
DO WHAT?
How many instructions are there in this
notice urging care to all who enter? I spotted this on the door of the
Shelter charity shop in Beam Street just days after a similar notice was
referred to
during a funeral service in Nantwich Parish Church. Referring to a "Wet
floor" notice, the Rector cited the
question "Is that an instruction?" as a guide to the sense of humour of
the deceased, after seeing a similar sign in a local hospital.
In any case, does clean footwear guard
against slipping after the cleaners have been at work?
|
WALKING BOOTS RECOMMENDED. A gentle
stroll to Reaseheath College might be all right - a mere 1,760 yards.
But 21 miles to Chester is only for the fittest of walkers, surely? Of
course, the walk is also the route of cycleway 75, and so enthusiastic
cyclists should be all right. This is a sign erected by the Upper Weaver
Valley people on a road near to the River Weaver as it flows to the
north of town. |

OH, WHAT TANGLED WEBS . . . It is
a little hard to see but there are four separate spiders' webs here -
highlighted by the fog on an early November morning. You can see three
central whorls in the upper left quarter of the structure (but there
were four!). Was it one forgetful spider who kept spinning webs or four
spiders who all liked the same location? Actually, they are not
tangled as such, but so close that you wondered how the middle two
caught any flies, even when their position wasn't revealed.
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SIGN OF THE TIMES. As you will be
aware this is a "100 yards ahead" sign warning of a
road hazard immediately ahead . That's a piece of tape stuck over the "1"
to block it out. (The road works were less than 100 yards away). But when I saw it I thought it looked like a mug -
and a biscuit (?). This was very apt as it was the weekend of the Nantwich Food and Drink
Festival, and the marquees were just ahead on the left at the junction, on Mill Island.
[The event is now held in the town centre.] |

MONKEY PUZZLE TREE. This is an old
photo from The Brough Collection and so the "face" seen in the tree
doesn't look anything like this now. There are more branches and the
tree has matured a little more. The "eyes", I presume, are where
branches had been cut off in the past, the nose is general roughness,
but the mouth - which looks to be a nearly perfect oblong - is a little
harder to identify. A light effect, or just a coincidence?
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BARGAIN PRICE.
When this shop in
Hospital Street was put on the market some years ago, the vendors had held a closing down
sale and the sign was still on the window. I am sure the buyers would not have got
away with paying just half the selling price . .
.! |
YES
. . . ER, NO. At first glance, this notice (left) outside the Civic Hall in
the c entre of Nantwich
was contradictory. It stood at the edge of the
road in Market Street, in front of the building which was constructed in
1951 to commemorate the town's heroes from the Second World War.
But on closer inspection of the conditions of use, it does make sense. It stood just outside a
bay in front of the hall's doors which was constructed as a place where
vehicles dropped off and collected dancers and others attending events
at the Civic Hall.
I had never thought of it as part of the car park
- which stands at the
rear and to the right of the hall. But I suppose that vehicles may have
parked in this spot before. Now, of course, they can't.
l The
sign has since been removed and replaced with one with an accurate
name for the area - Civic Hall Forecourt (above right).

LOVE
LOCKED OUT. This example of photographic humour has been around for many decades,
appearing in a local weekly newspaper and at least one national publication. The
Scope charity shop, on the corner of Love Lane and Pillory Street,
closed in 2018. Other businesses have since taken over the site in turn. |

CAN
YOU KEEP A SECRET? Signs like this one to the Secret Bunker outside
Nantwich appear at several points in town. They always raise a wry
smile. My thanks to Giles Butcher for his suggestion to include the
photo in the website. I must
confess I am in two minds about the picture.
Yes, I can see the humour
in it - giving directions to a secret location. After all they took
direction signs down during the Second World War so as not to help the
enemy. But I am old enough to remember when the secret of Hack Green RAF
Station was revealed and so the name makes sense to me - all joking apart.
Nevertheless it is a brilliant name for a tourist attraction. It
certainly gets people talking - and hopefully visiting the location. Visit the
official Secret Bunker website.
With so many websites featuring the bunker it can hardly be kept a secret,
anyway. There are several Secret Bunkers throughout the country. Try an
Internet search to see the list. |