Picture the scene: You’re at the bottom of a set of stairs leading down from London Bridge to the Thames Walk pathway. In front of you is a set of about 12 stairs down to the river with the water of the Thames lapping at the bottom couple of stairs. On either side of the stairway is a blank wall. On the wall just to the right of the stairs is a small metal plaque with the words “Access to river only” engraved on it. You know, I’d never have guessed!
If I remember to bring my camera with me to work one day, I’ll put a picture up. I’ll add it to my collection of pictures of really stupid signs, which already includes this one:
(the sign says ‘Seafront ->’ in case you’re having trouble making it out) and the one that has a “Cyclists dismount” sign at the top of a flight of stairs.
The signs are really just examples of the triumph of logic over common sense in that there are good reasons for them being there despite them being mostly pointless. In the case of the “cyclists dismount” sign, the stairs are leading up to a footbridge that cyclists aren’t allowed to cycle over. A “cyclists don’t get back on your bike yet” sign would make more sense but I can see why they don’t put up one of those. The seafront sign (from Nairn beach) points the way to a section of the seafront that has benches and other facilities, rather than just a section of open sand. And, finally, the sign by the Thames is there to point out that those stairs aren’t part of the Thames Walk, which can be a rather confusing pathway to follow at times.
All of this doesn’t stop me enjoying the occasional rant about the pointlessness of it all though!