OUR thanks to reader Dorothy Falshaw for her information about last week’s Craven Curiosity - an old directional road sign. The stone marker was spotted by a colleague who was out walking in and West and East Marton. It is situated close to Gledstone Hall and is on the junction of what was the old road to Gisburn, presumably, well before the building of the A59. The rather lovely stone features two hands, one pointing left to ‘Gisburne’ and the other, right to Skipton.

Dorothy tells us she believes the marker must be at least more than 130 years old. “It must have been before 1885 as this was when the Railway came to Gisburn.The spelling of Gisburne changed to Gisburn when the Railway Company argued that many hours each year could be saved by so doing. The railway opened in 1885, according to ‘Gisburn history’.

My colleague tells me the old ‘Gisburne’ road itself is something of a curiosity. Whereas the road to Skipton is still used regularly by those travelling between Gargrave and West Marton, the former road to Gisburn is less well used, apart from the occasional local taking a short cut to the A59, and those accessing the few houses and farms along the road.

There are a few of these attractive hand signs left in the area, another is in Thornton-in-Craven, at the junction of the road to West Marton.

Meanwhile, anyone with an idea of what this week’s strong coloured curiosity is should send their suggestion no later than 8am on Monday to news@cravenherald.co.uk