Our old pub sign, newly restored by Misha, is great, but approaching from Woodhill the front of the Oak is a bit blank and the existing shop sign, first made for the shop-in-a-box, is out of date. Below is a drawing of the Oak frontage with some very provisional suggestions for how we might liven it up and better inform passers by. (If you hover over the image, you can click the RH icon that appears to see a full-screen version. Click again to return to the page.)
The proposal is for two new hexagonal signs the same size as the current shop one, with new text and colours. In the first instance these could be similarly printed on board, but there would be an option to have them cast in aluminium like the plaque on the pavilion (or the small one over the defib), which would be much classier. The thinking behind the shape is partly the same association as before: if the HOTV logo is a swarm suggesting many bees working together, the honeycomb hexagon reflects what they build. A more practical reason is that rectangles break up the spaces more. They could be circles, but I just rather like the honeycomb shape.
The board over the door which helpfully covers a wound left by a previous lean-to porch) would be hand-painted. The sign drawn here is just a starting point for discussion. There is a further suggestion that we could have SHOP and PUB in the respective windows, possibly in gilded letters.
Some people have pointed out that the hanging sign says “FREE HOUSE & village shop”, and asked whether we could add “and café”. The answer is that we could, but it would be quite a faff, and would compromise the existing sign. An alternative suggestion is a separate café sign, either hanging at the other (café) end of the building or on the corner of the end wall, easily visible as you drive (or cycle) up. There is a conversation to be had about the text and position of all these signs.
Finally, there was a request for signs at road junctions pointing towards the Oak. Proposals for left and right versions can be seen in this full size PDF.
Update: In trialling some proof prints for the road signs at the foot of Grigg’s Hill, it became evident, as should have been obvious, that the green shape was not going to show up against the grass. Following a series of changes it is proposed to print these versions which reference the brick colour of the Oak.