1. The fingerpost near North and South Balloch
in August 1991
Table of old fingerposts in Ayrshire (includes photographs)
Postscript 1: Minutes of Carrick District Committee concerning fingerposts
Postscript 2: The fingerpost at "The Old Toll House on the Moors" (Howrat)
In Ayrshire Notes No.6 (Spring 1994) I recorded the disappearance of an old fingerpost at a junction near North and South Balloch. By September 1992, a modern road sign had taken its place; all that remains of it is an August 1991 photograph (photo 1 below).
1. The fingerpost near North and South Balloch
in August 1991
Later I searched out and photographed the other old fingerposts to be found in Ayrshire, of which there were 16, or 15 if we exclude one that has no fingers. I finally decided to put their story on record when I noticed that, some time in 1999, work had begun to refurbish them. To some, an interest in these signs may seem perilously close to train spotting (the hobby, not the film - which would be much more exciting). I am comforted however by the terms in which they were described in an East Lothian Council report in 1996: "a distinctive and reassuringly familiar part of East Lothian's character and heritage".
The information summarised in the following table describes the fingerposts before the refurbishment began. For an explanation of the terms please refer to the notes which follow it.
From the embossed lettering on the base of a number of the posts, it appears that they were made by The Royal Label Factory, Stratford on Avon, which is still engaged in the manufacture of road signs in new premises in Chipping Norton. The RLF manufactured the fingers and not the posts, which were bought in by the company. Until finding one on Warwickshire a few years before 1994, the present manager of the company, Tony Froud, was unaware that any had ever been supplied with the company name stamped on the base. It is probable that although some of the posts bear other names, the fingers were manufactured by the RLF.
The company was founded in 1875 by John Smith, chiefly to manufacture "garden labels in a rustless alloy, the first to be produced by casting process with raised letters".1 They were at first known as "Stratford" labels, but from their use at Windsor and Balmoral, and Queen Victoria's pleasure at their legibility and permanence, the company was renamed The Royal Label Company.
There are two distinct styles of fingerpost in Ayrshire (see illustrations below). In the first case the post is topped by a spherical boss and the fingers have scalloped ends. In the second, the post is topped by an annular finial, bearing in all but one case the words "Ayr County Council", while the ends of the fingers are rounded; the exception is fingerpost number 5 - its finial is broken, leaving a piece bearing the word "District" (possibly "Carrick District of Roads"). Numbers 1, 3, 7, 8, and 11 are of type one, and the remainder are of type 2.
From correspondence with Tony Froud in 1994, the Type 2 fingers were probably manufactured in 1927. [But see Postscript 1 below]. Fingers of similar design appear in a photograph of the RLF stand at an exhibition that year. A memorandum on the standardisation of road direction posts issued by the Ministry of Transport in 1930, specifies that the fingers should have squared ends.2 Mr Froud thinks the Type 1 fingers are an earlier design, though only by a year or two. They predate any he has seen in England.
Both types of fingers were cast in spelter, the most common commercial form of zinc (though the term spelter is also used for a zinc alloy used as solder). They are extremely heavy: Type 1, 22Kg.; Type 2, 20Kg.
It is curious that 14 of the fingerposts surviving in Ayrshire are in Carrick. It might be supposed that they survived because there is less traffic there, and there were fewer road-widening schemes to displace them. But one of them, number 8, is on the busy trunk road A77, and two others, numbers 9 and 10, on the A714, while there are many quiet junctions in other parts of the county where they might have had a greater chance of survival.
One final point concerning the posts is the spelling of Minnyshant (no.1) and Killkerran (no.8). Did these variants reflect the deliberate use of older spellings, or clerical errors by those producing the lists to be sent to the RLF?
2. Type I fingerpost number 1.
2a.
Type 1 fingerpost at Pennyglen, Ayrshire Post 16/3/1956 (p.3). A poor copy
from a poor microfilm. The fingerpost and AA phonebox have gone, but the
milestone remains and there is still a bench beside it.
This exercise, which was initiated by the Rural Affairs Committee of South Ayrshire Council, is part of a wider programme which includes the repainting of milestones, of which there are many in the district. Some work is outstanding, so the comments below may be overtaken by events.
All surviving fingers have been repainted. Apart from this, the present condition of the fingerposts is as follows:
No.1. No change.
No.2. No change.
No.3. Finger A ("Ayr 9 miles") survives.
Finger B had been lost and has been replaced.
Finger C was absent at the time of the author's survey and has been replaced.
No.4. No change.
No.5 The fragment of finial bearing the word
"District" has been lost.
Otherwise no change.
No.6. There was only one finger at the time of the author's
survey.
Finger B has been added ("Kilkerran; Crosshill 2½ miles").
3. Type 2 fingerpost no.6, October 1994.
No.7. There was only one finger at the time of the author's
survey.
Two fingers have been added:
Finger B: "Barr 1½ miles"; Finger C: "Dailly 6 miles".
No.8. Finger A had been lost and has been replaced.
Finger B had been damaged and has been replaced, though now the text is
"Kilkerran" (previously "Killkerran 6 miles; Dailly 6
miles").
No.9. The only finger, "Tormitchell 2½", was repainted under the refurbishment programme. Unfortunately the post has recently been struck by a vehicle, resulting in damage to the finger and to the top of the post. A replacement has been made and will be fitted shortly. The original was type 2, but the replacement is similar to type 1.
