New lock signs

boatone

boatone

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Joined
29 Jul 2001
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Location
Just a few cables from Boulters Lock
www.tmba.org.uk
As I went through Boveney yesterday lockie was replacing the familiar "Self Service" signs with new ones. I believe the out of hours central section says SELF SERVICE but didn't actually see it.
Old and new side by side below - What does the panel think?

Also, please see the lower picture which suggests that it will not be so easy to recognise from a distance if the lock is on self service.


newlocksigns.jpg


newlocksigns-2.jpg
 
What no fancy LED signage? I saw no issue with the old signs and from what I've seen it's the 'Channel' signs that need sorting out.
 
We have had the new signs on the Anglian EA for a year now. Anglian EA have even less budget for navigation so probably had even more reason to spend money on new signs!!!! We don't have the "Self Service" section as our locks are always self service!! But it does look like the EA have a whole selection of "slide in" signs. For every eventuality.
 
Blimey.....

Presume the new LED signage can be remotely controlled from head office.
Spotted the electronic noticeboards at some locks on our last trip up and wondered exactly how long it would be before the "dinososaur tendency" of the Thames would be uttering snorts of outrage about this incursion of the 21st century.
Get the feeling the M25 motorway should be sporting uniformed men with ladders and little chalk boards detailing hold ups at the junction with the M4 according to this crowd . :)
 
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Re: Blimey.....

oldgit said:
Presume the new LED signage can be remotely controlled from head office.
Spotted the electronic noticeboards at some locks on our last trip up and wondered exactly how long it would be before the "dinososaur tendency" of the Thames would be uttering snorts of outrage about this incursion of the 21st century.
Get the feeling the M25 motorway should be sporting uniformed men with ladders and little chalk boards detailing hold ups at the junction with the M4 according to this crowd . :)
Click to expand...

If the LED sign I saw was announcing river conditions, navigation restrictions and pump out breakdowns it would have been performing a service. Instead, it was informing users that they needed a licence and advertising MDL Marinas :confused:
 
Wasn't broken IMHO. Seems bizarre to waste money fixing it therefore
Whether the new signs work depends on the colour of the "self service" and (perhaps) "no passage" versions of the middle bit.
 
Am going to guess that the signs will be used to indicate problems ahead via head office very much suspect that MDL will have had to cough up some wedge to get their name in lights.
Did briefly contemplate spending a night at MDL to charge up domestics,would be useful if MDL could display if they have any visitor space to save a phone call.
Could be a neat source of additional revenue.One or two riverside restuarants could well be interested.Very useful for us folks looking for a cheapo 2 for one or special dinner/lunch/breakfast deal etc.
 
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Stop getting too excited about the LED signs at Boveney and Bray - they are only at these two locks and are a legacy from the 2012 Olympics when they were installed and paid for as part of the security arrangements in the Bray/Boveney stretch for the rowing events at Eton Dorney. MDL, to the best of my knowledge, are paying for the privilege of advertising on them as they have two marinas in that stretch. That said, they are not being used as effectively as they could be (IMHO you understand) and the one at Bray was defective when I came through a couple of weeks ago. You can bet your bottom squids that they are well out of warranty and the EA didn't even inherit the required laptop to manage their content. The one at Boveney was showing blue print on a black background which is a very poor contrast for readability, particularly by older people.

(Oh, just for the record, its taken nearly 3 years to agree the use of advertising to earn revenue)
 
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Think I'm in agreement with most other posters hear - WTF are EA doing spending money on replacing signs that already work perfectly well, when they keep trying to tell us they haven't got enough budget for essential services?

As for the new signs themselves, if the sign for lock keeper off duty is not a completely different colour than the lock keeper on duty one, then it is a big step back. As with the current (old style?) signs you can tell easily from a large distance - far further than I could read the writing, whether or not the lock was manned - by the time I'm close enough to read the writing on the sign, I can usually tell if its manned or not anyway because I can see a lockie at the controls.

No issue with the LED ones, as I suspect (hope) the EA received sufficient advertising fees to cover their costs.
 
boatone said:
.(Oh, just for the record, its taken nearly 3 years to agree the use of advertising to earn revenue)
Click to expand...


H,mm wonder if they would be interested in an advert from a private owner who is flogging a much luved boat which is ideal for ye THAMES ie goes in straight line ,does NOT have an expensive pair of props dangling at thee end of some fast corroding aluminium,just waiting to tell you how shallow the water is.
Has side decks you can actually walk along AND does not rock to an fro like a demented see saw when anybody climbs aboard. :)
Ps Sorry no tent on top either. :)...all for 36K.
 
oldgit said:
H,mm wonder if they would be interested in an advert from a private owner who is flogging a much luved boat which is ideal for ye THAMES ie goes in straight line ,does NOT have an expensive pair of props dangling at thee end of some fast corroding aluminium,just waiting to tell you how shallow the water is.
Has side decks you can actually walk along AND does not rock to an fro like a demented see saw when anybody climbs aboard. :)
Ps Sorry no tent on top either. :)...all for 36K.
Click to expand...

Ooo - I've got such a boat; though I don't think anyone here would be interested in such a craft....
Not for sale (yet) anyway.
 
Just a thought, but did the EA consult with any groups represent river users on the Thames regarding the changing of the Lock signs? I'm guessing not, as for sure NO USERS would have supported such a change, on either cost or benefit grounds.

This is, IMHO, not only a disgraceful waste of public money, but also shows an appalling disregard by EA for their (paying) boating user community.
 
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