From War to Worboys
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The Effect of Worboys
After the Worboys Committee made its final report in 1964, there was a period of mutual back patting. Articles appeared in industry journals celebrating the new sign set, the BBC conducted interviews with Ministers, and all was well. However, it was realised that the signing system was still not in line. The tables had been turned: now the growing motorway network had a system of signs based on old research.
As a result, the Ministry re-designed the Anderson signs to fit the new Worboys template, straightening the 'wonky' arrows, adjusting the spacing and as a result making them slightly smaller after all. The warning signs changed to standard Worboys white triangles with red borders; off-motorway signing stopped being all blue. Finally, the new Worboys signs and the revised motorway ones were compiled into the new Traffic Sign Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) and passed on to Parliament for approval.
Two adverts from the time of the Worboys report, one offering transfers to convert old signs to new, and one with a free consultation service for local authorities.
For a while some sign manufacturers promoted low-cost ways of converting signs to the new Worboys designs; one offered a free consultation service to confused Council highway departments. Eventually the signs started appearing across the country.
Since 1964, the acclaimed system has been tweaked several times, but no need has ever been identified to change anything on a large scale. Blue borders have narrowed, and then disappeared; brown signs have popped up; new warning signs have emerged and old warning signs have had their symbols altered, and the stop sign has grown eight new corners. But most things remain the same.
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