Interesting signs from Yorkshire!

There are plenty of old and interesting signs to look out for as you travel around Yorkshire. Some no longer exist, but are very much part of the region’s history. Others are still very much in evidence and add character to journeys around the county.

Old County Signs

These county signs no longer exist and were taken just before the land east of the Derwent was restored to its rightful place in Yorkshire in 1996. Please share this post with all your Southern friends who still think this county still exists. It hasn’t for twenty years!

Humberside_North antex wikipedia cc
Picture credit: antbex74 wikipedia creative commons.
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This photo from 1992 shows how unpopular the County of Humberside was in East Yorkshire. As the campaign grew to put the area back in Yorkshire so did the graffiti on the  welcome signs to “England’s newest county.” Picture credit Adpopulum wikipedia creative commons.

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Pre Worboys Signs

Before 1963, road signs looked like this. That was until wartime cartographer, Herbert Spencer wrote an essay outlining how chaotic Britain’s road signs were. This was passed onto the Government of the day, who formed a committee led by Sir Walter Warboys to design new British road signs, much like ones we see today. The colour-coding system, did not not come in until the mid 1980s. There are still a few pre 1963 signs dotted around the county, including this one in Wetherby taken in 2013.

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There are still some original pre-Warboys road signs dotted around Yorkshire, including this one in Wetherby: Picture credit: mtaylor848 wikipedia creative commons.

Yorks WR signs

Way back when (well between 1889-1974),  West Riding was not just confined to the Leeds/Huddersfield areas, but stretched from the Derbyshire border right up to the Lake District. It also incorporated the city of York and what is now South Yorkshire, which did not even exist! In 1974 the boundaries of the Ridings changed forever to the ones we see today. Humberside and Cleveland, which were also created, but abolished in 1996 .There are still some old signs, which still have an annulus on the top bearing the “Yorks. W.R moniker.” This stands for The County of York and West Riding. These old signposts date back to this time, as shown in this picture of a sign in Oxspring, South Yorkshire.

The West Riding once covered the area between Sheffield to the top of the Yorkshire Dales. The signage can still be seen in certain places. Picture credit: Dave Pickersgill geograph wikipedia creative commons.
The West Riding once covered the area between Sheffield to the top of the Yorkshire Dales. The moniker can still be seen in certain places. Picture credit: Dave Pickersgill geograph wikipedia creative commons.

Milestones

Milestones have been used throughout the world since Roman Times to display the distance between two places. Although their use has since diminished due to faster motorised transport, there are still plenty of these milestones to spot as you travel through Yorkshire.

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Milestones have been used since Roman Times and there are still some (more recent ones) at the side of Yorkshire’s roads. Picture credit: Ian S geograph wikipedia creative commons.

And finally….Broad Yorkshire Signs

Visitors to the facilities at The Goodmanham Arms are greeted with this sign
Visitors to the Gents at The Goodmanham Arms are greeted with this sign: Picture Credit Jonathan Rudd

If you visit the Goodmanham Arms in East Yorkshire you may come across this polite instruction to duck before entering. Good advice indeed to save the sore head until the morning…at least for the passengers…

Written by Johnathan Rudd