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93-520: A fingerpost (sometimes referred to as a guide post ) is a type of sign post consisting of a post with one or more arms, known as fingers, pointing in the direction of travel to places named on the fingers, often including distance information. Fingerposts are a traditional type of sign used in the United Kingdom . The posts have traditionally been made from cast iron or wood, with poles painted in black, white or grey and fingers with black letters on

186-798: A brown background and sometimes have an arrow painted on them rather than having the pointing end of the sign have a physical arrow or pointed finger. Sign post With traffic volumes increasing since the 1930s, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to overcome language barriers, and enhance traffic safety. Such pictorial signs use symbols (often silhouettes) in place of words and are usually based on international protocols. Such signs were first developed in Europe, and have been adopted by most countries to varying degrees. International conventions such as Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals and Geneva Convention on Road Traffic have helped to achieve

279-558: A certain distance from the interchange, giving information for each direction. A number of countries do not give information for the road ahead (so-called "pull-through" signs), and only for the directions left and right. Advance directional signs enable drivers to take precautions for the exit (e.g., switch lanes, double check whether this is the correct exit, slow down). They often do not appear on lesser roads, but are normally posted on expressways and motorways, as drivers would be missing exits without them. While each nation has its own system,

372-713: A characteristic form that is familiar on the Quantocks: a regulation 66-foot (20 m) wide track between avenues of trees growing from hedge laying embankments. The herepath ran from the ford on the River Parrett at Combwich, past Cannington hill fort to Over Stowey, where it climbed the Quantocks along the line of the current Stowey road, to Crowcombe Park Gate. Then it went south along the ridge, to Triscombe Stone . One branch may have led past Lydeard Hill and Buncombe Hill, back to Alfred's base at Athelney. The main branch descended

465-600: A degree of uniformity in traffic signing in various countries. Countries have also unilaterally (to some extent) followed other countries in order to avoid confusion. Traffic signs can be grouped into several types. For example, Annexe 1 of the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (1968), which on 30 June 2004 had 52 signatory countries, defines eight categories of signs: In the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand signs are categorized as follows: In

558-399: A different typeface. Signposts were removed across much of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland during World War II , lest enemy forces use them for navigation, and replaced in the late 1940s. Road signing was next comprehensively reviewed in the United Kingdom from 1961 by the government-appointed Worboys Committee and the 1964 Traffic Signs Regulations brought in

651-534: A distance. A typeface chosen for a traffic sign is selected based on its readability, which is essential for conveying information to drivers quickly and accurately at high speeds and long distances. Factors such as clear letterforms, lines of copy, appropriate spacing, and simplicity contribute to readability. Increased X-height and counters specifically help with letter distinction and reduced halation , which especially affects aging drivers. In cases of halation, certain letters can blur and look like others, such as

744-529: A green background which indicates the most minor of lanes, sometimes known as 'drift roads'. Some highway authorities chose to apply the spirit of the Worboys regulations in a fingerpost style, including the use of the Transport Heavy typeface. Arm materials have tended either to be aluminium or plastic. Devon County Council introduced triangular-ended fingerposts with edges in four different colours to illustrate

837-473: A hand-held receiver or one built into a cell phone. Then, finally, in 1914, the world's first electric traffic signal is put into place on the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland , Ohio, on August 5. Typefaces used on traffic signs vary by location, with some typefaces being designed specifically for the purpose of being used on traffic signs and based on attributes that aid viewing from

930-404: A large proportion of rain falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. Average rainfall is around 31 to 35 inches (790 to 890 mm). About 8 to 15 days of snowfall is typical. From November to March, mean wind speeds are highest; winds are lightest from June to August. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. In 1970 an area of 6,194.5 acres (2,506.8 ha) in

1023-578: A lowercase "e" appearing as an "a", "c", or "o". In 1997, a design team at T.D. Larson Transportation Institute began testing Clearview , a typeface designed to improve readability and halation issues with the FHWA Standard Alphabet, also known as Highway Gothic , which is the standard typeface for highway signs in the U.S. The adoption of Clearview for traffic signs over Highway Gothic has been slow since its initial proposal. Country-wide adoption faced resistance from both local governments and

