I took a photograph of it on Saturday only to discover when I got home that I had taken a better picture of it back in November 2019. The light was quite perfect at that moment and I am rather pleased with the image. It is the one at the top of this blogpost. You can see a little badge on the post - SCC which of course stands for Staffordshire County Council.
Needless to say, one can take a photograph in different light or weather conditions, at different times of year and from different angles and viewpoints. Though photographers can be looking at the same subject, the results may be very different.
Looking through the annals of Geograph in that particular Ordnance Survey square, I found these six pictures of the same signpost snapped by different contributors.and I thought it would be interesting to compare them.
Gosh! I grew up familiar with lots of signposts like that, but I did not realise they were so old.
ReplyDeleteUpon reflection I might be wrong about its age. I admit to making mistakes from time to time.
DeleteLooking through the door into total nerdiness, it is probably C20, 1930s at earliest. Apparently it is correctly termed a fingerpost.
DeleteSo what was the broken sign pointing towards?
ReplyDeleteIt would have been pointing to the village of Thorncliffe I think.
Deleteeither the villages and farms are hidden in valleys or it's genuinely empty like some areas of western Canada.
ReplyDeleteThe emptiness you know in some parts of western Canada makes any emptiness we have over here seem laughable. Villages, farms and towns are never too far away Red.
DeleteLonely little signpost.
ReplyDeleteLove all the images, though.
Thanks for calling by again Bob.
DeleteAnd here's me thinking Royal Cottage was a little-known hideaway for the Royals. The pictures show well just how empty and desolate the moors can be.
ReplyDeleteBack in 2019 when I took my picture I didn't know what "Royal Cottage" meant. The pub is now permanently closed but I wonder why it was called "Royal Cottage" in the first place.
DeleteIt is very interesting to compare these photos. My favourite is also the last one. It speaks of the isolation and constant movement (as on the road) opposed to standstill (as for the post itself), equally isolated. The place simply does not "care" - it is there, and has been there, and will probably be there for many years to come, no matter how many times people pass there and take photographs.
ReplyDelete(I might be in a somewhat "moody" mood myself today, as I have just tested COVID positive - after all the years of not having anything, I had to catch it now from my Mum...)
Because you have COVID you have my sympathy too. Look after yourself. As she is older, I hope your mother gets past the crossroads in comfort.
DeleteI wonder how many people got lost going down the unsigned path.
ReplyDeleteThere's a network of lanes in that area and some of them are very narrow. Only room for a single car. You really do not want to meet another vehicle. Fortunately, there's not much traffic.
DeleteAnother part of England, bleak and lonely. Each photo captures the 'feel', notwithstanding in the real olden days it would have been horse and cart slowly plodding across the landscape.
ReplyDeleteOr jaggers with their pack horses carrying salt or coal amongst other things.
DeleteIf that signpost could speak. What tales it could tell and what characters have past it.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a cue for a poem Dave.
DeleteIt does indeed! I hope there will be a poem about the signpost from you soon.
DeleteThe poem will come from A.I. Meike!
DeleteThese photos do reflect how a place/landscape can seem very different depending on the weather and time of year...
ReplyDeleteNever the same.
DeleteNice moody shot, the sign is easy to read in your image. Desirability is sometimes shaped by function. What am I looking for in the image.
ReplyDeleteWhen functional things are designed, attractiveness may be an accidental by-product.
DeleteIn remote parts of the UK there must be quite a few of those old signposts still around. In such a desolate spot, that one must be a very welcome sight - either to tell you you're on the right road - or you're hopelessly lost!
ReplyDeleteI have always felt hopelessly lost Carol.
DeleteMy favorite is the same as yours. Somehow it reminds me the Wizard of Oz. The threatening clouds, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a yellow brick road. It's charcoal grey tarmacadam.
DeleteI think the light is best in your photo, but I also like Espresso Addict's. I think it places the signpost in the context of the landscape and the crossroads.
ReplyDeleteJust what I thought.
DeleteInteresting study of post photos...
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see the variations.
DeleteI know I'm just baying at the moon but I keep hearing those hounds, especially in the final photo.
ReplyDelete