Happy Valley

Happy Valley, 209 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2006 • Seals in chef’s caps and Olde English lettering advertising a trad chippie with a Chinese restaurant name – talk about […]

Southern Video

Southern Video, 41 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Red Profil on pink fascia, what a colourful shop. Last spotted in 2009 with blue Profil on yellow.

Fatal Attraction Bridal Centre

Fatal Attraction Bridal Centre, 171 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Interesting name for a bridal shop. Didn’t the film Fatal Attraction feature bunny boiling? By 2009 the premises had […]

Stevens Music Stores

Stevens Music Stores, side of 170 Mortimer Street (seen from Cavendish Road), Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • A ghost sign of indeterminate age, as seen from the side entrance of yesterday’s now-demolished Servowarm. On the side of […]

Servowarm (East Kent) Ltd

Servowarm (East Kent) Ltd, 174 Mortimer Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Modest unit taking the decorative Dutch gable to bonkers heights; even the side entrance (below) boasts a curved pediment. Sadly […]

Ridout & Son Printing Works

Ridout & Son Printing Works, 4 Charles Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Old printer’s with nice typography fitted into the angled roofline. It later became authentically converted back into a house, which retained the ghost […]

Margot Gowns

Margot Gowns, 4 William Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Essence of seaside town, a symphony in pink. Google street view shows it looking just the same in 2009, except […]

J. W. Eve & Son

J. W. Eve & Son, 14 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Not merely a butcher, but a purveyor of meat. Disappeared around 2006, and later housed a fancy […]

Cocketts Corner (Wahab)

Cocketts Corner (Wahab Balti), 33 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • A more modest sponsored corner than yesterday’s, named for Cocketts Matresses, founded 1928 and sited opposite. The Cocketts sign […]

Chainstore Massacre

Chainstore Massacre, 152 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Closed for crimes against fashion, perhaps. Appropriately, the burglar alarm has a picture of a judge on it. Later became a […]

Wing Wah Fish Bar

Wing Wah Fish Bar, 174 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • I always like a name that rhymes. In a decisive change of national identity, this later became the Britannia […]

Sheila’s Aladins Cave & Wool Shop

Sheila’s Aladins Cave & Wool Shop, 181 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Two target customers bypassing a mis-spelled, yellow-filmed knitting shop channelling spirit of 1970s granny, as faded seaside […]

Cigarettes Confectionery Tobacco

Cigarettes Confectionery Tobacco, 6 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2002  • Old sign briefly revealed during redevelopment into flats – you’d never know there’d been a shop there now.

Shad Restaurant

Shad Restaurant, 8 William Street, Herne Bay, Kent, 2004 • Mmmm, welcoming. Actually a substantial Indian restaurant round the front, and still there: Shad means tasty.