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1116-793: A range of species. The hilltops are covered in heathland of gorse, heather, bracken and thorn with plantations of conifer. The western side of the Quantocks are steep scarp slopes of pasture, woods and parkland. Deep stream-cut combes to the north-east contain extensive oak-woods with small flower-rich bogs above them. The areas where there is limited drainage are dominated by heather ( Calluna vulgaris ), with significant populations of cross-leaved heath ( Erica tetralix ), purple moor-grass ( Molinia caerulea ), bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ) and wavy hair-grass ( Deschampsia flexuosa ). Drier areas are covered with bell heather ( Erica cinerea ), western gorse ( Ulex gallii ) and bristle bent ( Agrostis curtisii ), while bracken ( Pteridium aquilinum )

1209-405: A square keep (which may have been stone, or a wooden superstructure on stone foundations) and its defences and an outer and an inner bailey . The mount is 29 ft (9 m) above the 6 ft (2 m) wide ditch which itself is 7 ft (2 m) deep. The motte has a flat top with two large and two small mounds, which may be sites of towers, at the edge. The Blue Lias rubble walling

1302-462: A white background, often including distance information in miles. In most cases, they are used to give guidance for road users, but examples also exist on the canal network, for instance. They are also used to mark the beginning of a footpath , bridleway , or similar public path. Legislation was enacted in England in 1697 which enabled magistrates to place direction posts at cross-highways . However,

1395-503: Is a footpath that opened in 2001. The route of the path follows a figure of eight centred on Triscombe . The northern loop, taking in Crowcombe and Holford , is 19 miles (31 km) long, and the southern loop to Broomfield extends for 18 miles (29 km). The path travels through many types of landscape, including deciduous and coniferous woodland, private parkland, grazed pasture and cropped fields. The Macmillan Way West follows

1488-525: Is common in Somerset). Where timber was used for the fingers, place names are composed of individually affixed metal letters. Mileage is typically measured to the nearest quarter mile, with fractions being mounted on a separate ready-made plate, although measurements to the fifth or eighth of a mile are given in East Lothian. Due to their age, some fingerposts have 'fossilised' the historic spelling of places which

1581-432: Is common on well-drained deeper soils. The springs and streams provide a specialist environment that supports bog pimpernel ( Anagallis tenella ). The woodland is generally birch/sessile oak woodland, valley alder woodland and ash/wych elm woodland, which support a rich lichen flora. Alfoxton Wood is one of only three British locations where the lichen Tomasellia lectea is present. The various habitats, together with

1674-461: Is considered to be of international geological importance. Kilve has the remains of a red-brick retort built in 1924 after the shale in the cliffs was found to be rich in oil. Along this coast, the cliffs are layered with compressed strata of oil-bearing shale and blue , yellow and brown Lias embedded with fossils . The Shaline Company was founded in 1924 to exploit these strata but was unable to raise sufficient capital. The company's retort house

1767-770: Is highest in rural areas and away from major roads. Reacting to concern about the loss of historic fingerposts from the rural landscape, an advisory leaflet was issued by the Department for Transport and English Heritage in June 2005 which stated that "All surviving traditional fingerpost direction signs should be retained in-situ and maintained on a regular basis. They should be repainted every five years in traditional black and white livery. Other colours should be used only when these are known to have been in use before 1940". In recent years several county councils have embarked on restoration and repair programmes for their fingerpost stock, including

1860-596: Is mentioned in the Domesday Book , was at one time used by Cardinal Beaufort as a hunting lodge and thereafter as a family home until the mid-1960s when it became the folk music centre. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building. Halswell House in Goathurst has Tudor origins but was purchased by the Tynte family and rebuilt in 1689. The surrounding park and 17 acres (6.9 ha) pleasure garden

1953-562: Is the Hodders Combe Beds of sandstone and conglomerate and is approximately 300 metres (980 ft) thick. Further south there are newer Middle and Late Devonian rocks, known as Ilfracombe beds and Morte Slates . These include sandstone and limestone, which have been quarried near Aisholt . At Great Holwell, south of Aisholt, is the only limestone cave in the Devonian limestone of North Devon and West Somerset. The lower fringes around

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2046-525: Is the only visible structural remains of the castle, which stand on a conical earthwork with a ditch approximately 820 ft (250 m) in circumference. The castle was destroyed in the 15th century, which may have been as a penalty for the local Lord Audley's involvement in the Second Cornish Uprising of 1497 led by Perkin Warbeck against the taxes of Henry VII . Some of the stone was used in

2139-480: Is thought to be the first structure erected here for the conversion of shale to oil and is all that remains of the anticipated Somerset oil boom. At Blue Anchor the coloured alabaster found in the cliffs gave rise to the name of the colour "Watchet Blue". The village has the only updraught brick kiln known to have survived in Somerset. It was built around 1830 and was supplied by small vessels carrying limestone to

