Saturday 12 March 2011

Cheshire Railings...................Road Safety in 1929

Cheshire Railings
The black and white wrought iron fences at road junctions and bends in Cheshire have been a unique and distinctive road safety feature of the local highways since 1929. Time, neglect and road accidents have taken their toll and many of these fences will never be replaced.

Neglected Railings near Lymm
.

 Maintained Railings at Whitegate...
... and High Legh
As Cheshire is a county of wealth (unfortunately not me) thankfully some of our more responsible village communities have taken pride of their local landscape and heritage and some of the existing railings have been maintained or replaced. New build housing estates are adding the black and white railings to give  them the..."Cheshire look" 

New Railings at Appleton nr Warrington

17 comments:

grammie g said...

Hi Andrew...A nice quaint and charming feeling to "the Cheshire Look"!!
Interesting post...I would hope that this would be continued into the future as a reminder of the past!!
It's to bad that some of it is not being cared for!!
I have to say I am very envious of those Daffodils that are about ready to burst into bloom!! That's a tease!! lol : }

Thanks for another interesting history lesson!!

Unknown said...

Great insight into the area Andrew. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Covnitkepr1 said...

I’ve been following and enjoying your blog for a while now and would like to invite you to visit and perhaps follow me back. Sorry I took so long for the invitation.

Adam Tilt said...

Interesting post Andrew. I always think it's such a shame that pieces of our heritage get lost forever due to neglect and lack of foresight by our councils.

Stewart M said...

Its remarkable what you remember that you have forgotten about! Not see fences like this is a long while - not sure they are limited to Cheshire!

Cheers - Stewart M - Australia

Unknown said...

Very interesting! I love learning how different nations & cultures go about addressing some of the same issues in new & unique ways. Human ingenuity at work!

Empty Nester said...

I like the look of the fences---too bad they aren't all maintained. We have many small southern towns with buildings that are just falling apart- sad.

Maria Berg said...

Ooooo you have the daffodils already - I can not wait until spring is here!!

Hilke Breder said...

Nice photos. Their looks improved with time and neglect!

Mike B. @ slugyard.com said...

Hmmm...pretty sure that "railing" won't meet today's safety standards!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Congratulations to all!! (And wow more beautiful daffodills.

Tracy Pierre said...

The railings are a unique trademark, I must say. People often take these railings for granted since they believe maintenance is the responsibility of the authorities. But safety is everyone's responsibility!

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JohnS said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JohnS said...

Just been planning a new wildlife garden to sit behind a new house I'm having built on the Wirral just inside the Cheshire border. The house is being built using a green-oak frame and will made to look 300-400 years old with a cottage garden at the front. I've always liked the railings I've seen around the Cheshire lanes and thought to incorporate that look into the design. By way of starting my search I typed 'Cheshire railings' into Google wondering if it would recognize the term. Brought me straight to your site, so I've learn't all I need to know to convince me to carry on with the idea.

Anonymous said...

I’ve been telling people about this and they don’t believe me!🤣
These are unique to Cheshire.

Anonymous said...

They do cross the border into Staffordshire. Maybe historic border changes. My father told me 50 years ago about their history. Introduced at junctions and crossroads for safe views when pulling out. . You’ll notice that they are gentle curves on each corner to allow this. My dad did add that the Cheshire highways department introduced them to reduce traffic accidents. Be absolutely great if people put them round their property borders.
Today I was watching a YouTube video on advanced driving. The advisor was in Cumbria and as he passed some he actually referred to them as Cheshire Railings. So it does appear they are not just used in the county.
Colin