General Discussion
In my own opinion there are far to many direction signs, why on earth you need signage to tell you where the beach is or the tourist info centre when you can see them whilst standing by the sign. As to all the prohibition notices, well, what a waste of time they are, about as much use as the 'NO CYCLING' or the 'DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS' signs.
Now I await the inevitable usual trolls stating the order of things, sigh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The person who commented also gave a really bad review for Gay's Creamery but glowing reviews of Brixham. They obviously weren't keen on Dawlish.
@leatash - i agree with you, if it really is such a horrible place, then they clearly might as well stay where is best.
Same goes for those who constantly denigrate Dawlish and call it names. Not sure why they stay.
Apart from Deedoodle have any of the rest of you actually walked in this persons footsteps to see if what they are saying is accurate or are YOU just a load of OAPs having a moan? I for one will go and have a look at the weekend to see if this is an accurate report as, shock horror, it might be!!
Has Purrrrfect followed in that persons footsteps though? Granted, there are plenty of notices in OUR town, just like there are in other towns. It’s just a pity that certain people ignore them due to their selfishness/ignorance/stupidity.
Ther are lots of notices but consider that not to long ago we had Swans killed by dogs only today i saw a dog of the lead in the brook these people are as you say Diana Mond selfish/ignorant/and selfish.
When I am in an unfamiliar town/city I am very appreciative of signs telling me how to get to various places and how long (approx) it takes to walk to them.
@Margaret Swift - i think people are having a discussion and giving their opinions. i've heard it all now using oap as a derogatory term. no wonder people don't like commenting on these discussion boards.
@Diana Mond 08 nov 2017 22:46 - i see you are quoting from your own special qualities, how captious of you.
@Margaret Swift - i'm not an oap, not even near. yes i think people are more hooked on the fact that dawlish has been down graded by someone who things brixhams the best place in the world.
@flo, you missed the point dear, i was having a dig at mrs c for her derogatory reference to oaps!
@Margaret Swift, erm, “dear”. You missed the point about not being personal towards other www.dawlish.com forum members. Hopefully you will be reminded by the Webmaster of the terms and conditions of his website.
Says "Diana Mond", who has been banned from this forum more times than I've had hot dinners.
BBC Spotlight southwest also carried a feature on this last night.
I looked at my partner and said "It must be a slow news night. This story was doing the rounds in Dawlish 2/3 weeks ago. "
Then I thought - "Hang on a minute - perhaps all this free publicity concerning the town will entice visitors to come here to see all these unnecessary signs. 
Job done then in terms of getting more people into the town centre who will therefore spend more money in it thereby boosting the town centre economy.
Who needs a playpark?
BTW - Just had a look on Eyes of Dawlish and see that someone has posted a link to an article in The Times about all this. So Dawlish and its signs is getting national coverage as well.
What next? - the national tv news?
Has this been on the One Show yet?
Britain’s bossiest town, Dawlish in Devon, hands in its notice after visitor complains on TripAdvisor
A little birdy's told me that the mayor of Dawlish was/is on BBC radio Devon this morning talking about this.
We have a wonderful Tourist Information Centre. Have one sign at each entrance to the Town telling everyone where it is, just like there is a sign telling everyone where the hospital is.
At the TIC, pick up a map of Dawlish which would show were everything is or what they want us to know just as the signs do now and maybe a bit more info. Then all the signs dotted everywhere could be torn down.
The other signs that are important and should remain on the roads are the name of the road or the number of the road.
Would anyone find a problem with that?
A few examples:
Dog owners would allow their dogs to shit all over the beach.
Idiots would feed chips to seagulls.
Unknowings would feed white bread to ducks, be it near to nesting swans or not.
Morons would park on double yellow lines or claim that they didn’t realise they had to pay and display.
People with children wouldn’t find the mini playpark at the Manor.
Some dog owners do allow there dog's to poop on the beach, so what, it gets cleaned twice a day.
Idiots still feed chips to the seagulls.
People still feed white bread to ducks, be it near nesting swans or not.
People do park on double yellow lines and/or claim they didn't know they had to pay.
People, in general, don't use the 'mini' playpark at the Manor, although not as mini as the one on The lawn would be - if it gets built.
Your post, in my opinion, is irrelevant and purrrfect and all the retired coppers down here think so to.
So you’re not the only retired police officer down here then Purrrrfect?!
My post is relevant, in my opinion. The idea of all signage being torn down is ridiculous, in my opinion.