2232-420: Is triangular in shape, with a single rampart and ditch ( univallate ), enclosing 4 acres (1.6 ha). A linear outer work about 131 yards (120 m) away, parallel to the westerly rampart, encloses another 4 acres (16,000 m ). The name Ruborough comes from Rugan beorh or Ruwan-beorge meaning Rough Hill . The Dowsborough fort has an oval shape, with a single rampart and ditch ( univallate ) following

2325-645: Is used for roosting by Lesser horseshoe bats , and has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The house was used as the headquarters of the British 8th Corps during the Second World War , and has been owned by Somerset County Council since 1951. It is used as an administrative centre and a base for the Somerset Fire and Rescue Service . The Norman Church of St Giles in Thurloxton dates from

2418-453: The A31 trunk road at Anderson , between Bere Regis and Wimborne Minster . The others are located at Benville Bridge, Hewood Corner and near Poyntington. Various theories have been put forward as to their colour, including being to mark routes used by prisoners on their way to port for transportation to Australia, or the site of a gibbet . Other places have fingerpost arms with white writing on

2511-461: The Domesday Book as Cantoctona and Cantetone . The name means settlement by a rim or circle of hills ; Cantuc is Celtic for a rim or circle, and -ton or -tun is Old English for a settlement. The highest point of the hills is called Will's Neck meaning ridge of the Welshman , probably referring to a time when the hills marked the boundary between the expanding Saxon kingdom of Wessex and

2604-858: The Electorate of Saxony they were a precursor to the Saxon post milestones . More recently, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California has installed LED fingerposts which orient themselves to planets, missions, and exoplanets using data supplied by the Deep Space Network . An animated, living fingerpost voiced by Jack E. Leonard appears in Hal Sutherland 's Journey Back to Oz . The Adirondack Mountains of New York are known for fingerposts. They customarily have yellow lettering on

2697-532: The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), citing concerns about consistency and cost, along with doubts of the studies done on Clearview’s improved readability. As stated by the FHWA, "This process (of designing Clearview) did not result in a necessarily better set of letter styles for highway signing, but rather a different set of letter styles with increased letter height and different letter spacing that

2790-814: The Federation of Small Businesses , the National Trust , and the National Farmers Union . The JAC commissions the AONB service both to draw up management plans for the Quantocks and to carry them out. There is no single owner of the open land on the Quantocks or of the forestry plantations. Major landowners include the Forestry Commission , The National Trust , the Fairfield Estate, the Luttrell Estate ,

2883-858: The Republic of Ireland . They were of similar design to their UK counterparts and included the logo of Bord Fáilte (which took over responsibility for erecting signage in the Republic of Ireland from the Automobile Association ), or a harp after signage was handed over to local councils . These fingerposts were bilingual, with the Irish name printed, in a smaller typeface, above the standard placename. A number of these signs continue to exist on Irish regional and local roads. However, as distances on them are in miles and not kilometres (as used on modern Republic of Ireland signage), they have gradually been replaced. Since

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2976-602: The River Parrett , conquered the Welsh King Cadwaladr , and occupied the rest of Somerset north to the Bristol Channel. Saxon rule was later consolidated under King Ine , who established a fort at Taunton in about 700 AD. The first documentary evidence of the village of Crowcombe is by Æthelwulf of Wessex in 854, where it was spelt 'Cerawicombe'. At that time the manor belonged to Glastonbury Abbey . In

3069-615: The Tetton Estate , Somerset County Council and Friends of Quantock . Happy art thou to lie in that still room Under the thick-thatched eaves in Aisholt Combe, Where sings the nightingale, where blooms the broom A series of concerts called Music on the Quantocks takes place each year in Quantock villages. Headlining acts have included Sir James Galway, guitarist John Williams and choral groups The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars and

3162-812: The Western Desert Campaign and German prisoners from the Battle of Normandy . Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived in Nether Stowey in the Quantocks from 1797 to 1799. In his memory a footpath, The Coleridge Way , was set up by the Exmoor park authorities. The 36-mile (58 km) route begins in Nether Stowey and crosses the Quantocks, the Brendon Hills and Exmoor before finishing in Porlock . The Quantock Greenway

