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Welsh language road signs that appeared in Worcester replaced with ‘more traditional’ English ones

05 Nov 2021 2 minute read
The signs appeared in the middle of Worcester

Welsh language road signs that popped up in the middle of Worcester have been replaced with “more traditional” English ones, the parish council has said.

Locals had reacted with surprise earlier this week after the Welsh signage appeared in the English city.

The bilingual road signs saying ‘Ffordd Ymlaen ar Gau’ and ‘Gwyriad’ were placed by the Norton Road roundabout in the St. Peter’s part of the city known in Welsh as Caerwrangon.

But parish councillor John Renshaw said that they had now been packed up and replaced with English-only signs.

“I’m pleased to let you know that the Welsh road signs have been removed and replaced with the more traditional English ones,” he said.

“Obviously mistakes do happen and it’s great that Severn Trent and their contractors have taken remedial action so quickly once they were made aware of it.”

The same councillor had alerted the local paper, the Worcester News, when the signs originally appeared.

“I expect that the Welsh language population of St Peter’s is vanishingly small,” he told them. “Still, it’s great to see Worcestershire County Council doing its bit for diversity!”

The newspaper responded by asking its readers in Welsh: “Ydych chi wedi cael trafferth darllen arwyddion ffyrdd yn ddiweddar?” (Have you had trouble reading road signs recently?)

Worcestershire Council however said that the signs were not theirs but rather the responsibility of Severn Trent, a water company that also serves part of the north of Powys.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The signs are not related to our work and we believe that they belong to the contractors working on the industrial park site.

“Severn Trent are working on the closure on Norton Road.”

Worcester News commented: “Now the motorists of Worcester can rest easy knowing they will not require Welsh lessons to travel safely.”

Worcestershire was from the 15th to 17th centuries administered by the Council of Wales and the Marches, which also covered modern Wales as well as Shropshire, Herefordshire, Cheshire and Gloucestershire.

Westminster accidentally ceded much of the area back to Wales recently when a petition covering the catchment areas of the rivers Severn and Wye has was rejected on the basis that they are “Wales’ responsibility”.


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GW Atkinson
GW Atkinson
2 years ago

By more traditional English, do they mean Norman French?

Pob lwc
Pob lwc
2 years ago
Reply to  GW Atkinson

It’s more traditional to speak English in England, rather than Welsh, I assume.

defaid
defaid
2 years ago

“Mistakes do happen”
“Remedial action”

smh

Fair play to the editorial staff at Worcester News though, for taking the time to get a translation and, knowing Google, to check the spelling.

Jeff33
Jeff33
2 years ago

Which parts of Road ahead closed and diversion did these Imperialists not understand.

Pob lwc
Pob lwc
2 years ago
Reply to  Jeff33

Forcing a foreign language on England sounds pretty Imperialist to me.

Last edited 2 years ago by Pob lwc
Kerry Davies
Kerry Davies
2 years ago

If I were a Worcester resident I would be wondering why there aren’t any locals capable of digging a hole.

Ross
Ross
2 years ago

Prydain….Cymraeg Brythonic language …oldest in Europe and truly British. HOW VERY DARE THEY…Worcester tut tut…Obviously the local yokels couldn’t read the English bit….

Geoff Horton-Jones
Geoff Horton-Jones
2 years ago

Sorry WORCESTER but Diversion is a French word
Buy a cheap Latin dictionary and see how many Roman soldiers would understand the words used everyday in Worcester. Unfortunately England has been conquered so many times that the natives to survive have absorbed the conquerors languages and called them their own

Wales despite being annexed to England under the so called acts of union. as a means of stealing the assets of its churches has always retained its language Welsh

Gaynor
Gaynor
2 years ago

This is not news

Karen
Karen
2 years ago

How fab to have both Welsh and English sinage x

Eifion
Eifion
2 years ago

Can you imagine the carnage this must have caused, it’s a well known fact that British people living in Wales lose all ability to read if a sign is bilingual.
Spare a thought for the poor Brits living in Worcester, I’m going to set up a go fund me page so I can offer counselling.

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
2 years ago

I suggest the people of Worcester learn about the real history of their country. They might be surprised to know Cymraeg was the original language not English. And rather than appropriate Welsh history when it suits them should embrace their true German/French heritage. rather than using the term Celtic when refering to the people & culture that came before. And I often find it amusing when I hear English people boast to Americans how they have 2000 years of history in Britain forgetting that England & English have only existed since the 10th century and the Germanic Saxons were not… Read more »

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