A web log, an æthereal scrap-book if you will, with a somewhat vintage flavour. News items, occurrences, experiences, thoughts and opinions related to Victoriana through to Fifties Americana can all be found here.
When I blogged back in July about the restoration of some traditional finger post road signs in the village of Glanton, Northumberland, I ended that post with an expression of gladness that such work was still being carried out, that it was inspiring other communities to do the same and that I hoped another eight years would not elapse before a similar news item came up again for me to mention on here (having previously posted about an antique 1904 road sign in Overstrand, Norfolk, in 2012). Well I'm happy to say that a mere four months separate the Glanton article from this next, comparable story from the charming Cumbrian village of Cartmel, which lies just north of Morecambe Bay between the towns of Barrow-in-Furness and Kendal.
In this instance the signs are of the "bladed" village name variety as opposed to the directional finger post designs featured in the previous post. Dating back even further to the Victorian era, some are even as old as 1837. In other respects though they are largely identical to the later types as seen in Glanton, being of cast iron construction and painted in contrasting black and white to stand out clearly on the rural highway for the weary traveller to see - a role they performed admirably for over a century and which they continue to do today despite the advent of the newer Warboys designs in the 1960s.
As with the Glanton fingerposts the Cartmel signs - four of them dotted around and on the outskirts of the village - have been afforded a new lease of life, ensuring their continued survival well into the future, thanks again to the efforts of the parish council and in this case the services of local lengthsman Archie Workman (surely one of the best examples of nominative determinism I've seen in a long while) and a fellow unnamed road sign enthusiast with a passion for restoring these few remaining links to past travel. (As an aside this article has been a welcome source of education for your author as it is the first time I've come across the term "lengthsman", which I've discovered is a traditional old English term dating back to beyond the 18th century used to describe anyone employed by parish councils or local landowners to keep a "length" of road clear and passable and which I'm delighted to learn is a job still being carried out today by the likes of Mr Workman.)
This sterling work is just one part of Mr Workman's aim to restore all such remaining signposts in the Furness area - 26 in all (including another seven around Cartmel), featuring the age-old Lancastrian blade and nipple-top design and originally produced by local steelworkers Thomas Graham & Sons of Preston (who I'm pleased to see are still operating). It is again wonderful to see these vintage road signs appreciated by locals and visitors alike; that there are still people out there with the interest and more importantly the skills to ensure that they can continue to be both enjoyed and made use of in their original function. I hope and believe that other local parish councils will be equally as keen as Allithwaite and Cartmel to see their Victorian-era village signs restored to their former glory by Mr Workman and his colleagues and I wish them every success in their time-honoured work.
The excellent nostalgia TV channel Talking Pictures TV, about which I blogged previously on the occasion of its 5th birthday, very often as mentioned shows short archive documentary films and amateur cinefilm - usually between 10 and 30 minutes' duration - in association with the likes of the Imperial War Museum and the British Film Institute. Recently it has started broadcasting some quaint motoring-related shorts from the 1940s and '50s, some linked to the forthcoming 100th anniversary of the original Austin 7 motor car which was first introduced in 1922 (and which I can hardly believe will shortly be celebrating its centenary, having also blogged about it on the occasion of its 90th birthday). One that particularly caught my fancy and which has [partly, along with Mim's recent review of a TPTV-aired feature 80,000 Suspects over on Crinoline Robot] inspired this post is the captivating and entertaining (in more ways than one) road safety film from 1947 entitled It Happened Today.
While in places it hasn't dated well (especially Patrick Holt's narration, which has suffered somewhat from 70 years of change and the many pastiches from the likes of comedians such as Harry Enfield) this just adds to its overall charm in my book and it remains a fascinating early example of its type. One particularly interesting area it focuses on is the then still-new concept of the unsignalised pedestrian crossing, complete with Belisha beacons but yet to feature the now-familiar black-and-white stripes that gave rise to its more common alternative name - the zebra crossing.
A Belisha Beacon crossing at the corner of Whitehall and Horse Guards Avenue, London, December 1938. source - Flickr / Leonard Bentley
First introduced in 1935, Belishas were the brainchild of - and were named after - Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister for Transport from 1934 to 1937 who was a staunch advocate of improved road safety especially after he was nearly run over on Camden High Street shortly after his appointment. Part of his Road Traffic Act 1934, which also included the creation of the 30mph urban speed limit, the first official driving test and a comprehensive updating of the Highway Code, the beacons were added to existing "uncontrolled crossings" that had until that point only been demarked by reflective metal studs set into the road. The distinctive flashing orange globes set atop a black-and-white painted pole, along with the new speed limit and driving test, went a long way to lowering the number of fatalities on Britain's roads from 1934's high of nearly 7,500 (along with 231,000 injuries). It was not until 1949, however, two years after It Happened Today was made, that the matching stripes were first added to the road surface giving rise to the zebra crossing name that they still bear today (and which was allegedly coined by a young James Callaghan - then a junior transport minister - when he viewed an early prototype at the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire). Now the next big advance looks to be intelligent light-up crossings with warnings built into the kerb to try to catch the attention of the smartphone-addled.