3255-408: The 13th century, but the tower is from the early 16th century and was re-roofed in 1952, with further restoration from 1976 to 1978. It is a three-stage crenellated tower, with crocketed pinnacles, bracketed pinnacles set at angles, decorative pierced merlons , and set-back buttresses crowned with pinnacles. The decorative "hunky-punks" are perched high on the corners. These may be so named because

3348-563: The 14th century but is predominantly from the 15th century with 19th century restoration , including the addition of the north aisle in 1868. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building . From October 1763 to January 1764 the vicar was the diarist James Woodforde . The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway that runs along the edge of the Quantock Hills between Bishops Lydeard and Watchet . The line then turns inland to Washford, and returns to

3441-495: The 1960s when it was converted into a school. In 2000, it became a centre for recreation and banqueting and summer camps for youths. Broomfield is home to Fyne Court . Once the home of pioneer 19th century electrician, Andrew Crosse . Since 1972 it has been owned by the National Trust . The Quantock Hills National Landscape Service have their headquarters at Fyne Court. The Church of St Mary in Kingston St Mary dates from

3534-483: The British government introduced four "national" signs based on shape, but the basic patterns of most traffic signs were set at the 1908 World Road Congress in Paris . In 1909, nine European governments agreed on the use of four pictorial symbols, indicating "bump", "curve", "intersection", and "grade-level railroad crossing". The intensive work on international road signs that took place between 1926 and 1949 eventually led to

3627-717: The County Councils in Dorset and the West Riding of Yorkshire to experiment with the inclusion of a grid reference and these remain common in these areas. The roundel on a 2005 replacement at West Wellow (Hampshire) directing travellers to St Margaret's Church bears a portrait of Florence Nightingale who is interred at the churchyard. Fingers can be square-ended (such as in Cornwall and Norfolk ), curved (as in Dorset) or triangular-ended (as

3720-514: The Gabrieli Consort. The concerts are run by volunteers. One of the most popular Coleridge Cottage is a cottage situated in Nether Stowey . It was constructed in the 17th century as a building containing a parlour, kitchen and service room on the ground floor and three corresponding bed chambers above. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building . Having served for many years as Moore's Coleridge Cottage Inn,

3813-541: The Highway Heritage Project in the Quantock Hills of Somerset . In the Republic of Ireland , a major review of road signage was carried out in 1977. Whilst some elements of fingerpost design were prescribed during the period when their introduction became most widespread, there was plenty of scope for distinctive spread of designs which remains to today. The inclusion of the highway authority name took

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3906-605: The Quantock AONB is shared between the County Council and three District Councils The Quantock Hills Joint Advisory Committee was set up in 1973. The JAC represents County, District and Parish councils along with representatives from Natural England , Friends of Quantock , the Forestry Commission , The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Somerset Local Access Forum, the Quantock Commoners Association,

3999-566: The Quantock Hills as a national character area . They are entirely surrounded by another: the Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes . The hills run from the Vale of Taunton Deane in the south, for about 15 miles (24 km) to the north-west, ending at Kilve and West Quantoxhead on the coast of the Bristol Channel . They form the western border of Sedgemoor and the Somerset Levels . From

4092-619: The Quantock region beyond isolated finds and hints of transient forts. A Roman port was at Combwich , and it is possible that a Roman road ran from there to the Quantocks, because the names Nether Stowey and Over Stowey come from the Old English stan wey , meaning stone way . In October 2001 the West Bagborough Hoard of 4th-century Roman silver was discovered in West Bagborough . The 681 coins included two denarii from

4185-595: The Quantocks from prehistoric times includes finds of Mesolithic flints at North Petherton and Broomfield and many Bronze Age round barrows (marked on maps as tumulus , plural tumuli ), such as Thorncombe Barrow above Bicknoller . Several ancient stones can be seen, such as the Triscombe Stone and the Long Stone above Holford . Many of the tracks along ridges of the Quantocks probably originated as ancient ridgeways . A Bronze Age hill fort , Norton Camp ,

4278-677: The Quantocks ridge for several miles. The Quantock Hills were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1956, the first such designation in England under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 . Notice of the intention to create the AONB under The Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Designation) Order, 1956 was published in the London Gazette on 7 February 1956. Since responsibility for

4371-669: The Quantocks was designated as a Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom, selected by Natural England , for areas with particular landscape and ecological characteristics. It provides some protection from development, from other damage, and (since 2000) also from neglect, under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 . The streams and open water such as Hawkridge Reservoir and Ashford Reservoir on Cannington Brook also provide habitats for

