I have a mental list of them all- I'd say maybe 20% of all the PW signs around London since around 2005 I found online or in reality were not replaced so rather than actually having something perfectly adequate to go on they now have nothing.

This was not just the odd little road with an arrow on a bend but some pretty major A road junctions like Willesden Lane and East Finchley High Road, the sort of crossroads that van drivers and people from the other side of London are guaranteed to get confused just as I would in Norwood or Forest Hill as it can be like a maze to the unfamiliar. I don't know if there's a procedure to request a replacement, much like the RAC provided signs where clearly needed, although from my personal interest I do know the routes and only missed the signs themselves, especially where they went before I got a photo. If anyone really wants it I can list the whole lot if anyone wanted to try and do something about it, but probably would fall on deaf ears at the top.

Agreed - London is appallingly signed, generally, in terms of direction to where anything is... (unless you look at the little signs for bikes) - though does this worry anyone anymore as the majority of people are lemmings to their sat navs

I've spent some time in Manchester over this last month, and signage is definitely better there, with small suburbs and housing areas being signed at even relatively minor junctions...

It varies massively from one borough to the next - Bromley is really rather good, with clear signs at the junctions of all classified roads, though it has an odd predeliction for signposting "All other destinations" on the A21 relief road around Bromley town centre.

Southwark - as discussed in another thread - are appalling, as are Brent. Lambeth put up some very good and serviceable signs, but not many of them and never with route numbers.

The TfL red route network is exceptionally well signposted.

Yes - such as this for example.

Not sure whether this one has been seen before - on the B8000 at Otter Ferry, Argyll, noted on New Year's Eve 2011.

Thank goodness for the MoD, thanks to Streetview this turned up on Deepcut barracks land and besides someone squashing the triangle is in very good nick.

I came across this pre WB sign recently in Pontefract.

That is a real gem. The yellow signs become rarer and rarer the more places they mention as it means they'd be on more important roads. There was a perfect condition set of yellow arrows till a few years ago right on the Upper Street junction in Islington, but were apparently removed when it was no longer possible to turn right as one directed, some years before I discovered them plus the poster couldn't remember where they were and took me months to pin them down.

The Scottish triangle looks vaguely familiar as I have seen a fingerpost with a triangle on top, it just may have been a different one. It's a strange idea though as it's not warning people of anything, although it does draw attention to the sign which always helps.

What was above this A31 sign?

http://g.co/maps/4zw5d

Hasn't it just slid down the post?

Acceptable cos it must have been there a good 50 years.

(Incidentally that looks a lovely bit of old dual carriageway )

Nothing - that's a type of direction sign and wouldn't have had a finial.

Yeah most of the Farnham bypass is like that, apart from recent changes from the A287 bridge to Hickley's corner, it hasnt altered much.

I drove past that sign a few months ago and didn't even notice it. It is pretty small to be fair but I must have been looking the other way as don't normally miss them. I'm surprised it didn't have a yellow border though, I missed the one in Shepherd's Bush by months maximum and the only other one I know with one is in Wales.

One I just found on Streetview in deepest Surrey (Abinger Common). I found it afterwards on Geograph but as it wasn't tagged pre-Worboys it only surfaced when I uploaded to the same square as they do. It seems the council may have lifted the prohibition (how many tractors have 15 seats I wonder?) as they've painted the regulations out in white. The only missing vehicles were charabancs, I haven't found one of those yet.
Another interesting feature is the rare use of lower case, as it's the only way to fit the extra wording in. The signs were simplified in 1953 to reduce the number of lines, and this may be an earlier example which is dated as 1920s in Geograph, as they began like this before they were simplified. I also suspect a solid red circle would have been on top as there is a bracket there.

Sad to say, this http://g.co/maps/2h6na has now gone in the last few weeks.

Another lucky find today in deepest Surrey



The council clearly realised that while replacing the old red triangle steep hill sign above the lower instructions still applied. Thank goodness for that. I've no idea when they swapped them but the red one looks very new to me.

Very odd, this pair are in Roydon, and although the format is standard PW that font is well dodgy. It's thicker than MOT, the 4 and G are different although the 1 is the same but thicker. Anyone hazard a guess how that happened? It can't be Worboys as only a slight variation of font and not Transport, but never seen non-standard fonts after 1953 when they became the familiar type.

The mystery appears to be solved, it seems BR had the option to make level crossing signs, and although the other overhead cable one I have is on national font this uses Gill Sans bold, which was BR standard issue till 1965 so I've been told. I've yet to see another one but sounds logical to me. If anyone's got other examples then you can add them here. The format has overhead cable on separate lines usually but that's the only alteration. So we have a new entry to the game, British Rail issued signs. I hope I come across some more now I know the form.

I think this uses the same one http://www.flickr.com/photos/co-ophistory/3972664582/
http://www.semgonline.com/location/pics/kh_lang-sign.jpg

Attached is a pre-Worboys sign plan I found in a Main Roads Department Western Australia file at our records office, here in Perth. The drawing is dated 2/8/1950.

I find it quite interesting that 'through' and 'local' AD signs were used that far back. Certainly a lot different to here where the road authorities were very sign-phobic until the 1970s.

More than happy to have it used on the Wiki if it is of interest. PM me for the details if a specific reference is desired/required.

I've got plenty of these already including a studded cast version, but these are the first I've found almost like new. Considering they are at least around 50 years old I can't imagine how they survived in such good condition as you can't repaint reflective or stuck on signs.





When I drove up I thought they must have just added them and then realised they'd just been like that from day one. It must be the Surrey climate.