Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

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Nathan_A_RF
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by Nathan_A_RF »

Lowest is only 11 yards? I can do better than that
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.92844 ... 384!8i8192
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by TS »

Nathan_A_RF wrote: Tue Mar 08, 2022 03:20 Lowest is only 11 yards? I can do better than that
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.92844 ... 384!8i8192
Lowest is only 5 yards? I can do better than that.
https://goo.gl/maps/Ma5t2TcpAcN9QA2J6
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by MotorwayGuy »

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4638047 ... 384!8i8192
Obviously must mean miles, as there is no way a metric sign would last in London for five years is there :roll: ?
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by Chris5156 »

MotorwayGuy wrote: Tue Mar 08, 2022 22:19 https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4638047 ... 384!8i8192
Obviously must mean miles, as there is no way a metric sign would last in London for five years is there :roll: ?
It's also missing the word "for". The same exists in a couple of places on the opposite side of the road as part of the same restriction. I've no idea how they've lasted so long!
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by MotorwayGuy »

Chris5156 wrote: Tue Mar 08, 2022 23:19
MotorwayGuy wrote: Tue Mar 08, 2022 22:19 https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4638047 ... 384!8i8192
Obviously must mean miles, as there is no way a metric sign would last in London for five years is there :roll: ?
It's also missing the word "for". The same exists in a couple of places on the opposite side of the road as part of the same restriction. I've no idea how they've lasted so long!
The whole thing is very odd, the no u-turn signs appeared in 2016 with backlit "end" plates at either end and "1 mile" (still missing "for") at the start of the western end. The eastern end never appears to have had signs at the start. The random plates were added a few years later for some unknown reason, including this random one on its own! TfL really baffles me sometimes.
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by the cheesecake man »

TS wrote: Tue Mar 08, 2022 14:45 Lowest is only 5 yards? I can do better than that.
https://goo.gl/maps/Ma5t2TcpAcN9QA2J6
:D And zooming in it looks like it used to say 30 yards :confused:
30.png
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by TS »

the cheesecake man wrote: Wed Mar 09, 2022 13:12
TS wrote: Tue Mar 08, 2022 14:45 Lowest is only 5 yards? I can do better than that.
https://goo.gl/maps/Ma5t2TcpAcN9QA2J6
:D And zooming in it looks like it used to say 30 yards :confused:
30.png
Yes, you're right - although the ramp is visible in the image and it is certainly only 3 yards on. I wonder if the sign was moved from the start of the road, and the zero peeled to reflect the new position of the sign!
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the cheesecake man
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by the cheesecake man »

Give Way 104 yards. Just think of the catastrophic consequences if I'd thought it was only 100 yards. :devil:
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by Skipsy »

314 Yards Spin round because it won't save the angle in the link here for some reason
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solocle
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by solocle »

Got a photo with the Ferndown sign this evening:
FAAD7155-C770-4C52-B1DA-28895205E200.jpeg
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by Big L »

Probably not in the true spirit of this thread but this sign made me smile.
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by SteelCamel »

Big L wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 15:06 Probably not in the true spirit of this thread but this sign made me smile.
The sign has obviously been patched - did it say "200 yds" and someone complained about having to walk another 19 yards I wonder? Unfortunately the sign isn't in the only earlier streetview available.

It's also wrong - it's 190 yards to the turn in to the shop, or 265 to the front door, neither of which is "219 yds".
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by TS »

There's a beautiful old sign here at Southampton Docks:
https://goo.gl/maps/zmiHiEJNcL49i2vk9

Which has dual measurements:
240 yards
219 metres
...on a plate under a height restriction sign.

A little way further on is the modern equivalent, with:
219 yards
200 metres

I love the fact that the non-rounded figure in both cases is the same number, 219.

Someone may tell me different, but I'm assuming that the metric equivalent would have been unusual in the time of the earlier sign, included probably because it's at the continental port and would have much non-British traffic?
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by TS »

solocle wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 23:36 Got a photo with the Ferndown sign this evening:
FAAD7155-C770-4C52-B1DA-28895205E200.jpeg
It's a lovely sign, isn't it! (And it confirms that this was indeed the A347, not A348, originally. There's another thread for that, though!)

Also, in the opposite direction, there is still the "Bournemouth 6¼" on the A347 which I like. I think it is also original as it had ancient looking lighting (one central light, replaced between 2012 and 2014 by a light on each column).

The "Poole 7¼" on the A348, I think, a more recent replacement.
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by Big L »

Make poetry history.

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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by vlad »

"If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed." - Sylvia Plath
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by Big L »

Make poetry history.

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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by Vierwielen »

Skipsy wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 19:22 314 Yards Spin round because it won't save the angle in the link here for some reason
I am confused. I cannot see anyting that looks like 314 yards in this image - just a normal road through Fleet.
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by swissferry »

Vierwielen wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 17:48
Skipsy wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 19:22 314 Yards Spin round because it won't save the angle in the link here for some reason
I am confused. I cannot see anyting that looks like 314 yards in this image - just a normal road through Fleet.
Seems to be something wrong with the URL. It takes me, not to Fleet, but to somewhere fairly local to me with a different URL. However if you take the latitude and longitude from the original link and go there on google maps you do get a sign for a low bridge in 314 yards.
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Re: Unnecessarily Accurate Distances on Signs

Post by Vierwielen »

swissferry wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 22:01
Vierwielen wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 17:48
Skipsy wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 19:22 314 Yards Spin round because it won't save the angle in the link here for some reason
I am confused. I cannot see anyting that looks like 314 yards in this image - just a normal road through Fleet.
Seems to be something wrong with the URL. It takes me, not to Fleet, but to somewhere fairly local to me with a different URL. However if you take the latitude and longitude from the original link and go there on google maps you do get a sign for a low bridge in 314 yards.
That is most certainly NOT Fleet. The undue accuracy begs the question - ois this the distance to the start of the bridge's underpass, the middle of the bridge's underpass or the end of the bridge's underpass.
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