4464-555: The Quantocks, including the grasshopper warbler ( Locustella naevia ), nightjar ( Caprimulgus europaeus ), raven ( Corvus corax ) and the European pied flycatcher ( Ficedula hypoleuca ). The Quantocks are also an important site for red deer ( Cervus elaphus ). Invertebrates of note include the silver-washed fritillary butterfly ( Argynnis paphia ), and three nationally rare dead-wood beetles: Thymalus limbatus , Orchesia undulata and Rhinosimus ruficollis . Evidence of activity in

4557-525: The U.S., the first road signs were erected by the American Automobile Association (AAA). Starting in 1906, regional AAA clubs began paying for and installing wooden signs to help motorists find their way. In 1914, AAA started a cohesive transcontinental signage project, installing more than 4,000 signs in one stretch between Los Angeles and Kansas City alone. Over the years, change was gradual. Pre-industrial signs were stone or wood, but with

4650-430: The United States, the categories, placement, and graphic standards for traffic signs and pavement markings are legally defined in the Federal Highway Administration 's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as the standard. A rather informal distinction among the directional signs is the one between advance directional signs, interchange directional signs, and reassurance signs. Advance directional signs appear at

4743-716: The adoption of signs based on the UK 1965 design in 1977, local authorities within the Republic of Ireland have erected fingerpost signage on many roads based on the Worboys Committee design and using Transport Heavy font, despite the fact that the Irish Traffic Signs Manual discourages fingerposts for all but minor routes. In the Irish language , a fingerpost is called méar eolais ("finger of information"). Fingerposts were also used in Continental Europe ; in

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4836-502: The best-selling novel, An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears . The source of the title is found in an epigraph to Part IV of the novel: a—much abbreviated—translation of Aphorism XXI from Book Two, Section XXXVI of Francis Bacon 's Novum Organum Scientiarum . Before 1977, fingerposts similar to those found in the United Kingdom were the main form of signage used on roads in

4929-600: The building of Stowey Court in the village. There was very little action on the Quantocks during the English Civil War . Sir John Stawell of Cothelstone was a leading Royalist. When Taunton fell to parliamentary troops and was held by Robert Blake , he attacked Stawell at Bishops Lydeard and imprisoned him. After the restoration Charles II conferred the title of Baron Stawell on Stawell's son Ralph. A group of Clubmen met at Triscombe in 1645 and petitioned parliament calling for peace through negotiation. At

5022-432: The building was acquired for the nation in 1908, and the following year it was handed over to the National Trust . On 23 May 1998, following a £25,000 appeal by the Friends of Coleridge and the National Trust, two further rooms on the first floor were opened. At Aley is Quantock Lodge , a green-grey 19th-century mansion built from cockercombe tuff . It was the family home of Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton , until

5115-445: The carvings are hunkering ( squatting ) and are "punch" (short and thick). They serve no function, unlike gargoyles that carry off water. The churchyard includes tombs of the Warre family who owned nearby Hestercombe House , a historic country house in Cheddon Fitzpaine visited by about 70,000 people per year. The site includes a 0.2-acre (810 m ) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest notified in 2000. The site

5208-419: The coast for the run to Minehead . At 23 miles (37 km), it is the longest privately owned passenger rail line in the UK. Halsway Manor in Halsway , is now used as England's National Centre for Traditional Music, Dance and Song. It is the only residential folk centre in the UK. The eastern end of the building dates from the 15th century and the western end was a 19th-century addition. The manor, which

5301-413: The contours of the hill top, enclosing an area of 7 acres (2.8 ha). The main entrance is to the east, towards Nether Stowey , with a simpler opening to the north west, aligned with a ridgeway leading down to Holford. A col to the south connects the hill to the main Stowey ridge, where a linear earthwork known as Dead Woman's Ditch cuts across the spur. Little evidence exists of Roman influence on

5394-519: The development of Darby's method of smelting iron using coke-painted cast iron became favoured in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Cast iron continued to be used until the mid-20th century, but it was gradually displaced by aluminium or other materials and processes, such as vitreous enamelled and/or pressed malleable iron, or (later) steel. Since 1945 most signs have been made from sheet aluminium with adhesive plastic coatings; these are normally retroreflective for nighttime and low-light visibility. Before

