Saving a 50-year-old road sign from the skip

The sign was in place on the M6 for nearly half a century

When a tired old road sign disappeared from the spot where it had sat for almost 50 years on the M6, it sparked a social media buzz.

The information sign for Keele Services in Staffordshire is believed to be one of the oldest signs of its kind in the network, dating back to the mid-1970s.

With so many people asking where it had gone, National Highways worker Matt Sparks launched a personal mission to rescue the piece of highways history from the scrap heap.

Thanks to his efforts, the sign now has a new home at the Aldridge Transport Museum.

Despite the many thousands of signs that National Highways has on its road network, the information sign for Keele Services was unusual for being in the central reservation, as well as so old.

Mr Sparks discovered that age had got the better of the sign as it was rusting away from its mounts and was virtually illegible, so was removed for safety reasons.

The self-confessed road nerd said: "There were two tasks, essentially. The first was to see if we could prevent the sign from becoming scrappage and, secondly, where could it go?"

The sign, which had sat on the southbound carriageway between junctions 16 and 15, was located with the help of Mr Sparks' colleague, Richard Hancox.

It was then stashed away in a highways depot by contractors Colas to keep it safe while a permanent home could be found.

Volunteer Dave Reynolds has been cleaning up the sign

'Millions have observed'

Mr Sparks contacted the Aldridge Transport Museum near Walsall, which welcomed the opportunity to have the sign within their collection.

He said: "Many would agree that it would be a shame if National Highways couldn’t save this interesting artefact.

"Yes, it’s looking old, and is a little outdated, but I was so pleased we were able to get it to the museum, thanks to the support of Richard and our partners Colas.

"After all, many millions have observed it over the last 50 years.

"You could say it truly is a sign of its time!”

Matt Sparks with the sign he rescued

Martin Fisher, one of the museum’s leads, said they were delighted to have the donated sign.

"It is the first motorway era sign in our collection and, like all the signs and notices we display, helps to put the vehicles in our collection into context," he said.

"Our visitors like to feel that we transport them back in time with reminders of everyday sights from the past, and - being close to the M6 as we are - many will be familiar with Keele Services, so more memories will be triggered."

He added: "The heritage is everyone's, we are just looking after it for now."