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Living in a nanny state
by loiswakeman @ 29/04/2008 - 21:16:26

A few weeks ago, I blogged about plastic rubbish on the beach. But that isn't the only rubbish. A big rash of ugly and largely unnecessary signage is - to my eyes - just as obtrusive and out of place.

cobb sign

These horrible railings and signs were put on the end of the Cobb wall in Lyme Regis some years ago now, transforming a historical monument into a monument to the litigation society. Some idiot fell off the Cobb during a storm and sued the town council for damages. Fortunately he lost on appeal, but this is his legacy.

beach safety sign

A few hundred yards west, there is a natural beach, whose wilderness is spoiled by this large and ugly sign, telling us to beware of, amongst other things, tides, rocks, waves and currents. How unexpected on a beach.

beach safety sign

On the front proper, there are warning signs every few hundred yards like this. Caution: The shingle beach shelves steeply - as a cursory inspection will confirm.

Stuff like this negates Darwinian selection. The human race will become more stupid and unable to take responsibility with every generation.

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menhirmenhir [Member]
29/04/08 @ 21:27

As you say, there is a massive creep of signage of all types now, including the defensive type you depict here in your blog. The cost is another issue.

la_spicela_spice [Member]
29/04/08 @ 22:33

Whatever happened to common sense and taking resposibility for ones own safety?

I take my grandchildren to the beach and tell them about the dangers.

EllieGantEllieGant pro
29/04/08 @ 22:45

I hate the way we're emulating the American keenness for litigation. And it doesn't matter how many warnings you put up, there will always be some idiot who ignores them.

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loiswakemanloiswakeman [Member]
http://lois.co.uk
30/04/08 @ 16:32

So do I.

As well as the idiots who cannot or will not read, there are those whose bravado leads them to do silly things anyway - or bolshie blighters like me who do safe but forbidden things just to cock a snook!

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tylluanpenrytylluanpenry pro
29/04/08 @ 23:01

I remember going up towards the Yorkshire Dales once on a camping holiday and hearing a mother yelling at her offspring 'If tha' runs oot into t'road and gets thyself killed, thou'lt not come here on holiday again next year.'

Makes sense, really!

LissaTLissaT pro
30/04/08 @ 00:25

I wonder whether Louisa Musgrove sued?

SeasideManSeasideMan pro
30/04/08 @ 15:28

That's a terrible rash of signs you have there, Lois. It's nowhere near as bad here. I wonder what they'll do if a blind or dyslexic person who can't read the signs injures themself on the beach. Will they just fence it off and that will be the end?

There are too many slippery slopes around this area and I don't like what lies at the bottom of the slope. If you don't give people the chance to learn from their mistakes then they won't learn. That doesn't mean that things should be actively dangerous, but we seem to be straying far too much onto the over-safe extreme at present.

Cheers, Tom.

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loiswakemanloiswakeman [Member]
http://lois.co.uk
30/04/08 @ 16:29

If you think that's bad - one summer I walked down to Lyme from our house - a distance of about 1.5 miles. I counted (and photographed for a project I might finish one day) over 160 warning or information signs on the way.

Perhaps I ought to make a new blog and post a sign a day?

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SeasideManSeasideMan pro
30/04/08 @ 16:51

That would make a great project, you should do it.

I've been noticing warning signs on products recently, the best I've seen so far being on a jar of peanutbutter:

"Warning: This product may contain nuts"

The people who make the labels are certainly nuts.

Cheers, Tom.

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loiswakemanloiswakeman [Member]
http://lois.co.uk
30/04/08 @ 17:23

The other thing that makes me laugh is "serving suggestions" on food packets - for instance, put the contents on a plate! (And of course, do not use sharp knives to cut.)

more tips

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SeasideManSeasideMan pro
30/04/08 @ 17:32

haha, yes. "Heat and serve" on tinned soup. Well DUH!

Years ago, I used to buy lunchtime sandwiches from a local shop, which they made fresh and put in a brown paper bag. One day when I went in, it was all the same but the bags now had "recyclable packaging" written on them. Things like that make me wonder where all this is going to end.

Tom.

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David Ruffle [Visitor]
http://storiesfromlymelight.blogspot.com/
01/05/08 @ 09:56

Firmly in agreement with the obtrusiveness off all these signs....so annoying and ultimately unnecessary. And now we have new one on the North Wall which is an abomination.

David

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loiswakemanloiswakeman [Member]
http://lois.co.uk
01/05/08 @ 10:29

Hi David - Lyme is fast becoming a Sign Zone, rather than the sleepy old fashioned resort it used to be. Very sad IMO (in both senses of the word).

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David [Visitor]
http://storiesfromlymelight.blogspot.com/
02/05/08 @ 10:02

How sad it is that the clock cannot be turned back to those days, surely someone somewhere must see that this is not progress in any sense of the word.

Still......would not live anywhere else Lois.

David

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loiswakemanloiswakeman [Member]
http://lois.co.uk
02/05/08 @ 11:15

Not progress - just covering the wel-upholstered backsides of those in charge!

But as you say, not bad enough to move away (yet).

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