5487-721: The development of reflective plastics, reflectivity was provided by glass reflectors set into the lettering and symbols. New generations of traffic signs based on electronic displays can also change their text (or, in some countries, symbols) to provide for "intelligent control" linked to automated traffic sensors or remote manual input. In over 20 countries, real-time Traffic Message Channel incident warnings are conveyed directly to vehicle navigation systems using inaudible signals carried via FM radio, 3G cellular data and satellite broadcasts. Finally, cars can pay tolls and trucks pass safety screening checks using video numberplate scanning, or RFID transponders in windshields linked to antennae over

5580-402: The development of the European road sign system. Both Britain and the United States developed their own road signage systems, both of which were adopted or modified by many other nations in their respective spheres of influence. The UK adopted a version of the European road signs in 1964 and, over past decades, North American signage began using some symbols and graphics mixed in with English. In

5673-538: The distance to Rome. According to Strabo, Mauryas erected signboards at distance of 10 stades to mark their roads. In the Middle Ages , multidirectional signs at intersections became common, giving directions to cities and towns. In 1686, the first known Traffic Regulation Act in Europe was established by King Peter II of Portugal . This act foresaw the placement of priority signs in the narrowest streets of Lisbon , stating which traffic should back up to give way. One of these signs still exists at Salvador street, in

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5766-404: The early 2nd century, and eight miliarense and 671  siliqua dating to 337–367 AD. The majority were struck in the reigns of emperors Constantius II and Julian and derive from a range of mints including Arles and Lyons in France, Trier in Germany and Rome. The area remained under Romano-British Celtic control until 681–685 AD, when Centwine of Wessex pushed west from

5859-466: The end of the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, (also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion), many participants were executed in the Quantocks. The rebellion was an attempt to overthrow the King of England , James II , who became king when his elder brother, Charles II , died on 6 February 1685. James II was unpopular because he was Roman Catholic , and many people were opposed to a " papist " king. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth , claimed to be rightful heir to

5952-445: The exposed rock at West Quantoxhead quarry, which was worked for road building. The Hangman Grits are described in three divisions: the lowest are the Little Quantock Beds, which are located near Crowcombe , and made up of siltstones and slates. Between Triscombe and West Quantoxhead is a layer of the Triscombe Beds which is around 500 metres (1,600 ft) thick and is made up of green sandstone and mudstones. The uppermost division

6045-401: The first approach sign for a motorway exit is mostly placed at least 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) from the actual interchange. After that sign, one or two additional advance directional signs typically follow before the actual interchange itself. The earliest road signs were milestones , giving distance or direction; for example, the Romans erected stone columns throughout their empire giving

6138-477: The form of raised or recessed lettering written down the poles or as part of a finial or roundel (when the centre is hollow, called an annulus ) design, either in full or as initials (e.g. K.C.C. for Kesteven County Council). Roundel designs can also include junction names (for example, Molly Brown's Corner, in Lytchett Matravers , Dorset ) or village names. County Council coats of arms feature in counties such as West Sussex . The Ministry for Transport asked

6231-464: The hills are composed of younger New Red Sandstone rocks of the Triassic period. These rocks were laid down in a shallow sea and often contain irregular masses or veins of gypsum , which was mined on the foreshore at Watchet . Several areas have outcrops of slates. Younger rocks of the Jurassic period can be found between St Audries and Kilve . This area falls within the Blue Anchor to Lilstock Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and

6324-484: The hills at Triscombe, then along the avenue to Red Post Cross, and west to the Brendon Hills and Exmoor . There is some evidence that an area of the hills known as Quantock Common may have been a Saxon Royal Forest. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066 William de Moyon was given land at Dunster , Broomfield and West Quantoxhead , his son becoming William de Mohun of Dunster, 1st Earl of Somerset , while William Malet received Enmore . East Quantoxhead

6417-446: The lands of the Britons or 'Welsh' to the West. A battle was fought locally at that time. The Quantock Hills are largely formed by rocks of the Devonian period, which consist of sediments originally laid down under a shallow sea and slowly compressed into solid rock. In the higher north-western areas older Early Devonian rocks known as Hangman Grits (or, more formally, the Hangman Sandstone Formation) predominate and can be seen in

6510-399: The later Saxon period, King Alfred led the resistance to Viking invasion from Athelney , south-east of the Quantocks. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , the early port at Watchet was plundered by Danes in 987 and 997. Alfred established a series of forts and lookout posts linked by a military road, or herepath , so his army could cover Viking movements at sea. The herepath has

