AN iconic image of Dorset – one which has even graced millions of TV screens in iconic comedy classic Only Fools and Horses – is of traditional fingerposts.

The signs have been guiding carts, cars and walkers for centuries, their white or occasionally red metal roundel or finials becoming a familiar sight.

To ensure their continued presence on the landscape, in 2017 the Dorset CPRE launched a grant scheme for their restoration and maintenance.

Eight years on, the charity has paid out more than £22,000 towards the restoration of 160 traditional fingerposts, helping save the treasures from extinction.

Fingerposts are a legacy of the early road system. In 1773, the General Turnpike Act made it mandatory for trustees to put up signs informing the traveller of the distance to the closest town.

Of the 1,300 or so fingerposts thought to exist in the 1950s, just 717 survive today.

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Many were lost in WWII as they were removed in 1940 to deny guidance to an invading army, and were not replaced.

Others have been repaired using non-traditional materials or lettering, and many are in need of attention.

The local authority no longer has a remit to repair them, and both the Dorset National Landscape (formerly Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and Dorset CPRE are keen to support local Fingerpost Champions to save the signs from extinction and restore them to their former glory.

Roger Bond (Dorset Fingerpost Restorers) co-ordinates the Dorset National Landscape Fingerpost restoration project, working from his home workshop, repairing and restoring characters on new oak ‘fingers’, while Coles Castings provide new stock (cast lettering and roundels) ready for fettling and painting.

Roger first became involved in fingerpost restoration projects 10 years ago, when he stepped in to assist with the repair of a bracket on the Green Hill Junction fingerpost at Sutton Poyntz.

Since then, he has been engaged in restoring over two hundred traditional fingerposts around the county.

The experience gained is now collated in his new website to help others restore their village fingerposts and can be viewed at www.dorsetfingerpostrestorers.co.uk.

Among those Roger has managed and supported are the full reinstatement of all four of Dorset’s ‘Red Posts’, including at Horsey Knapp, near Evershot.

A restored ‘red post’ at Horsey Knapp, near Evershot. Picture: Dorset CPRE

The post had been badly damaged a couple of times and a new location opposite, away from traffic, was provided by a farmer, while Highways agreed a new site and provided a new post.

New oak fingers and alloy lettering were prepared and fitted by volunteer, Nigel Clarke, who also fitted the fully refurbished bracket assembly and roundel.

Roger said: “This distinctive fingerpost, one of four we have restored in Dorset, is now looking good and in a safer position. Thanks to Dorset National Landscape for the new oak and a grant from Dorset CPRE.”

“Dorset has only a few surviving fully cast-iron fingerposts, so we were pleased to have fully restored this post in the centre of Evershot village,” he added.

“After several visits and much surface preparation and painting, a missing finger was located and a new cast finger to Holywell was fitted: made by Coles Castings foundry in Melbury Abbas.”

Neil Matthews, chair of Dorset CPRE, said: “These distinctive signposts which show, not only distances and directions, but also the grid reference of the junctions concerned are a real boon to walkers and drivers in the county.

“I am pleased that Dorset CPRE are able to support this scheme which enhances the character and uniqueness of the Dorset countryside.”

Dorset CPRE offers a small grant scheme, up to £200 per post, for people wanting to restore fingerposts using the correct materials as set out by the Dorset National Landscape.

Match funding is not required and there is no application form, but the charity asks that requests come from a parish council representative or similar, with a summary of the fingerposts that need repairing, their location and estimated costs.

For more information, contact Dorset CPRE via dorset-cpre.org.uk/contact-us.

As for the sign that features in Only Fools and Horses, it is in the classic A Touch of Glass episode – the one with the chandeliers.

The title screen of the episode uses a rural road sign to establish how the Trotters are out ‘in the sticks’ for an auction. That road sign is a fingerpost at Peggs Lane, Farrington, while other Dorset locations were also used in the episode.

The sign at Peggs Lane, Farrington, which features in Only Fools and Horses. Pictures: Google/BBC