Perhaps I have not travelled too much, but I do not know of another town that has such an open wildlife conservation area right in its heart. To that extent, I believe Dawlish is unique in a very enchanting way. Unfortunately, there are people who are not knowledgeable, or just plain ignorant as to how to nurture this. Therefore, I feel that a certain amount of signage is really necessary. As to whether it has been "overdone" in Dawlish, that certainly is open to debate. For myself, I do not feel offended or "bossed about" by them. Perhaps the relevant Tripadvisor contributor has eventually fluttered to the ground and will melt in the morning sun.
Just done something I rarely do, bought a Murdoch newspaper, in this case The Times.
Dawlish and its signage is the lead story on page 7.
The Times coverage is then continued on its leader page (35) with a satirical skit.
@ZIGGY - given The Times has a paywall are you able to post the page 35 leader piece on here as well as the page 7 article?(which you have already done, above.)
Everything that Diana Mond has suggested would happen, is happening now, so that was a waste of time telling us.
I have had people over the years asking where such and such a place is and they are stood within feet of a sign telling them what they are asking me. What does that tell us?
Is there a toilet around here and they are right beside of one. I parked my car in a car park but I can't remember where the car park is. I could direct them to the car parks but I cannot remember if there was a sign in close proximity to where we were stood when the question was thrown at me.
People will be people and I am not sure which ones - signs help the most.
Caught the Sky news coverage on this.
Perhaps, as the newscaster suggested, all these signs should become Dawlish's USP (unique selling point). Tourists might queue to have their photos taken beside/in front of these infamous signs.
And like said in an earlier posting, if these signs generate more tourists then perhaps that's how the town centre economy can be boosted.
The signs were put up out of necessity and not because we like looking at the pretty colours on them. Why should we conform to the expectations of someone who is here for a very short time and sees none of the problems that the signs are meant to address?
· Dawlish: 'Britain's bossiest town' to review signs
BBC News - 16 minutes ago
These are external links and will open in a new window A town is to review its "oppressive" signage after a scathing review from a tourist who said he felt "bombarded by notices". A ...
Does this Devon town have the most signposts in Britain?
THE Herald - 1 day ago
· Dawlish: Is this Britain's bossiest town?
BBC News - 5 hours ago
A town is to review its "oppressive" signage after a scathing review from a tourist who said he felt "bombarded by notices". A visitor to Dawlishin Devon's online review said: ...
· Devonshire seaside resort of Dawlish ridiculed for hundreds of ...
The Sun - 2 hours ago
A SEASIDE resort has been ridiculed for having more signposts than any other UK town. Dawlish in Devon is packed with notices about dog control, seagulls, cycling and car engines. A ...
· Don’t feed the ducks! Welcome to Dawlish, Britain’s bossiest town
The Guardian - 10 minutes ago
Age: the name, or some form of it, was first recorded in 1044. Appearance: bossy. Dawlish is a person? No, it’s a seaside town in Devon, home to some 11,000 people. Dawlish is smallish. ...
·
· Britain’s bossiest town, Dawlish in Devon, hands in its notice ...
The Times - 8 hours ago
It isn’t hard to get advice in the small Devon town of Dawlish. There are notices telling you what to do everywhere you look. Now its mayor has promised to do something about the ...
· Picture of the Day: Black swans at Dawlish
· Is this the nanny state capital of Britain? TripAdvisor reviewer ...
Daily Mail - 14 hours ago
The TripAdvisor reviewer said his visit to Dawlish, on the south coast of Devon, was blighted by hundreds of notices about parking, dog mess, litter and how to feed ducks. The visitor ...
·
More of a problem is that the media is lazy. Also newspapers have cut costs down to the bone, letting most of their reporters go, so they share any tidbit of so-called news around between them, put their own bit of spin on it, and hey presto it is spread far and wide and gets all out of proportion.
Best to ignore it and let it go away.
I just thought I'd do a search on Dawlish and Signs and amongst numerous other links I came across this.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/directional_signs_dawlish
MD is no longer with us but he used to post on this website.
At that time, I told Mr Dicks (not Dix) that the signs were going to cost between 30k and 40k, he didn't or couldn't believe it. I told him to make the request via WDTK and as you can see, I wasn't far out.
Poor old Mr D. R.I.P.
There is a full council meeting this evening. I wonder if the signs and last Friday's media coverage will get a mention?
And all this because a dog owner couldnt do what she wanted maybe we should go to Brixham and put some choice words on trip advisor we could start the report with "THE SMELL OF FISH IS CONSTANTLY IN THE AIR WHILE WALKING ROUND BRIXHAM"