I-Spy AA Village Signs

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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by mickthemaverick »

NewcastleFalcon wrote: 18 Mar 2023, 20:07 This one is just down the Road from the Blind Fiddler

Yellow AA Road Sign, Rose Cottage, Anstey, Hertfordshire
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© Copyright Christine Matthews and
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Selected from the internet's most comprehensive list of such things by pure logic as a decent bet for possible participation. :-D

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Hmmm!! Not a place I go near too often and with SWMBO recovering I may not get a chance for a while, but it's on the back burner!! :-D
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by CitroJim »

I saw an Irish one on Facebook yesterday... I was intrigued to learn they were used there and indeed the AA was active in the Replublic.

Theirs look only a little different and instantly recognisable as being closely related to the UK variety...
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

CitroJim wrote: 19 Mar 2023, 05:23 I saw an Irish one on Facebook yesterday... I was intrigued to learn they were used there and indeed the AA was active in the Replublic.

Theirs look only a little different and instantly recognisable as being closely related to the UK variety...
One of these Jim :?: Geograph is a fantastic resource and covers Ireland too :-D
geograph<br />click to enlarge
geograph
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by CitroJim »

Yes! They're the ones Neil 😊
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

I have linked this in to the Official FCF Spooky thread "Familiarity Phenomenon and other Unlikely Coincidences".

Anyone heard of the "Cheddington Mail Van Raid" , er...hello CitroJim :-D As revealed in our CitroJim's blog as a current topic of discussion and a declaration that the said event would be his specialist subject on Mastermind.


The AA Village Signs Thread, was revived only this week with a random find of a "JCE" brick on the banks of the River Tweed on Wednesday, and the links back to Ruabon and a "new" for the thread AA Village sign in a Pub in Ruabon.

Looking back at the list I had compiled of the 70 ish AA Signs I had discovered with photographic evidence from Geograph/Flickr/Streetview my attention was drawn to Cheddington which I had mis-classified as Buckinghamshire when the AA Village Sign is Actually in Cheddington in Dorset. (The AA Sign has the old double D spelling current maps have it as Chedington :?: :?: )

So Cheddington after never having ever appeared on the FCF, appears twice this week, once for the "Cheddington Mail Van Raid" which I have only just discovered and hadn't a clue that was what the "Great Train Robbery" was also called, and once on the previously dormant AA village signs thread revived by a random brick.

Chedington: old AA sign
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© Copyright Chris Downer and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Neil
Last edited by NewcastleFalcon on 20 Mar 2023, 09:21, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by CitroJim »

That's a different Cheddington Neil ;) Never realised there were two of them!

The one featured on the AA sign is in North Dorset and not far from Crewkerne in Somerset so not far from my real home...

From my childhood memories, there were quite a lot down in the rural parts of Somerset and Dorset as there were very few other place name and road name signs. We just 'knew' what localities, roads and hamlets were called...

Pity the visitor! No chance... And likely to need a translator to understand our local dialect if they should ask for directions. Those old AA signs were a godsend at times...
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

CitroJim wrote: 20 Mar 2023, 05:30 That's a different Cheddington Neil ;) Never realised there were two of them!
Hence my original misclassification...as posted. The unlikely co-incidence was the "Cheddington" name randomly cropping up on our AA Villages Signs thread, and also cropping up at the same time as the original name, "The Cheddington Mail Van Raid" given to the "Great Train Robbery" featuring on your blog.
NewcastleFalcon wrote: 19 Mar 2023, 11:00 Looking back at the list I had compiled of the 70 ish AA Signs I had discovered with photographic evidence from Geograph/Flickr/Streetview my attention was drawn to Cheddington which I had mis-classified as Buckinghamshire when the AA Village Sign is Actually in Cheddington in Dorset. (The AA Sign has the old double D spelling current maps have it as Chedington :?: :?: )
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by CitroJim »

Sorry Neil, I was guilty of a bit of 'reading the forum too early in the morning and not paying full attention' syndrome there and totally missed that bit...

Must try harder 🙄
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by CitroJim »

Harvested from Facebook...

And a double whammy to boot... An AA sign and a rural garage :D
FB_IMG_1679342102676.jpg
Is the sign a reproduction I wonder? It looks in very, very good condition...

