The Victorian schoolhouse a little way up the lane has a
stone block set into the wall by the door on the north side. On it is carved Boys Entrance.
That’s what the Victorians did. If they erected a building
for use by the regional Water Board or some such, they would carve the fact in
stone and set it into the front wall. They had a great sense of stability in
those days. The occupier of a building, or even the function of a particular
door, was expected to last well beyond the horizon of the foreseeable future,
and so it was worth paying a craftsman to set its identity in stone.
No work for the stonemasons these days. A joiner gets the
job of erecting a wooden frame now, on which can be screwed a plastic sign.
Plastic is cheap and lightweight, easily removed to make way for its successor
when the building changes hands. We plan for change now, not longevity.
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