THEY have been an integral part of the countryside’s fabric for centuries and still play a vital role in our everyday lives, despite the advent of the satnav. We’re talking about fingerposts, the collection of (primarily) black-and-white signposts at junctions. Their sole purpose is to help us navigate our way along Britain’s complex network of roads and narrow country lanes where, let’s face it, it’s all too easy to get lost. Sadly, these items of road furniture are increasingly taken for granted and neglected, despite being a valuable part of our rural and cultural heritage.
When it comes to charting fingerpost history, there is a surprising dearth of information, although it’s claimed that our oldest known post dates to 1669, in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire. The original is kept by a local history group; a replica stands in its place.
In terms of legislation, 1697 is the first notable date in the history books when some semblance of organisation started to emerge —or, at least, that was the intention. It became a requirement for markers to be placed at remote crossroads indicating the direction of the nearest town or village. At that time, parishes were responsible for maintaining long-distance routes between settlements, but, unfortunately, they were often forgotten and nothing more than pothole-ridden mud tracks.
Denne historien er fra October 27, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 27, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
