Sidney Charles

Sidney Charles, 36 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Modern world passing an old one by – destined soon to become a Chinese supermarket.

B&L. Stevens, Roger’s Gents Barbers

B&L. Stevens and Roger’s Gents Barbers, 51 and 51a Walton Street, Walton-on-the-Hill, Tadworth, Surrey, 2003 • Charming little bike shop from the days before they got all hipster (and still the […]

Hargoss

Hargoss, 56 High Street, Walton-on-Thames. Surrey, 2002 • Great name, great font. Now ‘The Local’ off licence.

A.P. Welsh

A.P. Welsh, 71-73 Robertson Street, Glasgow, Scotland, 2008 • Not Wales, but Scotland: old shipping office housing a wide variety of businesses, with great signage.

L.W. Haggis

L.W. Haggis, 171 Brighton Road, South Croydon, Borough of Croydon, London CR2, 2003 • What a brilliant name! Although it looks like someone chopped the bottom of their sign off. […]

Stitch & Sew

Stitch & Sew, 11 New Broadway, Tarrring Road, Worthing, West Sussex, 2003 • Beautiful old-lady shop, complete with flotilla of knitted ducklings in the window. The opening times sign on […]

The Cat Basket

The Cat Basket Rhodes Minnis Cat Sanctuary Shop, 16a Cheriton Place, Folkestone, Kent, 2008 • All cat charity shops should be required by law to have net curtains like this […]

Cat Automotive Parts Express

Cat Automotive Parts Express, 177-179 Brighton Road, South Croydon, Borough of Croydon, London CR2, 2003 • Maybe yesterday’s shock absorber sign belonged to this nearby auto business, successfully rocking the […]

Monroe Shock Absorbers Specialist

Monroe Shock Absorbers Specialist, Newark Road (side of 173 Brighton Road), South Croydon, Borough of Croydon, London CR2, 2003 • I always like random old signs for no-nonsense things like […]

Clarke Motorcycles

Clarke Motorcycles, 63 Osmaston Road, Derby, Derbyshire, 2010 • All motorcycle shops should be like this. It’s still there, just off the fabulously-named Lara Croft Way.

Bikeshire Racing

Bikeshire Racing, 15 New Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • Charmingly naive motorbike murals, long gone. A small disclaimer under “Free Fitting” reads “(to loose wheels)”. Now a block of […]

Inglis and Roffey Opticians

Inglis and Roffey Opticians, 8 High Street, Crawley, West Sussex, 2002 • End days of a slightly funereal opticians. It got knocked down replaced by a big ugly block of […]

Opticians AXO (Scrivens)

Opticians AXO (Scrivens), 36 Waingate, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, 2010 • Looks like an art installation or concrete poetry, but is actually a sign for Scrivens Opticians.

Vision Express (Bristol)

Vision Express, 7 St Augustine’s Parade, Bristol, 2011 • Great old optician’s wall sign in central Bristol. I revisited recently and didn’t need glasses to see it was no longer […]

Vye & Son

Vye & Son, side of 67 Oxford Street, Whitstable, Kent, 2002 • Must have been hidden behind two smaller signs. Looks 1950s to me, so they’d presumably been going since […]

Quality Food News & Wines

Quality Food News & Wines, 91 Bloomfield Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • I wonder how much demand they get for the Financial News.

Quality Cafe

Quality Cafe, 3 Station Road South, Merstham, Surrey, 2001 • Beautiful station cafe. It’s now been modified with pale blue tiles and orange windows, and looks really weird. There’s an incredibly […]

Lethers

Lethers, 56 Nutfield Road, Merstham, Surrey, 2002 • A saddlers and riding wear shop, though it’s hard to tell from the random window. Now Juniors family hair salon, with a horrible […]

AES Electrics

AES Electrics, 54 Nutfield Road, Merstham, Surrey, 2002 • You don’t see second-hand TVs like that any more. Later housed the more 21st century SusyRadio.com.

Farley Electrical Co.

Farley Electrical Co., 18 Westway, Caterham, Surrey CR3, 2001 • Cheerful psychedelic sign with very 1970s-Surrey carriage lamps. Still there in 2014, but by 2016 it  – and the carriage lamps […]

Lascelles Tickner & Co’s Entire (The George Inn)

Lascelles Tickner & Co’s Entire (The George Inn), 124 Bridge […]

Lennon Bros Ltd. (Mr Simms)

Lennon Bros Ltd. (Mr Simms), 15 Market Place, Rugby, Warwickshire, 2012 • A very substantial ghost sign, much longer resident than the faux-olde worlde Mr Simms sweetshop chain beneath (which was later replaced […]

Denture-Care Clinic

Denture-Care Clinic, 32 Church Street, Rugby, Warwickshire, 2012 • Possibly England’s cutest denture emporium.

Sainsbury’s Local (Stratford-upon-Avon)

Sainsbury’s Local (Stratford-upon-Avon), 8-9 Bridge Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, 2012 • Very similar to yesterday’s mystery art deco facade. It also features in this engrossing compendium of art deco buildings, but […]

Retail Therapy

Retail Therapy, 80 High Street, Poole, Dorest, 2004 • A very distinctive art deco frontage – I wonder if this used to be a Burtons?

Westfield Stratford City

Westfield Stratford City, Montfichet Road, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Borough of Newham, London E20, 2012 • Enormo shopping centre with a nice Olympic park attached, shown in full Olympics swing. […]

B&Q (Whetstone)

B&Q (Whetstone), 1201 High Road, Whetstone, Borough of Barnet, London N20, 2011 • Matching berries and sign, nice! They’ve since cut back the bush, the fools.

I.S. Dry Cleaners The Clothes Care Solution

I.S. Dry Cleaners The CLothes Care Solution, 34 Totteridge Lane, Whetstone, Borough of Barnet, London N20, 2011 • More retro fontage from N20. Now Ryan Dry Cleaners, which looks the […]

Totteridge Brasserie

Totteridge Brasserie, 36 Totteridge Lane, Whetstone, Borough of Barnet, London N20, 2011 • So good they named it twice. Now the somewhat smarter Tiffin Tin.