Follow the brown signs

This image is taken from a supplement called "Signs of the Times 84" published by the English Tourist Board as part of their "Tourism in Action" project. It was in 1984 that the brown sign as we know it was born. These symbols were first used in Kent as an experiment and were found to be useful for directing tourists to attractions and facilities by owners and motorists alike, so after their success in Kent the Department for Transport then rolled them out across Britain. Me being from Kent and...

Read more >>

Exciting no? This is a unique brown sign symbol, and I love them (who's surprised?). These symbols are on the tourist signs that want to stand out from the crowd or don't fit into any of the other regular 93 categories. These I find intriguing and make me want to visit even more when they have quirky images like this one. There are more to see later, but let me just tell you how I came to acquire them... OK so this week I have had a hectic one, with less time to...

Read more >>

In the last few months I've been out and about a lot less visiting brown signed attractions, mainly because I'm working 54 hour weeks at the restaurant but also because I'm trying to pull together a book about the diverse and rich world of the humble brown tourist sign. What always fascinates me is reading up on how all these places actually became attractions in the first place, the more you read the more you uncover all their unique and interesting histories, it's a real eye opener and shows just...

Read more >>