So well-received were the beacons that, in addition to quickly receiving Belisha's name, such was their novelty value they started something of a craze for related ephemera - including an eponymous card game based along the lines of Rummy. Made by the well-known playing card manufacturer Pepys, the cards feature delightful images of various British landmarks and towns from London to Oban as well as pictures depicting the safe (and not so safe!) use of the road, along with examples of the road signs in use at the time (and which are fully deserving of their own blog post) and different coloured numbers - the idea being to collect sets of either of the latter. As something of a Pepys collector myself, Belisha (my example's on the left) was one of the first of their games I picked up (from eBay a couple of years ago) and it has proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable and popular diversion (see what I did there?). The game was updated in 1955 with the addition of an extra level of cards, updated images and new road signs. Released as Round Britain it nevertheless retains much of the charm of Belisha, although the revised rules and new cards do make it slightly less fun to play (needless to say an example still graces my collection!).
Various road safety films similar to It Happened Today would continue to be made throughout the 1940s and '50s. Then in 1953 came the character of Tufty Fluffytail, an anthropomorphic red squirrel created by one Elsie Mills as a way of imparting road safety advice to young children in an accessible and understandable way. This led to the creation of the Tufty Club in 1961, designed to promulgate road and pedestrian safety among the under-5s through simple books and, later, public information films (narrated by the great Bernard Cribbins). Such was its success that at its peak there were almost 25,000 Tufty Clubs throughout Britain with over 2 million members and the scheme lasted well into the 1980s, outliving several other programmes.
One of those programmes was the "Kerb Drill", which ran concurrently with the likes of the Tufty Club and other road safety policies. Even Batman got in on the act during one of his rare breaks from fighting crime in Gotham City, as this recently-discovered footage from 1966 proves.
The 1970s saw the introduction of arguably the most well-known and long-lived road safety initiative - the Green Cross Code. Featuring noted Bristolian Dave Prowse (who would later go on to greater fame as the body of Darth Vader in Star Wars) as the Green Cross Man this series debuted in 1975 and ran for nearly 20 years until the early 1990s (with a brief revival, complete with a then 80 year old Prowse, in 2014) scaring the bejesus out of a generation of dungaree-wearing kids by suddenly appearing out of nowhere, sometimes accompanied by an unnamed robot sidekick, looking very stern and shouty. While the Green Cross Code Man was eventually retired, the Code itself lives on, although varioussubsequentattempts to instil road sense in youngsters have, erm, perhaps not been quite so successful.
So there we have it then - a brief history of road safety from the 1930s to the 1990s (a bit late period-wise for this blog perhaps, but then all things Nineties are considered "vintage" now apparently) inspired by a splendid piece of 1940s film work. Looking back at these innumerable road safety initiatives and the many dangers still very much inherent on the roads - not helped by modern technology and with 15-19 year olds having among the highest death rates due to traffic accidents - some new safety programmes inspired by the past seem called for. One could easily see another update of Belisha, with current signs and new pictures, being just the thing to teach the youth of today how to stay safe on the roads. Hmmn, maybe another lock-down project...
***It Happened Today is also available to view for free on the BFIplayer***
A further example now of civic pride and an appreciation of history helping to rescue and preserve local landmarks in this lovely story from the Northumberland village of Glanton. In this case the structures in question are the traditional finger post signs that were among the standard road sign designs in the United Kingdom during the first half of the twentieth century, prior to the comprehensive reform of Britain's traffic signage as part of the Worboys Committee of 1963 that resulted in the styles we know today.
Fortunately, and in spite of the wide-ranging changes instigated by Worboys, many original finger posts survive - mainly in rural locations where their welcome presence adds to the area's bucolic charm - but some of them have seen better days and are at risk of disappearing altogether as they continue to decay and get swallowed up by nature. Not so in north Northumberland though, I am pleased to note, thanks to the efforts of the Glanton Heritage Group.
In the ten years since it was formed this small local group have adopted and restored their village's red telephone box - something also close to this blogger's heart - as well as publishing a local history book. Lately their attention has turned to the renovation of the area's finger posts and, after a few early hiccoughs and false starts, they have successfully restored two examples to their former glory and are now looking to replace two more.
Their efforts are to be applauded as the results look absolutely fantastic and seem certain to ensure these beautiful signposts' continued existence for years to come. As with many a heritage group I find myself in accord with their commendable views on the subject and the fact that they have involved local ironmongers, plus through their actions encouraged other nearby communities to look into restoring their own finger posts, is just the icing on the cake.
