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21
Aug 2024
Scriven's 1920s restored fingerpost sign returns
A historic sign post in Scriven on the outskirts of Knaresborough has been restored to its former glory and returned to its position.
Last week the Stray Ferret solved the mystery of where Scriven’s 1920s fingerpost sign had gone.
The sign stood on the junction of Greengate Lane and Boroughbridge Road and dates from approximately the 1920s.
The Stray Ferret discovered it had been taken away for restoration work commissioned by North Yorkshire Highways, a limited company owned by North Yorkshire council.
Th council revealed the estimated cost was £2,500.
The sign was sent to Cumbria to Signpost Restoration Limited, a company specialising in bringing signs back to life.
The firm was commissioned in April to begin work on the Scriven signpost.
The post remained in Knaresborough while the components were taken to a workshop near Carlisle in May.
David Gosling, director of Signpost Restoration Limited, told the Stray Ferret that the “the wooden fingerboards were rotten, one had already been lost, and they were removed.”
To restore the sign three new oak boards were manufactured and painted white. The legends [place names] were then painted onto them using digitally produced stencils.
The cast iron components were grit blasted to bare metal and then painted with specialist paints. The post had its fifth and final coat of paint applied in June.
The sign was completed yesterday (August 20) by securing the boards into cast iron brackets.
The restored signpost
David Gosling, director of Signpost Restoration Limited, said:
Usually, these old fingerposts only survive in rural locations but to have one in an urban situation and by a busy road made a pleasant change. Constantly having to stop and discuss what I was doing and hear the history of the sign and its location, from the many people who feel passionate about its retention, certainly lengthened the restoration process on site but on the other hand made, what will be one of my last restorations before retirement, a very enjoyable process.
Janet Palmer, a Stray Ferret reader who lives in Knaresborough, initially alerted us to the loss. She told us she is happy to see the sign has returned.
She said:
It is good to see it back, so well restored and with its original West Riding crown
Keith Blackwood, a resident who lives opposite the sign, has kept up to date with the restoration.
He said:
We moved opposite the sign 37 years ago and immediately thought the sign looked great and added a bit of history to the area.
When it went into disrepair I felt we couldn't lose it so I contacted our local councillor hoping he would make a push to get repairs done.
I didn't hear anymore until David arrived to do the restoration, of which he has done a brilliant job. The sign is part of the history of new Scriven being almost 130 yrs since it was erected.
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