TWO Wokingham Town Councillors, fed up with the state of some of the town’s road signage, decided to do something about it.
Armed with buckets of water, and some old rags, Cllr Andy Croy (Labour, Norreys East) and Cllr Annette Medhurst (Labour Wescott West) set out to make a difference in Woosehill.
“We both felt that the signs were getting very grubby, and presenting a poor impression of the town, plus my mum lives in Woosehill, and she doesn’t like dirty signs,” Andy joked.
“There’s no need to use any chemicals, because the dirt is very light, but we had some window cleaning equipment to help us reach the higher signs.
“It’s not difficult – not like graffiti that has to be scrubbed.
“It’s just verdigris – tree pollen that collects and then causes algae to grow.”
Wokingham is blessed with a large number of mature oak trees.
“There are definitely links between green signage and big old oak trees,”he said.
“The signs on the Reading Road by St Paul’s Church and The Holt School were terrible because there are so many big oaks there, but we’re so lucky to have these trees.”
Andy and Annette have received lots of positivity as they clean up, not just in Woosehill, but throughout Wokingham.
“People stop us to say thank you, and we’ve had more than a thousand positive reactions on social media, and many nice comments.”
“It’s therapeutic – you see something filthy, you clean it up, and every time you drive past afterwards you think: ‘job done.’
“We’ve dealt with all the big signs in Wokingham now, but once you start looking, you realise there are plenty more small ones to clean.”
If people want to clean their own road signs, Andy says it’s very easy.
“All you need is a bucket of water and an old bit of cloth, like an old sock you won’t use again, and higher signs can be tackled with a mop.
“It takes two seconds, and if everyone does a little bit, Wokingham will be looking much better, loved and cared for.”