I am reminded of a similar article I covered way back in 2012, when Norfolk County Council successfully applied for the Grade II listing of a rare 1904-vintage road sign in the village of Overstrand. At the time I expressed the hope that more prewar signposts would be preserved in a similar manner (hopefully in the eight years since there have been other incidences that have gone unreported) and despite the passage of time it is wonderful to see that there are still groups out there willing and able to save these delightful reminders of an earlier age for both visitors and future generations of the community alike.
A quaint little story from Overstrand, North Norfolk now which reminds me of the fun that can be had keeping an eye out for old road signs and street furniture.
This particular sign looks to have fully deserved its preservation status as its 1904 date must make it one of the oldest in the country and it joins a further forty-nine such road signs around Britain that have obtained listed status.
Road signs that were designed prior to the 1957 Anderson Committee on traffic signage (which gave us the designs we see today) are getting rarer by the day, although some still remain dotted throughout the UK and hopefully like the one in this article will be preserved in future. Many local authorities often already take care of any such signs in their area, as can be seen in the traditional "finger post" signs that still exist in rural areas. I don't know about you, but I love seeing these old signposts when I'm in the countryside and the older-style signs from the '20s through to the '50s look positively delightful (although perhaps not easy to read at speed, hence the 1957 redesign). Some of them look unfamiliar to us today - how many people would understand the "Flame of Knowledge" symbol used in the "School" sign? - but many of them remain largely recognisable, a testament to the original designs that were drawn up between 1904 and 1933.
Until the Second World War motoring organisations like the AA and the RAC were also allowed to erect signs of their own design to complement the official ones. They were mainly simple worded warnings with a triangular badge sign above, or circular when giving distances and place names.
It is wonderful to see a small yet important aspect of British motoring history recognised in this manner and I hope it leads to more rare signposts being saved by local councils and interested groups before they disappear altogether. North Norfolk District Council are to be applauded for taking such a stance on its vintage street furniture and I think their suggestion of looking out for further examples of important historic road signs is an excellent one. I shall continue to keep my eye out for such rarities when travelling through East Anglia, and elsewhere.
Two stories here from before Christmas that I kept back until now (good thing too, as there's not a lot else in the way of newsworthy vintage happening out there so far, it seems). They're so similar in spirit that I reckon they can both be covered in one post, involving as they do two vintage cars undertaking long-distance tours with their owners.
The first story begins all the way over in Australia where a vintage car enthusiast and sometime "adventurer" has already driven his 1913 Ford Model T clear across the country (a total of over 2,000 miles) before having it shipped to South Africa to continue right through to Moscow. This epic road trip is designed to commemorate two similar long-distance drives that took place 100 years ago, and what a way it is to do so!
It just goes to prove what sturdy vehicles these early motor cars are, and reinforces my (and many others') view that these machines need to be used and can withstand great mileages and prolonged use. The Model T was designed to travel on dirt roads, and be easy to fix, so Melbourne to Moscow shouldn't be beyond it(!). In 1907, five years before the journeys mentioned in the article, a fleet of cars undertook to travel from Peking (Beijing) to Paris in the famous Peking-Paris road race (and if you can get hold of a copy of the account of the winning team, which included journalist Luigi Barzini Sr., do so). These cars thrive on use, and there is nothing worse in my eyes than these wonderful vehicles sitting motionless behind a museum tape. The reactions this Australian fellow has seen so far on his travels prove that vintage cars can engender a sense of camaraderie the world over.
I wish this Aussie adventurer the best of luck and hope he and his Tin Lizzie successfully make it to Moscow.
The second story is confined only to Great Britain and Europe but is still a marvellous tale of travel and history. French car-maker Delage produced some of the most beautiful cars of the interwar years, including the now ultra-rare D1 S5 featured in this article. This particular car has such an amazing history, yet another reason why it needs to be driven and displayed widely. I'm glad to see that the current owner restored it and does just that, having travelled all over Europe in it in his quest to find out as much about its past as possible. It's also heartwarming to see that a new generation get so much enjoyment out of the vehicle, I hope they continue to have fun with it while enriching the lives of everyone it comes into contact with.
This is the kind of story I love - vintage machines being used for their original purpose and successfully to boot!
I'm sure we all (even non-drivers like myself) know of a few potholes along our daily routes - particularly after the harsh winter - just as we know that the council are unlikely to fill them in any time soon in the face of all the budget cuts they're undoubtedly facing.
So top marks to this fellow and his father for taking the initiative in such great fashion (and how lucky are they to own a working, 80-year-old example of just the vehicle to do it?!). It may only have been a small stretch of little-used track but it's still great to see an old beast like this doing such a thorough job when more modern machinery was not available. I think North Yorkshire Council ought to take up Mr Raley's offer!
