Flashback: Motorists confused by differing road signs

Over the following days, holes were dug and signs were erected with notices such as “Turn Left”, “Turn Right” and “Bridge”.

The reason for all this activity was due to the decision by Hampshire County Council to make the county’s roads safer after the Government’s Motor Car Act of 1903, which recommended that signs should be erected for the guidance of motorists, and certain designs were suggested.

READ MORE: Flashback: Public artwork across the borough and its origins - explained

The Fifth Royal Fusiliers pass by the Winton Square horse trough and signpost during the First World War (Image: Contributed)

Unfortunately, not all local authorities in the country accepted the suggestions in the act and certain counties did not have the type of signs that were recommended, with the result that motorists became confused as they drove from one county to the next.

Eventually, the Road Traffic Act of 1930 standardised the road sign design and brought about universal signs across the country.

Further progress in this matter took place in a Government report on traffic signs in 1933.

Research into road signs history has revealed that as far back as 1879 some cycling clubs around the country erected their own safety signs along the roads.

These consisted of enamelled plates on wooden posts with the warning “To cyclists – this hill is dangerous”.

Some 25 of these signs were placed at certain points in Britain with the authority of the Bicycle Union.

The first warning signs directed at motorists were erected in Gloucestershire by the Automobile Association with the permission of the county council in October 1901.

It seems that local people were also concerned about dangerous driving and on one steep hill in Derbyshire, a sign was fixed showing a skull and cross-bones, which indicated that speed could kill.

Returning to the subject of authorised designs of road signs, the Ministry of Transport set about producing the well-known triangle and circular designs which indicated certain aspects of care that were required when driving along the road.

For example, a red triangle meant caution, while a round red one prohibited all or certain classes of vehicles. A white circle with a black diagonal line through it meant the road was free from the speed limit.

In 1964, a special committee agreed to update and replace most of the obsolete road signs in Britain, and our present ones are based on these.

SEE ALSO: Flashback: Land in Basing View occupied by Saxons in 8th and 9th centuries

Another type of road sign is the directional one, which shows motorists which way to go, and these were non-existent during the Victorian period, as very few people travelled long distances until the automobile came along.

There was a recommendation by a Hampshire County Council member in 1892 that this type of signpost should be erected, but the suggestion was treated as “interesting” and never carried through as a practical matter.

A year later, the idea was brought up again and this time the committee resolved that an estimate should be prepared to establish a system of signposts along the county’s roads, but it was later announced that the work would cost too much.

It was the increase in motorised traffic that necessitated road signs pointing to the towns and villages, and, in 1919, signposting the country’s roads became a reality.

Twenty-one years later, in 1940, most of the signposts were removed, in case any German invaders should reach England during the Second World War and find their way to their destinations. Even signs at railway stations were covered up as a precaution.

After the war, many of the signposts were not replaced and, in 1946, the public wrote to the various authorities demanding that they have their signs back, as so many new motorists and cyclists were becoming lost.

Nowadays, we have a multitude of signs to look at as we travel along the roads, with some of them being repeated at regular periods.

Maybe the Victorians had the right idea after all!