Enthusiast wants to reinstate 1909 boundary posts
BBCA road sign enthusiast wants to reinstate cast-iron boundary posts which used to mark a county border in the 1900s.
Tim Beer from near Winsham, Somerset, rescues and restores roadside heritage signs dating back to the 1700s, and has two of the original posts that marked the line between Somerset and Dorset from 1909 until boundary changes in 1963.
He said he wants to use them to have more posts reproduced and hopes to return them to the places they once stood.
"We can't afford to lose our historical items. These markings are part of the road network and are important," he said.
"Luckily, I managed to find two markers. One of them, not the best, but I've refurbished it, and I can now use that as a pattern to get some more cast and put back on the side of the road.
"It's about £450 plus VAT per boundary marker to get them cast and then actually paint them up. So I'd like to do four and just preserve the history."
Beer has set up a crowdfunding page to try to raise some of the £2,000 he needs to do the work.
Somerset and Dorset are both known for their heritage signs, as the counties still have the iconic white fingerpost signs on many roads.
Beer said that road signs are "still needed today as sat-navs fail all the time".
Katherine Barker is an historical geographer on the Somerset and Dorset border and has studied it for 20 years.
"There have been various changes to the border, but not many," she said.
"Before scale-mapping, it was essential that you knew where the border was. The shire had an important legal responsibility for everything.
"These markings are historical and important, especially in previous generations."
Dorset Council has been contacted for comment.
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