6603-569: The neighborhood of Alfama . The first modern road signs erected on a wide scale were designed for riders of high or "ordinary" bicycles in the late 1870s and early 1880s. These machines were fast, silent and their nature made them difficult to control, moreover their riders travelled considerable distances and often preferred to tour on unfamiliar roads. For such riders, cycling organizations began to erect signs that warned of potential hazards ahead (particularly steep hills), rather than merely giving distance or directions to places, thereby contributing

6696-487: The oldest fingerpost still extant is thought to be that close to Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire , dated 1669 and pointing to Oxford, Warwick, Gloucester and Worcester (abbreviated to 'Gloster' and 'Woster'). The Highways Act 1766 and Turnpike Roads Act 1773 made use of fingerposts on turnpike roads compulsory. The Motor Car Act 1903 passed road sign responsibilities to the relevant highway authority within

6789-459: The original convention was for A-road numbers to be in white on a black background and the converse arrangement for B-road numbers, although there are few fingerposts with this as their current scheme. Although most fingerposts are a combination of black, white or grey, other colour variants exist. The most well-known are the small number of Red Posts which are found in some of the southern English counties, including four in Dorset, including one on

6882-504: The rest of South West England , the Quantock Hills has a temperate climate that is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. The mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50 °F) and shows a seasonal and a diurnal variation, but because of the modifying effect of the sea the range is less than in most other parts of the United Kingdom. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 1 °C (34 °F) and 2 °C (36 °F). July and August are

6975-451: The road, in support of on-board signalling, toll collection, and travel time monitoring. Yet another "medium" for transferring information ordinarily associated with visible signs is RIAS (Remote Infrared Audible Signage) , e.g., "talking signs" for print-handicapped (including blind/low-vision/illiterate) people. These are infra-red transmitters serving the same purpose as the usual graphic signs when received by an appropriate device such as

7068-588: The sign type that defines "modern" traffic signs. The development of automobiles encouraged more complex signage systems using more than just text-based notices. One of the first modern-day road sign systems was devised by the Italian Touring Club in 1895. By 1900, a Congress of the International League of Touring Organizations in Paris was considering proposals for standardization of road signage. In 1903

7161-576: The signing system largely remaining in force today. Whilst the 1964 regulations did encourage local authorities to remove and replace traditional fingerposts with the new designs, it was not made compulsory to do so. Regulations did not, however, permit new fingerpost style signs to be erected until a design was permitted by the Department for the Environment in 1994 (in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions of that year). Of note

7254-454: The small landing jetty . Now used as a garage, the kiln is thought to have operated until the 1870s, when the large-scale production of bricks in Bridgwater rendered small brickyards uneconomic. Cockercombe tuff is a greenish-grey, hard pyroclastic rock formed by the compression of volcanic ash and is found almost exclusively in the south-eastern end of the Quantock Hills. Along with

7347-627: The spire was removed and is now planted in the churchyard, and stone from the spire was used in the flooring of the church. Inside the church, carved bench-ends dating from 1534 depict such pagan subjects as the Green Man and the legend of the men of Crowcombe fighting a two-headed dragon . Norton Fitzwarren was the site of a boat lift on the now unused section of the Grand Western Canal from 1839 to 1867. A 300-person prisoner of war camp built here during World War II housed Italian prisoners from

7440-1129: The standard. Cars are beginning to feature cameras with automatic traffic sign recognition , beginning 2008 with the Opel Insignia . It mainly recognizes speed limits and no-overtaking areas. It also uses GPS and a database over speed limits, which is useful in the many countries which signpost city speed limits with a city name sign, not a speed limit sign. Rail traffic has often a lot of differences between countries and often not much similarity with road signs. Rail traffic has professional drivers who have much longer education than what's normal for road driving licenses. Differences between neighboring countries cause problems for cross border traffic and causes need for additional education for drivers. Quantock Hills The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset , England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , designated in 1956. Natural England have designated

7533-557: The suitability of the route for various types of vehicles, from black (for most vehicles, on A- and B-roads), through blue and brown to fully white fingers, indicating local access only. This system was entitled the Functional Road Network. Suffolk County Council, too, adopted the use of Transport Heavy typefaces on square-ended fingers, and here distances over three miles are still given to the nearest quarter. The term "fingerpost" recently received some attention from its use in

