Whacky Signs.

[manna]

G'day Folks

[manna]

G'Day Folks

[manna]

G'day Folks

 

 

[Nearholmer]

A curiosity that I pass almost every day.

 

Other than the person who put it there, I doubt anyone knows what it says, because the front of it faces an impenetrably dense thicket of trees and bushes.

 

The section of fence that it is fixed to is just as baffling, because it is a dead-end spur off of a boundary fence, two or three panels that stick out, then just end. I’m standing on a public path, and on the other side is public grass, then public impenetrable thicket.

 

My conclusion is that the fence only exists to hold up the sign that nobody can read.

[melmerby]

7 hours ago, manna said:

G'day Folks

 

 

A positive result.

By definition you must now have something!

[Enterprisingwestern]

7 hours ago, manna said:

G'day Folks

 

 

 

Seasick Steve?

 

Mike.

[martin_wynne]

4 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

My conclusion is that the fence only exists to hold up the sign that nobody can read.

 

It's an initiative test. You are supposed to hold your phone through the fence and take a photo.

 

Martin.

[kevinlms]

7 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

 

It's an initiative test. You are supposed to hold your phone through the fence and take a photo.

 

Martin.

Without dropping it!

[martin_wynne]

54 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Without dropping it!

 

Retrieving it is the second part of the test.

 

Those in the know will have attached a piece of string to it first, and tied it round their wrist.

 

The sign actually says "Well Done!".

 

Martin.

[kevinlms]

24 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

 

Retrieving it is the second part of the test.

 

Those in the know will have attached a piece of string to it first, and tied it round their wrist.

 

The sign actually says "Well Done!".

 

Martin.

And in tiny letters. 'Now that was more trouble than it's worth!'.

[Nearholmer]

I will get my trained monkey on the job; the fence-mesh is too small for my hands.

[martin_wynne]

33 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

I will get my trained monkey on the job; the fence-mesh is too small for my hands.

 

Monkey here:

 

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/JTWEB-Extendable-Bluetooth-Universal-Smartphones-Selfie-Stick-Compact/dp/B07N3BFH21/

 

Martin.

[Nearholmer]

That cost £9.99; the monkey works for peanuts.

[PatB]

Could the sign possibly be a legacy from a previous use of a secondhand bit of fence? 

[Nearholmer]

No, the fence is almost new, it arrived with the re-fencing of the school about two years ago.

 

The only viable explanation that I can think of is that the fence was erected to deter short-cut-taking, which would ruin the grass fairly swiftly, that the panel came with an irrelevant sign already fixed to it.

 

we shall probably never know the truth ...... which is really the essence of any good story on the internet.

[stewartingram]

It isn't a sign - just a spacer for the uprights of the fence.

 

Stewart

[martin_wynne]

This topic is really two topics:

 

1. signs which are intended to be whacky by the perpetrators -- usually only worth a groan.

 

2. signs which are unintentionally funny. Sometimes hilarious.

 

Here for example is a very ordinary sign:

 

 

Until you see where it is placed:

 

 

That's a long brick wall as high as a double-decker bus, with a pavement literally only a foot wide. I stood looking at it for a long time trying to work out who might have been loading what there, and with such frequency that it needed a notice to prohibit it. Answers on a postcard.

 

Martin.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, stewartingram said:

It isn't a sign - just a spacer for the uprights of the fence.

 

Stewart

Wrong

It is 4 bolts and their backing plate in place for a sign to be fixed to when it arrives......

Edited September 22, 2019 by melmerby

[kevinlms]

4 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Wrong

It is 4 bolts and their backing plate in place for a sign to be fixed to when it arrives......

Which will be after they decide what lettering to go on it!

[Nearholmer]

People keep walking past, wagging their heads slowly, exhaling gently, and saying “That’s not a good sign.”.

[martin_wynne]

16 minutes ago, melmerby said:

It is 4 bolts and their backing plate in place for a sign to be fixed to when it arrives......

 

Wrong.

 

It originally faced forward. Whoever was sent to remove it didn't have the right size spanner, so turned the entire fence panel round instead.

 

They are probably metric bolts, and all such signs will have to come down after Brexit.

 

Martin.

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, martin_wynne said:

This topic is really two topics:

 

1. signs which are intended to be whacky by the perpetrators -- usually only worth a groan.

 

2. signs which are unintentionally funny. Sometimes hilarious.

 

Here for example is a very ordinary sign:

 

 

Until you see where it is placed:

 

 

That's a long brick wall as high as a double-decker bus, with a pavement literally only a foot wide. I stood looking at it for a long time trying to work out who might have been loading what there, and with such frequency that it needed a notice to prohibit it. Answers on a postcard.

 

Martin.

The road and pavement look newer than the wall so perhaps its from before the road was there. Also the road looks rather steep  so perhaps loading and unloading in that particular place is not a good idea.

[martin_wynne]

49 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

The road and pavement look newer than the wall so perhaps its from before the road was there. Also the road looks rather steep  so perhaps loading and unloading in that particular place is not a good idea.

 

The road and wall have been there for the whole of my lifetime, and for some considerable time before -- even though it is called "New Road". Here it is in 1903:

 

 https://maps.nls.uk/view/121152191#zoom=5&lat=8884&lon=7069&layers=BT

 

The font and wording of the sign are more modern than the wall. An original sign would have been cast iron, in all upper-case white lettering on black, saying something like "LOADING HERE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. PENALTY FORTY SHILLINGS".

 

Yes, the road is quite steep. Making it all the more unlikely that anyone would think of stopping there to load anything, or need a sign to advise them of the fact.

 

Here is the Google streetview -- I now see that the "no loading" yellow marks are also on the road, and the latest yellow lines have been moved in to make room for them. So clearly someone must have been loading something there to cause annoyance:

 

 https://goo.gl/maps/MyVaDhEQpnCmDbq5A 

 

Martin.

Edited September 22, 2019 by martin_wynne
links added

[raymw]

Martyn, I would guess that vans/lorries are in the habit, maybe they have a legal exception, of stopping on double yellow lines, using the excuse that they are loading. Basically the sign is saying no stopping here, to those who thought they could.

[burgundy]

Three signs from a recent trip to Bosnia, which is a really fabulous place to visit. The railway interest on the trip is written up here.

The general message is fairly clear although the need for it is worrying. 

Absolutely unambiguous (and an unfortunate legacy of a war that ended 25 years ago)

But what on earth is this intended to convey? (it was pinned to a tree in the compound surrounding a mosque).

Best wishes 

Eric