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| One way North Street Stoke-on-Trent V McGarvey cc |
Wikipedia gives an excellent overview of the history and development of road signs in the UK. Signage as we know it today can be traced back to the Penny Farthing. Then Anderson Committee in 1957 was formed to design signs for the new motorway network Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calver , both typographers and graphic designers were commissioned to design the signs. The Worboys Committee in 1963 reviewed signage, the result was Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions, and the Guildford Rules developed a colour coding system to eliminate sign clutter. Quite a complex business and they can be a thing of graphic design beauty.
My regular walk to work is down North Street which is in the Basford/Hartshill Ward of Stoke-on-Trent and runs parallel to the A500. Commonly known as the D Road, some say this is because 500 in Roman Numerals is a "D" others like myself think it is because it joins the M6 North and the M6 South, in curve as in the letter D. My journey is laced with a cornucopia of street signs, many because of disregard and neglect are being consumed by the urban wilderness. It possibly says something about the lack of commitment of councils to their original ambitions especially with respect to cycle routes.
The sign that starts my route is part of the disjointed Stoke-on-Trent cycle network. The image below is the end of the cycle route on North Street, a length of about 400 meters in total. Which gives me a chuckle when I see it every morning.
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| End of Cycle Route North Street V McGarve cc |
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| Entrance to Hartshill Park V McGarvey cc |
When the cycle route runs out my walk is then lined by a small army of don't signs. No stopping, no loading, no entry. One has a Grey Jam, sticker - after doing some research this seems to be a Grafitti inspired printers based in Bristol - hiding most of the instructions, it has been there for some time. Reassuringly there is a slightly warn neighbourhood watch sign, keeping a close observation on North Street, followed by a reminder to not let your dog poop with a penalty that ends with 3 zeros (I leave you to find out or debate the amount).
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| No Stopping Sign with Greyjam sticker V McGarvey cc |
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| Neighbourhood Watch Sign V McGarvey cc |
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| Invasive Weed Sign V McGarvey cc 
Please Clean Up After Your Dog Sign
V McGarvey cc
The final sign of my 0.5 mile or 800 meters North Stree walk is this flap of pigeon soiled BT signage, a corporate investment and presence in North Street.
Signs humorous and frustrating, necessary and unnecessary, ill-maintained and forgotten, is this civic society stretching out a protective arm, or symbolic of a dereliction of civic responsibility, or just delegating civic intervention to the deterrent of the sign? Does a decaying sign no longer become a deterrent, is a neglected sign symbolic of a neglected area? And am I the only one who has noticed these signs and what does that say about me? What does this say about our society when I visit other countries I am always surprised by the lacks of signs telling you not to do this and that, not to go too close to the edge not to climb the battlements. The BBC reported earlier on this year about Chelmsford bus gate signs 'confusing drivers' brains' where a psychologist was fined for driving through a bus gate but won her appeal after arguing there were too many signs for the brain to process. There may also be too many signs that we just ignore them. What is the meaning of a sign when it no longer describes what it is, I refer to unkempt cycle lanes and neglected country parks, that are no longer maintained by the civic organisations that place them there in the first place. What is an invasive weed, are signs invasive weeds, as Ally Fowler said in the Guardian recently (I paraphrase)
" Enough of this obsession with control and order....Here is how I now weed: I wait until the plant flowers. If it’s taking over, I remove it; if it’s occupying a spot I don’t have anything for, I deadhead"
No mention of "No entry" sign with a plastic netting barrier.
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