I have to confess that until recently I never knew that those old fashioned road signs with their outstretched arms, bearing destinations and distances, were called Finger posts.
It makes perfect sense, but then I lived a sheltered life.
Not so Andy Robertson who in a quite moment from recoding our industrial history, ventured along Barlow Moor Road to its junction with Palatine Road and photogtaphed the pole with the circle inscribed City of Manchester.
I have passed it countless times, and never noticed the remains of the bots which supported the three boards carrying the names Cheadle 2½ miles, underneath were the words The South, and on the second The Docks, Bolton, Warrington Liverpool and on the third, Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Manchester.
At some point each of the three fingers were given an added bit which recorded the names of the roads.
So, the white destination sign for Cheadle and The South were joined with B5217, as were The Docks, Bolton, Warrington Liverpool.
I can be forgiven for missing the fingers, as they were taken down sometime in 1960.
And that is about it, other than to thank Andy for the pictures and the reference back to the older pictures, which are in the Local History Collection.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; the fingerless finger post, Didsbury, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and with fingers, 1959, D. Oakes, m21393, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
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| 2020 |
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| 2020 |
Not so Andy Robertson who in a quite moment from recoding our industrial history, ventured along Barlow Moor Road to its junction with Palatine Road and photogtaphed the pole with the circle inscribed City of Manchester.
I have passed it countless times, and never noticed the remains of the bots which supported the three boards carrying the names Cheadle 2½ miles, underneath were the words The South, and on the second The Docks, Bolton, Warrington Liverpool and on the third, Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Manchester.
At some point each of the three fingers were given an added bit which recorded the names of the roads.
So, the white destination sign for Cheadle and The South were joined with B5217, as were The Docks, Bolton, Warrington Liverpool.
 |
| 1959 |
And that is about it, other than to thank Andy for the pictures and the reference back to the older pictures, which are in the Local History Collection.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; the fingerless finger post, Didsbury, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and with fingers, 1959, D. Oakes, m21393, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
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