Pre-Worboys preservation campaign

[Halstead]

I found this sign hiding inSidcup today, it reads "No cycling".

[Truvelo]

Here's some nice examples on the side of a building.

[DavidNW9]

I found this on Streetview, I reckon although the no through road has been shifted to two lines it's still a proper national sign as many others are changed to fit in extra wording underneath. The capital G is the pre-MOT font (I think it came in in 1955) and like I've seen before they've painted the white background and not bothered to touch up the black afterwards. These are supposed to be professional signwriters but either no pride in their work or no budget for two colours of paint (probably the latter). I could get a tin of Humbrol for £2 and do a few signs this size if they let me.

[Hagbard]

This pre-Warboys sign on the A707 in Selkirk had recently been repainted, making it much more conspicuous than it was when I took this photo.



Unfortunately it became too conspicuous and some has smashed it. The broken part was lying on the pavement at the weekend, but that's gone now as well. All that's left attached to the railing is the ELS at the end.

It's back!

Appears to have been repaired and put back up. I'll take a picture of it in its restored glory next time I have a camera with me.

[DavidNW9]

Great to hear every so often a council has the regard for both history and economy to look after an old sign rather than pull them up like weeds.
You can also see the capital G in both is the same indicating the earlier font, hopefully someone knows its name as the other two have names we all know here now.

[Chris5156]

Passed this little thing in Petersham last night - if I hadn't been waiting in a queue behind a bus I doubt I'd have seen it was there!

[Klepsydra]

I went round the Cockfosters roundabout yesterday and found that the pre-Worboys signs seen here have gone...

And I went round it the other day and am pleased to note that at the very least, the advance sign on the A111 northbound out of Southgate is still there in its pre-Warboys glory!

[DavidNW9]

Chris, there's a yellow arrow in the gallery next to that one saying Kingston A307. I've been passing that spot for 18 years and never spotted it so no idea when it was both taken and removed. Yet another pointless sign removal leaving nothing in its place.

I found this in fully restored condition on Streetview in Hooley in Surrey but since they filmed it the hedge had covered half of it as in the first shot with equally preserved pole.



I pulled as much as I could out of the way and then had to employ this eccentric angle to get as much of the wording visible without having any tools to hand.

[rileyrob]

I went to Bute yesterday, and found the following signs:

After alighting from the ferry the first signs you see on the island are this pair: File:A886-old-sign1.jpg, although while the lower sign doesn't look right, I'm not that sure that it's pre-Worboys exactly!

Obviously, I kept my eyes open at the other end and found this even better example: File:A886-old-sign2.jpg

After 8 hours and forty miles of cycling I was back on the mainland, taking the scenic way home, and came across this on the B866, the old A886 just north of Colintrave: File:B866-old-sign.jpg

An hour later, on the B8000 I found this oddity at Otter Ferry: File:B8000-old-sign.jpg, here's a slightly different GSV view.

Then, on the A819 I spotted this: GSV again as it was getting rather late.

[DavidBrown]

After alighting from the ferry the first signs you see on the island are this pair: File:A886-old-sign1.jpg, although while the lower sign doesn't look right, I'm not that sure that it's pre-Worboys exactly!

My goodness - what a find! That bottom sign is most definately pre-worboys (it was in traffic sign manuals of the time), and I've have expected that, as signs like that are always designed to be 'temporary', any old roadworks signs would have bitten the dust in the first year or two of the worboys era. Quite how the hell that one has managed to survive is anyone's guess.

Oh, and the rest aren't bad, either!

Anyway, just the one from me, though it does have a partner, and they look like they have been very recently, and very well, been restored.

[rileyrob]

My goodness - what a find! That bottom sign is most definately pre-worboys (it was in traffic sign manuals of the time), and I've have expected that, as signs like that are always designed to be 'temporary', any old roadworks signs would have bitten the dust in the first year or two of the worboys era. Quite how the hell that one has managed to survive is anyone's guess.

I thought that the font didn't look right, but like you I couldn't believe that it was really pre-Worboys. Wish I'd taken a photo of the back of it now, as it was stenciled with one of the current contractors names, and had an 0800 or 0845 number on a sticker. I've just checked GSV, and it wasn't there when they passed, oh and I never did find the roadworks!

[snak3uk]

not much help, but *somewhere* in Matlock there is a pre-worboys 'No Entry' sign, with the words 'no entry' written across the white 'bar' - typically, I can't find it on streetview, and didn't get a photo the other day when I was being driven past!

Anyone from derbyshire?

[Johnathan404]

No through road in Lyndhurst.

[Mr. X]

There was a Pre-Worboys sign in the classic Llewellyn-Smith font on the old Gayton Library in Harrow, North West London. Last seen a few years ago when the library closed.

It's a parking notice, unfortunately it cannot be seen due to the obstruction.

[gmap]http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 38,,1,6.76[/gmap]

[DavidNW9]

You've got the one in Sidcup there, but must check the Harrow one myself, and hope it hasn't vanished already. It's great so many signs have surfaced since I started this thread, but in the last few weeks I've seen about five of the ones I knew gone, one replaced and the rest just uprooted. It was a really good thing I got them while I could but still wonder if the photos helped the council in their dirty deeds- one I called didn't even know (apparently) they had a red triangle sign in their own borough when I asked them.

I've just looked on Google and as you said they'd put a fence around it ready for demolition (more flats?) and most of London was taken a couple of years ago so probably a new building there already. Was it a 'To car park' sign with the arrow or the large P?

[Mr. X]

I think it was a parking space notice attached to the building rather than on a pole. I can't remember the exact wording and I no longer live in the area.

[DavidNW9]

Thanks Mr X, as the building was ready for demolition a couple of years ago that may be the end of that now but is a 'to free car park' sign (no idea where the actual car park is though) nearby in Belmont and an old no entry in Kenton so a fairly rich borough- there are some others in Stanmore although the directions on Clamp Hill appeared to have vanished the last time I passed. Very little like that in Brent though where I am.

[DavidNW9]

Here's a lovely yellow map in McLeod Rd Abbey Wood if anyone that side of London can get a photo
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 01,,1,5.14

[kieron]

I recently saw this sign on Chester Road in St. Asaph. I don't know if the Llanelwy plate is also Pre-Worboys or if they made it like that to match. Holywell would normally also be translated, but it wouldn't appear on a new sign facing in this direction anyway. I'm not even sure if any other signs in the area mention Holywell.

[DavidNW9]

I can answer that one. Place names are the same as street names, the council can basically make them however they want. The only exception (as in the DoT manual) is the one you showed here with the places nearby to them as they double as direction signs so all have that specific format. One has been found made since Worboys in Transport font although they were no longer official then.