7626-606: The then United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , although no specifications were set. Guidance was given in a 1921 circular that road direction signs should have 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -or-3-inch-high (64 or 76 mm) upper case lettering on a white background and white supporting poles. It also recommended that the name of the highway authority be included somewhere in the design. Mandatory standards ( The Traffic Signs (Size, Colour and Type) Provisional Regulations ) were passed for Great Britain in 1933 which required poles to painted with black and white bands and lettering to be of

7719-543: The throne and attempted to displace James II. The rebellion ended with the defeat of Monmouth's forces at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685. Monmouth was executed for treason on 15 July, and many of his supporters were executed, including some by hanging at Nether Stowey and Cothelstone, or transported in the Bloody Assizes of Judge Jeffreys . Dodington was the site of the Buckingham Mine where copper

7812-671: The top of the hills on a clear day, it is possible to see Glastonbury Tor and the Mendips to the east, Wales as far as the Gower Peninsula to the north, the Brendon Hills and Exmoor to the west, and the Blackdown Hills to the south. The highest point on the Quantocks is Wills Neck , at 1,261 feet (384 m). Soil types and weather combine to support the hills' plants and animals. In 1970, an area of 6,194.5 acres (2,506.8 ha)

7905-602: The warmest months, with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (70 °F). December is normally the most cloudy month and June the sunniest. High pressure over the Azores often brings clear skies to south-west England, particularly in summer. Cloud often forms inland especially near hills, and acts to reduce sunshine. The average annual sunshine totals around 1,600 hours. Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds, and

7998-442: The wide range of slopes and aspects, provide ideal conditions for a rich fauna. Amphibians including the palmate newt ( Triturus helveticus ), common frog ( Rana temporaris ), and common toad ( Bufo bufo ) are represented in the damper environments. Reptiles present include adder ( Vipera berus ), grass snake ( Natrix natrix ), slowworm ( Anguis fragilis ) and common lizard ( Lacerta vivipara ). Many bird species breed on

8091-482: Was built to the south at Norton Fitzwarren , close to the centre of bronze making in Taunton . Iron Age sites in the Quantocks include major hill forts at Dowsborough and Ruborough , as well as several smaller earthwork enclosures, such as Trendle Ring and Plainsfield Camp . Ruborough near Broomfield is on an easterly spur from the main Quantock ridge, with steep natural slopes to the north and south east. The fort

8184-554: Was designated as a Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest . Archaeological landscape features include Bronze Age round barrows , extensive ancient field systems and Iron Age hill forts. Roman silver coins have been discovered in West Bagborough . The hills are popular with walkers, mountain bikers, horse riders and tourists who explore paths such as the Coleridge Way . The name first appears in Saxon charters in around AD 880 as Cantuctun and two centuries later in

8277-446: Was dominant at the time of their construction. Examples include "Portisham", rather than the modern spelling " Portesham " and the pre-decimal "6D Handley" for Sixpenny Handley in Dorset. Some fingerpost arm examples include the A- or B-road number as well as the destination, although many more of these examples were removed and replaced after the 1964 regulations were introduced. It appears that

8370-605: Was extracted. The mine was established before 1725 and followed earlier exploration at Perry Hill, East Quantoxhead . It was financed by the Marquis of Buckingham until 1801 when it was closed, until various attempts were made to reopen it during the 19th century. In 1724 the 14th century spire of the Church of the Holy Ghost in Crowcombe was damaged by a lightning strike. The top section of

8463-543: Was given to the Luttrells (previously spelled de Luterel), who passed the manor down through descendants into the 20th century. A Luttrell also became the Earl of Carhampton and acquired Dunster Castle in 1376, holding it until it became a National Trust property in 1976. Stowey Castle at Nether Stowey was built in the 11th century. The castle is sited on a small isolated knoll, about 390 ft (119 m) high. It consisted of

8556-562: Was not comparable to the Standard Alphabets." The FHWA allowed use of Clearview to be approved on an interim basis as opposed to national change, where local governments could decide to submit a request to the FHWA for approval to update their signs with Clearview, but in 2016 they rescinded this approval, wanting to limit confusion and inconsistency that could come from a mix of two typefaces being used. In 2018, they again allowed interim approval of Clearview, with Highway Gothic remaining

8649-627: Was that the design did not allow for mileages of over three miles to be expressed with the use of halves and quarters. It is thus that new fingerposts have been required to round the previously more precise distance measurements. Whilst the 1964 regulations did not bring about a general requirement to remove all fingerposts in Great Britain (signage in Northern Ireland being treated somewhat separately), some counties appear to have been more zealous than others in eradicating them. Fingerpost survival

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