Say what you see: signs edition

always noticing notices

A few months ago I wrote about ‘say what you see’ words like cufflink (also, please appreciate this cufflink link … link). In a simple Sunday post today, I’m sharing some snaps I’ve taken of excellent signs that, in my mind anyway, fall into the same sort of category as the words I shared.

Because it’s the autumn equinox, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the seasons, I’m sharing a photograph representing each one: autumn, winter, spring, and summer.

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Autumn sign: Fivefields to Winchester

A white-painted fingerpost sign with hand lettering reading ‘FIVE FIELDS TO WINCHESTER’. Behind: greenery, gravestones, and a Norman church against a blue sky with wispy clouds. Photographed 28 October 2022.

This photo is from one of my favourite walks in Winchester. Taking the first part of the South Downs Way (miles one and two of the ninety-nine to Eastbourne) and then off the route and up the hill to this beautiful church in the village of Chilcomb. It’s the sort of walk where you feel you might see the glint of a Roman coin in the fields. Of which there are five: five fields. Which is why I love this sign so much. It’s straightforward (literally), dependable, and manages your expectations. Thanks sign.

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Winter: No entry except for bicycles

A sign at Ghent/Gent railway station in Belgium reads ‘UITGEZONDERD’ with a picture of a bicycle and a moped beneath. Next to the sign: hundreds of actual bicycles jam-packed into the surrounding area. Photographed 13 January 2023.

Nobody except bikes please! The bikes: ‘sure thing!’. The space on the other side of the platforms was completely filled too. As was the area to the left, out of shot. It was probably more bikes in one place than I’d ever seen before, and hard to capture in a photo. I found an article just now (from the climate reporter at Sky News) that says ‘getting off the train, we saw an area the size of a football pitch covered in parked bikes’. Building works are underway at the station for a giant cycle park, the largest in Europe, which will be able to accommodate 17,000 bikes in a double-height covered space ‘with bikes parked above bikes’. Bike upon bike upon bike. That’s what the climate likes to see, gang. (Plus, from the station, you can get a double-decker train.)

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Spring: Easter Caravan Holiday Home Exhibition

A yellow temporary road sign with a straight-ahead arrow that would have been directing traffic to an ‘Easter Caravan Holiday Home Exhibition’. The sign, now discarded on the grass, is covered in at least fifty snails (yes I counted, what else are Sunday afternoons for?).

I could sit and think about this scene all day. The little caravan snails enjoying their day out at the exhibition. This photo is standing in for spring here, but it was taken on Halloween 2019, which I like all the more: did the snails have a great costume idea or what?

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Summer: Google box

Swimming goggles in a plastic box labelled: Goggle box. The box is on an outdoor bench, in the sunshine. Also seen: a white plastic garden chair and blue-and-yellow bunting on the fence in the background. Photographed 12 June 2023.

Absolute ‘say what you see’ signage perfection from Cirencester Open Air Swimming Pool. Nothing further to add.

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