Signs of the times . . . Lesley Dolphin in praise of village people

PUBLISHED: 10:19 11 March 2014 | UPDATED: 10:19 11 March 2014

News Huddlines: Celebrity Roy Hudd unveils the new village sign at Crowfield on Saturday

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ufford sign

Over the past few weeks I’ve started featuring them on my ‘Dolphin’s Dart’ competition and I’ve been surprised by the huge variety of designs.

Some are plain carved wood, others are brightly painted and some are more delicate wrought iron. The trend was started in Norfolk by Edward VII when he put fancy signs on the Sandringham Estate.

Villages across England followed suit, but it really took off here in the east.

Many were commissioned for the Queen’s silver jubilee in 1977, but there are still new ones appearing today, most recently in Crowfield.

EADT-LAURENCE CAWLEY At 11am 23/10/07 the ambulance service contatcted police about an incident involving a young child falling in a pond in Coney Weston There was a hevy police presence outside the house of the victim. Pics-Sarah Lucy Brown 23/10/07 EADT 24/10/07

Their wooden sign was unveiled at the beginning of February by entertainer Roy Hudd who lives in the village and helped to raise the money for it.

It was carved by Steve Eggleton who has designed and created signs for villages all over this region.

Crowfield’s shows the 600-year-old All Saints Church, ploughed fields, a windmill and a cartwheel recording the fact that there was once a wheelwright in the village – although this last item is so cleverly hidden in the carving that I couldn’t spot it!

Lesley Dolphin writes All About Suffolk every month in Suffolk Magazine.