Thumbs up for fingerposts

The future of fingerposts has been making the news after English Heritage and the Department for Transport gave them the thumbs up by calling on local authorities 'to retain, repair and re-introduce fingerposts where appropriate'. Nottinghamshire County Council has been using Building Better Communities (BBC) funding to encourage applications from district and parish councils.

Selston Parish Council has submitted a BBC application to repair or replace a total of fourteen fingerposts. 'The project is considered of prime importance for the parish as a whole as these signs have been part of the street scene for well over one hundred years and provide traditional signage for some of the more ancient routes in the parish … the old style street signs are more charming and aesthetically pleasing than the modern equivalent and the fact that they have survived for so long confirms their durability.' Selston have requested a £15,000 grant towards the cost of repairing and replacing the fourteen fingerposts.

Two signs in the Newark and Sherwood District Council area have already been restored by Nottinghamshire County Council and in 2001 neighbouring Lincolnshire County Council established a working group called 'Traditional Roadsigns in Lincolnshire', which has so far overseen the refurbishment of over 100 signs.

The Department for Transport has issued Traffic Advisory Leaflet 6/05: Traditional Direction Signs 'to provide advice on the use of traditional direction signs, on the repair and conservation of existing examples, and guidance on their re-introduction in appropriate locations'. According to the leaflet 'The earliest known example of a fingerpost is Joseph Izod's post of 1699 in the Cotswolds'. The arrival of the turnpikes in the 18th century resulted in fingerposts becoming more common. The Motor Car Act 1903 made local authorities responsible for all traffic signs in their area and, as late as 1921, provided guidelines for what direction signs should look like. The new standard called for 2½" or 3" black upper case lettering on a white background and that the name of the local authority responsible for maintaining the fingerpost should be included in the design.

In 1964, new traffic sign regulations encouraged the removal of traditional fingerposts, but there was no specific direction to do so. Further changes to the regulations in 1994 meant that fingerposts could not be replaced, but in 2002 there was a change of heart which permitted the erection of new fingerposts 'at the junction of one minor road with another' providing neither road was classified an A or B road’.

The latest 2005 guidelines recognize that there is a need to ensure that street furniture is 'unobtrusive and compatible with local character (and) that all surviving traditional fingerpost direction signs should be retained in situ and maintained on a regular basis'. The guidelines also say that 'Local amenity societies and parish councils are well placed to document the location and condition of surviving examples'.

As well as BBC grants from the Nottinghamshire County Council, community groups can apply for Local Heritage Initiative grants from the Countryside Agency. Local history societies in Nottinghamshire have an advantage in terms of accessing historic photographs and records when it comes to preserving fingerposts.

Driving around Nottinghamshire, once you start looking for fingerposts, you soon become aware of just how many have probably disappeared and replaced by modern signs. A brief tour around Nottingham's northern fringes revealed very few examples. We travelled from Stapleford, via Trowell and Awsworth to Hucknall, then across to Papplewick, before heading for Oxton and Woodborough, then back to the city. In Awsworth and Woodborough they have survived, but elsewhere they have disappeared from view.

The fingerpost we photographed at Cossall (at the beginning of this article) is in need of care and attention and for much of the year it must be obscured by the foliage on the surrounding trees and bushes. We photographed it in late-January. The Woodborough fingerpost (above) stands at the eastern end of the village in a front garden and appears to be in reasonable condition.

A copy of Traffic Advisory Leaflet 6/05: Traditional Direction Signs can be obtained free of charge from English Heritage Customer Services on 0870 333 1181 or downloaded from the web as a pdf file — just go the Department for Transport's website and search for fingerposts. Another useful contact is The Milestone Society, The Oxleys, Tenbury Road, Clows Top, Kidderminster, Worcs DY14 9HE, web: www.milestone-society.co.uk.

Robert Howard

Photographs © Susan Griffiths

This article first appeared in The Nottinghamshire Historian.