At the end of October 2017, we launched a survey to find out what people thought about our signposting work.

ScotWays has been signposting rights of way and other paths across Scotland since it started in 1845.  Times have changed and today many different people and organisations are also signposting paths so it was time for us to consider our role in signposting.  The survey asked for views ranging from what type of paths should be signed to what colours we should use on the signs.  213 responded, all their answers were anonymised and the results brought together into the report the ScotWays Signposting Survey.

So what did respondents say?  92% of people had seen one of our signs in the countryside and 91% thought we should be maintaining all our signs.  There was unanimous support for keeping our green and white colour scheme and putting our name on all our signs.  Whilst there was a preference that we only signpost rights of way, respondents were very much split with 52% saying rights of way only.  Of those that suggested signing other routes core paths and heritage paths predominated.  Not everyone wanted signs and some said all those present should be taken down as they are “a blight on the landscape”.

The survey asked whether we should develop our own unique style of sign.  Whilst respondents were in favour of this, there was an overwhelming view that the mix of sign styles out there did not matter and that repair and refurbishment were more important than developing a unique style.  In fact, many felt that the green and white signs were our brand and so unique in themselves that nothing more special was needed.  A lot of love was shown for our older signs which date back to 1885 and many people commented on how helpful our roadside signs are.  “A door opening to a new adventure”.

One unexpected consequence of the survey was the number of people who chose to say thank you for the work that ScotWays does. Unexpected, but very welcome thank you.  Thank you too for taking the time to complete our survey and giving us your views.

You can find all the survey results in the ScotWays Signposting Survey.