict a man digging with a spade, still manages to look like someone trying to put up a large umbrella on a windy day.
Roadsigns and Fingerposts
The 1964 changes also affected direction signs on our roads. These were first standardised in 1921 in the form of fingerposts with three-inch high letters but by 1931, with the rapidly increasing speed and volume of vehicular traffic they were made larger and clearer. But on rural routes, the old black and white fingerposts remained and even survived the changes of the Worboys Committee in 1964.
Fingerpost days numbered!
But their days were numbered ... in 1994 the national Traffic Signs Regulations were revised and a replacement for old fingerposts was prescribed - a grey steel pole with sheet aluminium reflective arms. Very efficient - but very boring … The traditional Lincolnshire versions of the signs come in a range of cast iron, concrete and timber and many have county, old Rural District or parish names incorporated into them. In the smaller details of their design they are distinctive of Lincolnshire - and are one of the last reminders of the lost counties of Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland, wiped out in the 1974 reorganisation.
From 1994 on, our Highways Department began replacing these aging icons of our rural landscape. But surprisingly, people were not always happy with the gleaming new signs which began to appear on out-of-the-way countryside road junctions. In 1997, local historians and Heritage Lincolnshire launched a campaign to try and save those that still remained.
The first problem was to work out how many still survived and where they were. Surprisingly there were no records of the fingerposts in the county. This proved a difficult task, but it was finally cracked by the people who run the County Council's Historic Environment Record. They toured the byroads of Lincolnshire, photographing and recording the survivors. They found 106 cast iron fingerposts, 11 of timber and 229 of concrete with wooden arms. The distribution is distinctive with most of Lindsey with concrete, Kesteven a mix of cast iron with concrete and Holland largely and most elegantly in cast iron. In Kesteven and Holland the posts often have a ring, like a polo mint, on the top with the county or parish name.
The cast iron posts are often datable as many have maker's marks. The earliest were made around 1900 by James Coultas Ltd of Grantham. The others seem to be after the 1921 Ministry of Transport directive with posts by Stanton (1920s to 1930s) Duckerings (the 1920s to the 1960s) and the Royal Label Factory, who operated from 1912 to 1939.
The concrete posts are of two types, octagonal and square, the octagonal probably being pre-war and the square ones dating from the 1950s.
Signs in the Second World War
During the Second World War local councils were instructed to remove or modify directional signs to confound invading enemy troops. We are not sure whether this was done in Lincolnshire. Were just the arms removed perhaps or even pointed in the wrong directions?. If anyone remembers, we would love to hear from you.
The Wolds Signs
Following the survey, Lincolnshire County Council agreed to repair the surviving old style signs rather than replacing them with new ones and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Lincolnshire Wolds was chosen as the pilot area.
Thanks to the hard work of Lincolnshire County Council Highways and Planning staff, the Wolds signs are now completed and look very smart with black and white posts and new timber arms. The project has been so popular that it will continue into the rest of Lincolnshire and where traditional fingerposts survive on rural road junctions they will be repaired rather than replaced and another little piece of Lincolnshire's distinctive rural landscape will be saved for posterity.
