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This is my sandbox. I will fill this with random stuff on which I'm working.

Contents 1 Motorway signs 1.1 To do 2 Trunk-road signs 3 Pashley (link) 3.1 External links

[edit] Motorway signs

I am currently working on a template for motorway signs on Wikipedia. I'm following the idea used at cbrd.co.uk, and indeed the Motorway font from their site, but using SVG-format images, at least for the most part. Currently there is no support for many fonts on Wikimedia, and anything but straight characters struggle to be converted to paths. Still, here's a demonstration. I'm also hoping to produce a similar for trunk roads.

[edit] To do

• Some sort of size control. Shouldn't be that difficult, just getting the premise first. Had problems with this, because Wikipedia stores resized images by widths (even when resized by height), and when these tall, thin images get resized the resulting width is not an integer, and any decimals are lost. I just uploaded smaller images.

• Give the image pages some more descriptive names, perhaps adding a series infobox to them.

• Give the templates some examples in the <noinclude> section.

Testing the sign for which the template was first created. Notice how the (M) is added if the classification is an A road, as the only raeson this sign would be being used with an A road is with an upgraded one.

Simple motorway example.

Test some more numbers:

[edit] Trunk-road signs

And here's the similar template for trunk-road signs:

[edit] Pashley (link)

Pashley Cycles is a British bicycle manufacturer which is based in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. The company has been making bicycles for over seventy years.

The origins of Pashley Cycles can be traced back to 1926 when William 'Rath' Pashley made his first foray into the cycle trade. He had developed a passion for all things two-wheeled during his days as a despatch rider in the First World War and gained engineering experience as an apprentice with Austin Motors. Initially the small company called Pashley and Barber (his wife's maiden name) manufactured all manner of bikes like everyday roadsters, clubmans racing machines and tandems but found the competition was fierce, and so it was in carrier cycles that Pashley discovered a niche in the market and made his name.

The first premises were set up in Digbeth in Birmingham, but due to increasing demand for the robust and reliable load-carrying bicycles and tricycles that Pashley produced, larger premises of 30,000 square feet were acquired in Aston where the company thrived. In 1936 the business then known as Pashley Carrier Cycles was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company and became WR Pashley Ltd.

Originally nearly every part of the bike was made in-house. Only the tubing and lugs were bought in. The frames, brakework, panel-beating, enamelling, coach-lining and sign-writing were all done in the works. This allowed constant product development and a very high level of quality control. In order to illustrate the strength of the Model F Carrier bike the 1936 catalogue included a picture of a man standing in the front carrier basket.

As prosperity returned after the depression, people regained their taste for luxuries and Walls Ice Cream was in high demand. Pashley supplied the famous Stop Me and Buy One tricycles, with two wheels at the front and one at the back. This meant that Walls could distribute their flavoured ices beyond shops and dairy centres to beach fronts and tourist areas where motor vehicles could not go. Other businesses began to take advantage of the reliability and cost effectiveness of Pashley's carrier cycles. Two-wheeled load carriers like the small front wheeled 'Deli Bike' became favourites with butchers, milkmen and vintners amongst others. Not only could these businesses transport goods far and wide but also a sign panel on the bike meant that they could advertise their companies as they went about their deliveries.

With the advent of the Second World War, bike production was turned over to the war effort and Pashley's did their bit by manufacturing munitions. Coach building work was also undertaken to convert Rolls Royces and Daimlers into ambulances for use in civil defence.

This adaptation process obviously sparked some ideas in Pashley, as after the war the company began making small motorised vehicles. The Pashley Pelican was a rickshaw-styled transporter of goods and people. This utilised Royal Enfield or BSA motorcycle front ends. The '3cwt Light Delivery Trucks', which used a Villiers 197cc motor, had the load carrying area at the front so that the driver could keep an eye on his goods. These vehicles along with the standard carrier cycles proved popular abroad with exports to Denmark and Holland in Europe and South Africa and Argentina further afield. The Canadian Police made use of the motor rickshaw to collect money from parking meters.

The export markets eventually declined as many countries began their own production of bikes and motorcycles and so Pashley began to look closer to home to find customers for their carrier cycles. In the 1960s they got the biggest and most demanding of them all – the Post Office. Pashley's had supplied the Post Office with a few bikes before the war but the Co-op had supplied the bulk up to the 1960’s when their factory closed down. The initial contract was split between Pashley's, Wearwell and Harmanco.

Eventually Pashley's took over the entire contract and so it remains to this day. With a current fleet of around 37,000 bikes the Royal Mail, as it is now known, remains Pashley's largest customer. When tendering for contract recently Pashley produced the revolutionary Mailstar bike. It proved so durable under rigorous scrutiny that the testing machines were sent off to be checked.

During the 1960s, domestic demand for industrial and carrier cycles had begun to wane and Pashley's main area of production was manufacturing car trailers on mail order for Freeman's and other catalogue companies. With a move to Masons Road in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1963 came a shift in emphasis back to cycle production.

William Pashley's son Richard realised that the load-carrying tricycle favoured by industry could be converted for leisure use for those who were unable or unwilling to ride a standard bicycle. The Pashley Picador was born. It was shorter and lighter than its industrial forefather was but just as hardy and reliable. The Pashley Picador trike grew in popularity. The utilitarian box section frame as originally used was replaced with rather more elegant round tubing, however the low easy to use step through frame remained a main feature.

In the early 1970s Pashley continued to adapt existing carrier bikes for use by the general public. The front carrier was removed and the heavy lugs replaced on an even-wheeled work bike. A little further modification meant that Pashley could produce an old-fashioned roadster. In the middle of 1970s Pashley also started to produce the Pickle child's tricycle based on the Raleigh Winkie of the 1950s. The tricycle featured ball-bearing hubs, headset, bottom bracket and pedals, making it very robust.

Pashley continued to supply the Post Office with its bikes through the 1970s and 80s and that side of the business grew. It also acquired Gundles in 1974 who were the last other surviving manufacturer of work bikes. This provided a strong base from which Pashley could continue to develop its range of consumer products. It started to make tandems, and adapted tricycles for special needs. Eventually the ladies' Classic Princess emerged with a low step-through frame and wicker basket to the front. The principles of practicality and robustness were bought over from the carrier cycles but the Princess was given a touch of feminine flare and became immensely popular.

A small shop was rented in the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon from the early 1980s. It opened as a normal bike shop and became a busy outlet whilst also providing a good method of displaying Pashley's full range of product.

In 1991 the quality of Pashley-s frame building was recognised by Alex Moulton who chose the company to make its more economically priced All Purpose Bikes or APBs. The bike was launched to high praise in the spring of 1992. In 1994 a management buyout took control of WR Pashley Ltd, allowing the company to explore new commercial opportunities and promising developments in cycling. A unique licensing deal soon followed and in the autumn of the following year Pashley and Land Rover teamed up to produce a special Moulton bike. The Land Rover APB was one of the first bikes to be specified with the innovative Sachs 3×7 transmission and again met with a warm critical reception.

Pashley continued to develop new products throughout the 1990s. This was partly through acquisition and partly in-house. The absorption of Creswell Cycles in 1997 brought folding bikes and tag-along trailers into the Pashley stable while a double-looped frame designed for paratroopers in the war was developed in-house to further the Land Rover range. The Land Rover XCB 26-inch wheel cross-country bike had suspension forks, suspension seat post and disc brakes.

Not content with producing bikes badged up with the Land Rover brand, whose association with toughness and reliability would have scared off many other bicycle manufacturers, Pashley decided to develop bikes for the ultimate in frame-testing sports of BMX and Trials riding.

[edit] External links

• Pashley's website