40 C O N T E X T 1 0 8 : M A R C H 2 0 0 9 The Milestone Society Roadside heritage Rob Caldicott writes: Although individuals had been working on recording, photographing and restoring milestones, fingerposts and the like for many years, it was not until the end of the 1990s that the Milestone Society began to come into being. Terry Keegan, its first secretary, recalls working with Harley Thomas, then conservation officer of Shropshire, attempting to get a grant for recording and renovation. This brought together a number of other early members, and the publication of an article on milestones in the Daily Telegraph by Mervyn Benford1 generated sufficient interest nationally to form a society in 2001 dedicated to their care. Members recall that in early days cooperation with official bodies was sometimes hard to achieve. In theory, highways authorities owned and had responsibility for milestones and other roadside heritage.When theft, damage and neglect were reported, the reaction sometimes tended to a view that these were obsolete relics from an earlier age and should be left to their fate. Where members working in the field found individuals in authority who were sympathetic to the cause, good cooperation was established. In the past 10 years or so a more general change has taken place for which the Milestone Society may be able to claim a little credit. In 2005 the Department for Transport published a Traffic Advisory Leaflet2, six sides of A4 describing very concisely the historical background, current regulations and, most important, a planning policy for the protection and restoration of historic street furniture. In parallel with this has been the development by the society of guidance notes, especially its Guidance on Conservation of Milestones and OtherWaymark Features, available on the society’s website3. Examples of good working relationships abound, a good example being Staffordshire4. Another is Oxfordshire, where in the past year a programme of fingerpost restoration and milestone repair has been successful. Presently the society is working to establish an archive of members’ collections, containing in some cases images of milestones (and even stretches of road) now lost to development. The society’s archivist Alan Rosevear can provide information (see the website) on the society’s database of milestones. He also keeps a fine photographic record of tollhouses, viewable on links to Flickr from his website5. Some might think that the job is done. Not so, says Terry Keegan. There will always be lost milestones to locate, damaged ones to restore, and fingerposts to rescue. 1 Author of Milestones by Shire Books 2 PDF downloadable from www. dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/tal/ 3 www.milestone-society.co.uk 4 www.staffordshire.gov.uk/news/ milestonerevamp.htm 5 www.turnpikes.org.uk A milestone on the A6 at Carnforth Chipping Norton, before and after restoration Sibford, before and after
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