And the fixings look very modern...
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

CitroJim wrote: 21 Mar 2023, 04:24 Harvested from Facebook...
And a double whammy to boot... An AA sign and a rural garage :D
Is the sign a reproduction I wonder? It looks in very, very good condition...
And the fixings look very modern...
This is what the Milestone society says about it on Geograph Jim

Old circular AA Sign on West Street in Aldbourne
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© Copyright Milestone Society and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Old circular AA Sign on West Street in Aldbourne by Milestone Society
For SU2675, taken 2002-00-00
Old AA Sign now on a gable end at the entrance to West Street Motors on the east side of the B4192 West Street in Aldbourne, 6 miles northeast of Marlborough. Aldbourne parish. This doesn’t seem to be the same place where the photo was taken. This is the circular, village name on black band, no Motor Union symbol or name type, dating from 1923 and showing distances Chilton Foliat 5½ Liddington 5½ London 71¼. There were five series of AA signs, mostly dating from 1923 and made by Francis & Co / Franco in Deptford, London. The village name and distance to London were usually displayed. Milestone Society National ID: WI-ALDB

Has been moved...and if you zoom in on the new location I think it looks like some renovation has happened but it doesn't have the pristineness a new reproduction would have.
link to Flickr
ImageOld style AA road sign by Andy Phillips, on Flickr

ImageAA Sign by Clive Stanley, on Flickr




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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by CitroJim »

That's awesome 😊 Thanks Neil 😎 Now I see the Flikr photos and being able to zoom into fine detail, it very much looks as if the sign is original and has been carefully restored.

I know where this one is and not far off my regular Somerset route. I'll take a deviation and get a photo of it next time I'm down that way...
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

CitroJim wrote: 21 Mar 2023, 09:09 I know where this one is and not far off my regular Somerset route. I'll take a deviation and get a photo of it next time I'm down that way...
This one is not a kick in the pants away from Aldbourne...and its one of the very early ones
Old AA and Motor Union sign on Oxford Street in Ramsbury
Old AA Sign on the southeast facing front wall of 9 Oxford Street in Ramsbury, 5 miles northwest of Hungerford. Ramsbury parish.

This is a winged badge, not circular but similar to a car badge, erected by AA & Motor Union at bottom type, dating from 1910 and showing distances Aldbourne 3 Marlborough 7 London 68.

There were five series of AA signs, mostly dating from 1923 and made by Francis & Co / Franco in Deptford, London. The village name and distance to London were usually displayed.

Old AA and Motor Union sign on Oxford Street in Ramsbury
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© Copyright Milestone Society and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.





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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by CitroJim »

NewcastleFalcon wrote: 21 Mar 2023, 09:18
CitroJim wrote: 21 Mar 2023, 09:09 I know where this one is and not far off my regular Somerset route. I'll take a deviation and get a photo of it next time I'm down that way...
This one is not a kick in the pants away from Aldbourne...and its one of the very early ones

Old AA and Motor Union sign on Oxford Street in Ramsbury
Image

© Copyright Milestone Society and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Neil
Excellent :-D I've never seen one of those!

I'll go and bag that one too on my next trip ;)
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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

There are probably a few more. Looks like the milestone society use Geograph to catalogue their milestones/village signs etc. In their description on Geograph they also provide links to other info/photos. For Ramsbury the links to Flickr provide much clearer photos of the sign and location, and also their is a link to Graces Guide which gives some info as to who the Motor Union of Great Britain and Ireland were from the pioneering days of motoring.

The sign
ImageP1050268 by Jon M.14, on Flickr
Location
ImageP1050266 by Jon M.14, on Flickr

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Re: I-Spy AA Village Signs

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

The other 2 in Wiltshire are at Shrewton, and Brixton Deverill, (there is another outlier North of the M4 at Luckington).
Brixton Deverill
Some items of days gone by
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© Copyright Neil Owen and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Telephone box, Brixton Deverill
Image

© Copyright Maigheach-gheal and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Shrewton
Old circular AA sign on the A360 in Shrewton by Milestone Society
For SU0643, taken 1995-00-00
Old AA Sign located on the north facing wall of the Bridge Garage, on the A360 Maddington Street in Shrewton, 6 miles northwest of Amesbury. Shrewton parish. This is the circular, village name on black band, no Motor Union symbol or name type, dating from1923 type and showing distances Devizes 14½ Amesbury 6 London 83¾. Not visible on Google Street View after July 2009. There were five series of AA signs, mostly dating from 1923 and made by Francis & Co / Franco in Deptford, London. The village name and distance to London or Dublin were normally displayed. Milestone Society National ID: WI-SHREW

Old circular AA sign on the A360 in Shrewton
Image

© Copyright Milestone Society and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Neil
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