Mystery of the phantom framer who loves decorating road signs

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2015-...ng-road-signs/

Mystery of the phantom framer who loves decorating road signs

There's something very strange going on in part of south London. Road signs are being decorated with picture frames. And no one really knows why.


From High Street signs...

So the big question is... who is the mystery phantom framer of Teddington? He/she appears to have their own Twitter profile.

Looks great, more pictures via the link. I've thought for a long time now that it should be mandated by central government that all street signs, lamp posts and general street furniture should be made ornate and Victorian in design like it used to be. How an area looks is central to quality of life as well as business, who is going to invest and move into an area that looks hideous? In other words do what we used to do as a country.

Won't be long though before the local council gets wind of this and takes out court action for a breach of health and safety laws.

Thoughts?

[scottish]

I think your thoughts are stupid but laughed at the news article.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I think your thoughts are stupid but laughed at the news article.

And what is so stupid?

[scottish]

The fact you think

a) Putting picture frames on signs makes it look victorian
b) Putting picture frames on signs makes the area look better, improve quality of life (and business), make people invest or move into the area.



Putting picture frames up will make people laugh for a few weeks then it'll be destroyed by drunks. None of the above.

[-:Undertaker:-]

The fact you think

a) Putting picture frames on signs makes it look victorian
b) Putting picture frames on signs makes the area look better, improve quality of life (and business), make people invest or move into the area.

Putting picture frames up will make people laugh for a few weeks then it'll be destroyed by drunks. None of the above.

You think I mean literal picture frames should be erected? And you call me stupid...

But the fact is that more ornate street furniture as well as trees and better paving (rather than tarmac) do make an area more prosperous both for people to live in and business to operate in. Not sure if you go outside the house much, but if you ever go into more affluent neighbourhoods they are not saddled with 25ft drab metal street lamps: they get reproduction Victorian gas lamps. If you go into more affluent areas, you'll notice cast iron railings with ornate finishings put around the local park rather than those industrial metal fences that all the povvy areas get. And so on and so forth.

I want the streets of this country to look nice which is the supposed original job of your local council. Lessons in urban planning from the last 150 years.

[Empired]

You think I mean literal picture frames should be erected? And you call me stupid...

But the fact is that more ornate street furniture as well as trees and better paving (rather than tarmac) do make an area more prosperous both for people to live in and business to operate in. Not sure if you go outside the house much, but if you ever go into more affluent neighbourhoods they are not saddled with 25ft drab metal street lamps: they get reproduction Victorian gas lamps. If you go into more affluent areas, you'll notice cast iron railings with ornate finishings put around the local park rather than those industrial metal fences that all the povvy areas get. And so on and so forth.

I want the streets of this country to look nice which is the supposed original job of your local council. Lessons in urban planning from the last 150 years.

Where did you get that idea from? As someone who lives in a more affluent area I can say that you must have dreamed up that fact. We're allowed one nasty white-light streetlamp down our street to save money and that's it. We've got one Victorian streetlamp in the middle of the city and that's to impress tourists. Unless you mean like.. a street with millionaires and politicians.

I like the picture frames though. They're cute.

[Alkaz]

They look fabulous!

[-:Undertaker:-]

Where did you get that idea from? As someone who lives in a more affluent area I can say that you must have dreamed up that fact. We're allowed one nasty white-light streetlamp down our street to save money and that's it. We've got one Victorian streetlamp in the middle of the city and that's to impress tourists. Unless you mean like.. a street with millionaires and politicians.

I like the picture frames though. They're cute.

It obviously isn't universally applied to affluent neighbourhoods but is something I have noticed in many.

But it should be applied as universally as possible.

[GommeInc]

But the fact is that more ornate street furniture as well as trees and better paving (rather than tarmac) do make an area more prosperous both for people to live in and business to operate in. Not sure if you go outside the house much, but if you ever go into more affluent neighbourhoods they are not saddled with 25ft drab metal street lamps: they get reproduction Victorian gas lamps. If you go into more affluent areas, you'll notice cast iron railings with ornate finishings put around the local park rather than those industrial metal fences that all the povvy areas get. And so on and so forth.

I want the streets of this country to look nice which is the supposed original job of your local council. Lessons in urban planning from the last 150 years.

Agree with the bit in bold and non-tarmac roads and pavements last so much longer. Tarmac is great for the majority of a road, but in places near junctions or areas where cars are likely to stop still bricks, cobbles or slabs are not only visibly appealing but they also take the brunt of cars and lorries pulling off. I spend a bit of time in Belgium these days and their towns and cities look so much better than ours and their roads last quite a bit longer - even in poorer areas.

Speaking of roads - you would think in Britain where it rains more often than not, that we would have roads designed to take the water. In Belgium they have grooves in the side of the road for water to collect and drain into sewers. These days we just have flat tarmac going straight to the kerb, so water collects and, in winter especially, causes wear and tear.


As for making signs etc look more Victorian - it really depends on the area. There's no point polishing a turd

[-:Undertaker:-]

@GommeInc; you have to wonder where we'd be without the Victorians. Nowadays nothing is built to last. You only have to look at the kerbstones on roads now, they use concrete which doesn't last long at all and crumbles... my road has the granite kerbs which have been down since the road was built. None of them are broke.

Cobbles and granite may cost more but they'll last literally forever. And they actually look nice too: provided the stupid council don't paint markings all over them.