R.A.C. NOTICE BOARDS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR.—The managing director of " What to See" Road Signs, in his letter to you of the 12th, appears to misconceive the situa- tion. It is not so much the form of the Direction Plates that is objected to as the possibility of their existence. However " restrained " the colouring, and " refined " the lettering, they will prove an undoubted curse to the quiet and inoffensive people who live in interesting and—at present—unspoilt villages, the chief charm of which is that they are not invaded by trippers or defiled by paper and the skins of fruits.
To say that these road signs will not attract the " orange peel " tripper is to say what is unquestionably contrary to fact. If these signs are not for charabanc parties, for whom are they ? All motorists may be assumed to be provided with maps, and it is by these that anyone of reasonable intelligence can find the way throughout England. There is no reason whatever for providing what Mr. Burrow terms " visible signs " of the existence of churches or places of interest.
The last sentence of Mr. Burrow's letter is amazing. How will the attraction of crowds of holiday-makers to the beauti- ful villages of dear old England " make for greater reverence and regard for these shrines " of interest ? Can any impartial person doubt that the exact reverse must be the inevitable result of this detestable suggestion ? Existing signposts are necessary and inoffensive, but for the dignity and quiet of the countryside let us be spared anything that will be extremely offensive to most dwellers in the country, and be entirely' superfluous for all intelligent motorists.—I am, Sir, &e., A VILLAGER.
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