bmp Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 Hi Everyone. Apologies if this has been answered before. I have tried to search. This is more of a canal question rather than a boating question. Why do the sign posts or mile posts show the distance to where you have been rather than where you are going? By this I mean that as you are walking towards a sign post it shows the miles to the place you have just come from. On the other side of the post it shows the distance to where you are going. e.g. when walking on the Leeds Liverpool canal by where I live ..... as I am heading towards Liverpool the sign post says Leeds 46 miles and when I pass the post and look back it says Liverpool 6 miles.... Hope that makes sense !! Not important - just wanted to know why it is done that way. Thanks BMP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggis Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 This sometimes happens on the Trent and Mersey too and I understood that the signs were all made the same way (with for example, all the signs having Liverpool on the right and Leeds on the left) but when the towpath switches sides on the canal the signs are put beside the towpath facing the canal and they are the wrong way round. Not easy to explain but I think that might be the answer, haggis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmp Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 56 minutes ago, haggis said: This sometimes happens on the Trent and Mersey too and I understood that the signs were all made the same way (with for example, all the signs having Liverpool on the right and Leeds on the left) but when the towpath switches sides on the canal the signs are put beside the towpath facing the canal and they are the wrong way round. Not easy to explain but I think that might be the answer, haggis I was on the Trent and Mersey the last few days and their signs appeared to be the same as you say. That is why I asked really as it appears to be a bit daft. Thanks for the reply. BMP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac of Cygnet Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 To me it seems the logical way to do it, with the name and distance facing towards the place in question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmp Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 2 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said: To me it seems the logical way to do it, with the name and distance facing towards the place in question. Really ? It seams weird to me. Maybe I am just used to road signs. It seams odd to look back over your shoulder to see how far it is to where you are going. I wasn’t sure if it was the same everywhere or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggis Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) Ah, but it isn't always that way! On the T & M for example, most of the signs say Preston Brook x miles and Shardlow y miles and the signs point in the direction of those places. Put the signs on the other side of the canal though and put them up facing the canal and they still say how many miles to each end but they are pointing the wrong way. Haggis This is a reply to Mac ? Edited December 31, 2018 by haggis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheese Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 3 hours ago, bmp said: ... Why do the sign posts or mile posts show the distance to where you have been rather than where you are going? By this I mean that as you are walking towards a sign post it shows the miles to the place you have just come from. On the other side of the post it shows the distance to where you are going. e.g. when walking on the Leeds Liverpool canal by where I live ..... as I am heading towards Liverpool the sign post says Leeds 46 miles and when I pass the post and look back it says Liverpool 6 miles.... Hope that makes sense !!... I think they are consistent with the milestones on major roads - most of which have disappeard, but there are still a few around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bizzard Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 I like to sit with my back to the engine, to watch where I've been through the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canal321 Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 4 hours ago, bmp said: Leeds 46 miles and when I pass the post and look back it says Liverpool 6 miles. Hmm were has the other 75 miles gone only joking. I have often wondered about this myself . I don't know about the towpath swapping sides thing because around me the plates bolt on, so could be bolted on either side of the mile post? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmp Posted January 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 8 hours ago, Canal321 said: Hmm were has the other 75 miles gone only joking. I have often wondered about this myself . I don't know about the towpath swapping sides thing because around me the plates bolt on, so could be bolted on either side of the mile post? Haha - I know .... I realised that after I had posted it. Hoped nobody would notice ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 Imagine that they were finger-posts rather than (I assume) cast metal plates and it would seem logical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pluto Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 They were not meant for those actually on the canal, rather to provide confirmation regarding tolls charged for legal proceedings. In that case, it is more logical to have the distance on the side to where the measurement is taken, if you get my meaning. Unfortunately, when mileposts have been replaced more recently, those replacing them treated them as distance markers for boaters, where it could be seen as better to have the distance to the end of the canal you are travelling towards visible as you approach, rather than the distance to the end behind you. Confusion can also arise from the fact that there can be two sets of milestones/mileposts. The successful canals were remeasured following the 1893 Rates & Tolls legislation, and cast iron mileposts usually date from this period. The original milestones are usually those installed when the canal was built. In the case of the L&LC, the 1893 mileposts include the distance from Johnsons Hillock to the top of Wigan locks, which was actually built by the Lancaster Canal, so not included in the milestone distance markers originally fitted. A couple of these seem to have survived the 1893 remeasurement, but are not marked with distances. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Todd Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 Many canals do not have routine mile markers. The Grand Union has flat faced markers with the distance to a single place. Generalisation is quite complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Brummie Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 The answer must be that they are not sign posts, but mile markers. Think about milestones on roads rather than road signs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momac Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 The non-tidal and tidal River Trent has markers which are distances from Nottingham ... in kilometres . The kilometre markers finish at Gainsborough bridge which is the downstream limit of C&RT responsibility . https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5129789 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furnessvale Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 12 hours ago, bizzard said: I like to sit with my back to the engine, to watch where I've been through the window. I like sitting back to the engine as a safety measure, having witnessed the (rare) effects of stonethrowing at trains. However I do like facing the engine so I can see what is approaching and, if it is interesting enough, I can do a double take as it passes by! George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanderer Vagabond Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 4 hours ago, furnessvale said: I like sitting back to the engine as a safety measure, having witnessed the (rare) effects of stonethrowing at trains. However I do like facing the engine so I can see what is approaching and, if it is interesting enough, I can do a double take as it passes by! George Sitting with your back to the direction of travel is a good safety feature on whatever form of transport since, should a collision occur, you get thrown into your seat rather than out of it. Having said that, most people (myself included) don't seem to enjoy hurtling backwards, I don't know why as I don't tend to suffer from either travel sickness or seasickness (much) but after a few hours of going backwards I tend to feel slightly queasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 38 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said: Sitting with your back to the direction of travel is a good safety feature on whatever form of transport since, I find on a canal boat this makes it hard to see where you are going , it is easier to steer if you face fowards in my experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furnessvale Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 12 minutes ago, NickF said: I find on a canal boat this makes it hard to see where you are going , it is easier to steer if you face fowards in my experience! I suppose "back to the engine" is OK.....................................provided you have an outboard! George 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Brummie Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 All R.A.F. passenger aircraft had backward facing seats. Makes sense when you think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alway Swilby Posted January 2, 2019 Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 The Grand Junction Canal Company had this problem sorted. The mile posts just show distance to or from Braunston. No mention at all is made of the other end at Brentford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanderer Vagabond Posted January 2, 2019 Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 3 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said: The Grand Junction Canal Company had this problem sorted. The mile posts just show distance to or from Braunston. No mention at all is made of the other end at Brentford. That'll be because Brentford is a place that people come from, who in their right mind would want to go there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scholar Gypsy Posted January 6, 2019 Report Share Posted January 6, 2019 On the TandM point, it means you only need one template for casting the milepost, rather than two (left and right hand) you just need to add the numbers. When they were originally installed, if you did not know which way wad Shardlow, you should not be on a boat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_fincher Posted January 6, 2019 Report Share Posted January 6, 2019 39 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said: When they were originally installed, if you did not know which way wad Shardlow, you should not be on a boat... And quite probably the vast majority of the boatmen couldn't read them anyway!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted January 6, 2019 Report Share Posted January 6, 2019 On 31/12/2018 at 22:02, Mac of Cygnet said: To me it seems the logical way to do it, with the name and distance facing towards the place in question. And do you feel the same about road signs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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