Vengeance of the Tsars

I went to the library yesterday.  There was a particular book I wanted, but my usual library at Birkenhead Central didn't stock it.  Thanks to the excellent Wirral Libraries website, I found out that the book was at Upton, so I wandered over to get it.  Upton Library, incidentally, is wonderful.  Built in 1936, it's an Art Deco gem: small, understated, and undeniably charming.  The librarian was cheerfully helping a lady with the photocopier while I wandered the stacks, my feet clattering on parquet floor, breathing in the smell of books and polish.

When I'd collected Upton station, I'd been pleased to find that the Colour Tsars had slipped up.  The road signs pointing to the station didn't show the yellow and grey M logo of Merseytravel, but the old, green and white one: the representation of the Loop line which had been the original logo for Merseyrail.

Things change.  The roads round here have been reordered, and a new traffic light has been installed.  The Colour Tsars have seized the opportunity to change the road signs while they were at it.

The M has won.  It's a little understated, and the road sign is extremely flimsy looking, but no matter.  Upton's been claimed by Merseytravel once more.  It's the same in the opposite direction:

Upton's become that little bit more homogenised, a bit more standard, a bit more dull.  I like the M logo: I actually prefer it to the green one.  That doesn't mean  I didn't like seeing this little piece of the 1970s still hanging on in the 21st Century.

But wait... what's this at the Ford Road junction, going unnoticed?

Shh.  Don't tell anyone.