ExPatTyke

Thanks! Yes, you're right - the distances on the sign are in miles. The roadsigns are one of the few imperial measurements left over in Britain. Virtually all roadsigns - with the exception of a very few town centre signs which are marked in metres, and normally designed for pedestrians anyway - are in miles, speed limits and car speedos are marked in MPH. I suspect that during metrification HM Government looked at the cost of replacing what must be millions of signs and road markings and decided they could live with what we've got.

Almost everything else though is displayed and sold in metric quantities - petrol*, food, drink, textiles, etc. The other common exception to metric is pints in pubs, although buying alcohol anywhere else mean it's sold in litres or mL. If I buy a beer at the pub up the road it'll be a pint, but buying cider from the farm in the next village means buying it by the litre, and when I get it home I'll pour it into a pint glass. I'm sure it makes sense to someone...

The odd thing is that even after 40 odd years of metric (I went through school during metrification, and was taught to use both Imperial and metric) most British people still commonly use Imperial measurements in everyday life - ounces in cooking, pints after work, miles of driving, catching a 5 pound fish, etc. My kids were taught in metric but they understand how far a mile is, how long a yard stick is, how much a stone is. I think it's probably because Imperial measurements are more natural and embedded in the language.

Sorry, this has been a bit of a topic diversion and a ramble, but it has made me think about our measurements.

*As a further diversion and ramble I've just calculated that based on the current UK price a US Gallon of petrol would cost £4.55 or $6.30.