Plastic street signs cost about £360. But they only last 30 years or so, and maybe a lot less…judging by the condition of some recently vandalised signs.

Yet for only a couple of hundred pounds more we could have replicas of original signs, such as those in Clifton Terrace and Montpelier Terrace (see photo).

We only have a handful of early (or original) street signs left. The MCHA has decided that it could set aside a small amount of money every year for replacing a couple of street signs every year with replicas, which would probably be fixed to the side of a house to prevent theft. The most likely way for this to work is that the MCHA would bridge the gap between a cheap plastic sign and the cost of a top-quality replica.

The MCHA chairman Jim Gowans has been in discussed with the council the potential for replacing more modern signs with replicas and local councillors have pledged to support this initiative.

There is a wide variety of street lamps in our area. Of course many of streets were built before the days of street lighting. Originally street lighting was gas. Only one gas light remains in St Nick’s churchyard (although this has been converted to electricity.

Most of the older electric lights were made by the Brighton, Lancing and Eastbourne Electricity Company and they date from the 1920s or 1930s. There are three main clusters of these early street lamps: St Nick’s churchyard, Powis Square and Clifton Terrace.