No.10. No change.
No.11. No change.
No.12. No change.
No.13. The broken finger C has been replaced in approximately the same style (type 2) except that it has squared corners.
No.14. Finger A was found to be damaged and has been replaced. It was type 2 but the replacement is similar to type 1. Two new fingers have been fitted, again similar to type 1. B: "Ayr 11 miles"; C: "Straiton 4 miles".
No.15. No change.
No.16. No change.
4. The refurbished fingerpost no.3, showing
two new fingers similar in style to type 1.
The work of making replacement fingers for the posts has been undertaken by David Ogilvie Engineering Ltd. of Kilmarnock, under contract to South Ayrshire Council. David Ogilvie took a close interest in the job, and a great deal of care was taken to produce work in the style of the originals.
It was impracticable to have new fingers cast with the heavily embossed lettering found in the old ones. Instead the effect was recreated by cutting new fingers from mild steel and spot-welding in place individual letters and hands, plasma cut by Nichol McKay, Prestwick Airport. The fingers were then galvanised and painted.
If illustrations (2) and (4) are compared, it will be seen that the new fingers are certainly different from the old, but that they are sufficiently similar to pass for contemporary work of a somewhat higher quality than the originals.
In conclusion, South Ayrshire Council must be complimented for undertaking the refurbishment of these old fingerposts. One small plea might be entered: if the necessity arises to replace any more of the old fingers, let type 1 fingers be replaced in the style of type 1, and type 2 in the style of type 2, and the text of the originals be retained. "Patna 5¼" has already become "Patna 5" (fingerpost no.14); let us retain "Crosshill 11¼; Maybole 14¾; Newton-Stewart 24¾" (no.7) as a reminder of an age when the precision of such distances mattered.
David McClure
This article was first published in Ayrshire Notes No. 18 (2000).
1. A Brief Historical Sketch of the Royal Label Factory (April 1949). Photocopies of part of this publication were supplied to me by the library of The Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust, labelled with the following: "Records Office, Class P.87.3 ROY, Acc. No. 4903".
2. Ministry of Transport; Memorandum No.291 (Roads), 14th April 1930.
Information on the Royal Label Factory was provided by Miss C. James, Information Officer, Warwickshire County Council Department of Libraries and Heritage; by Robert Bearman, Senior Archivist, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust; and by A. A. Froud, Manager, The Royal Label Factory, Chipping Norton, Oxon. Stewart Hands of the Devon Roads Museum provided photographs of annular finials and gave me a contact at East Lothian. B. Aspinall, Transportation Development Manager, East Lothian Council, provided information on the council's policy on 'Rural Fingerpost Signing'. Stuart Hamilton at the Charlotte Street, Ayr offices of South Ayrshire Council talked to me about the present refurbishment programme for fingerposts and milestones. David Ogilvie of David Ogilvie Engineering Ltd., Kilmarnock, gave me a tour of his works and showed me work in progress on new fingers for Ayrshire fingerposts.
The following entries from the minute books of the Carrick District Committee were transcribed by Rob Close. The minute books are in Ayrshire Archives.
6/11/1922 (p.99): Road Surveyor J M McGregor 's Report dated 25/10/1922. "Direction Posts would also be of considerable assistance to travellers at the following points:- Hogg's Corner near Cassillis Station, Turnberry at junction of Maidens Road, Crosshill Village, Kilkerran south of the station, Redburn at junction of Corseclays Road, and Barrhill at junction of Duisk and Corwar Roads. Several of these position may seem unnecessary to regular users of these various roads but to outsiders they are very necessary." The report was adopted, but with regard to additional 'direction posts', posts at junctions at Rowanstone, Ballochbroe and below Kilkerran Station added to list. "It was resolved to remit to the Finance Sub Committee to erect the posts gradually - the expenditure in any one year not to exceed £30."
7/5/1923 (p.151): Road Surveyor's Report, dated 25/4/1923. "Several direction posts and danger signals are now to hand and shall be erected during the month."
1/6/1923 (p.165) (Sub Committee on Finance): Agreed to erect direction post at Seabank, Maidens, and to improve the corner there.
3/11/1924 (p.335): Road Surveyor's Report, dated 23/10/1924: "I have been in communication with the Scottish Secretary of the Automobile Association re the posting of direction notices throughout the Carrick district, and expect to meet him next week. He has suggested that the Association provide all the direction arms free of cost if the District Committee provide the posts and do the erection."
4/1/1926 (p.122): "Mr Lambie [John C Lambie, Ballantrae] pointed out that there was great need for the erection of direction posts at the junction of the Corseclays Road with the Shore Road at Redburn, Ballantrae, and also at the junction of the Glenapp Castle road with the main road from Ballantrae to Stranraer, and the Road Surveyor was instructed to have posts erected."
There were no other relevant entries in these three minute books.
The sketch above is taken from the book by J. Thomson Gunn, The Spell and the Glory of Largs (n. d.), p.15. It shows Howrat Toll on the old turnpike road from Largs by Haillie to Dalry and Kilbirnie. The Howrat tollbar is marked on Aitken's map of 1829, and was located at National Grid Reference NS 283544. The sketch depicts a type 1 fingerpost at the junction.
