B&S D.I.Y. Homecare
B & S D.I.Y. Homecare, 313 Kentish Town Road, Borough of Camden, London NW5, 2012 • DIY sign for a DIY shop; despite its makeshift appearance, it’s still there.
Abba Electronics
Abba Electronics, 236 Kentish Town Road, Borough of Camden, London NW5, 2012 • Now I’m going to spend a few weeks featuring London postcodes I’ve not published before (though there are […]
Broadway Market
Broadway Market, 42 Tooting High Street, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW17, 2006 • A hotspot for tattoos and “Kenkey” (whatever that is), this opened in 1936, and proclaims itself South London’s biggest […]
Broadway Bagel Bakery
Broadway Bagel Bakery, 394 Edgware Road, City of Westminster, London W2, 2003 • The front fascia is pretty crap, but I like the golden-bagels-from-hell wall sign. It’s now called Bagels Etc, […]
Broadway Cash ‘N’ Carry
Broadway Cash ‘N’ Carry, 39 Deptford Broadway, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Even having ads for Coke and Pepsi couldn’t save it. It’s now called Deptford Food & Wine, with […]
Broadway Electronics
Broadway Electronics, 32 Broadway Market, Borough of Hackney, London E8, 2003 • I photographed this long before Broadway Market’s shutters got the Eine treatment. In this post-videotape era it’s been reborn as Buggies & Bikes, […]
Broadway Gents Hair Stylist
Broadway Gents Hair Stylist, 54 Broadway Market, Borough of Hackney, London E8, 2006 & 2012 • Another Eine production, next door to yesterday’s Broadway Wines. The fantastic old barber shop is still there, but […]
Broadway Wines
Broadway Wines, 56 Broadway Market, Borough of Hackney, London E8, 2006 • Now for a few Broadways (the non-New York kind). Here’s a Y by Eine on a wine shop, […]
Hong Kong Garden
Hong Kong Garden, 199 Mile End Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2015 • Nice tiles! Pity about the ubiquitous superimposed shutters, though.
Golden Dragon
Golden Dragon, 228 Mile End Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2015 • Chinese takeaways are one of the last redoubts of old-school grunge on this increasingly gentrified east end […]
Mobile Shop N Go
Mobile Shop N Go, 215 Mile End Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2015 • Shop N Gone, more like – “Development site with consent”, says the sign.
Broacha Samy Ltd
Broacha Samy Ltd, 108 Mile End Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2015 • Demure frontage amidst a sea of gaudy plastic. “Manufacturers of lady dresses specialists in plus sizes” says the […]
Ravel (Oxford Street)
Ravel, 184-188 Oxford Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2001 • Remember Ravel shoe shops? Once ubiquitous, the 50-store chain closed down in 2007 after five years of losses. Founded in […]
Global London College (Ryman)
Global London College (Ryman), 149 Fleet Street, City of London, EC4, 2015 • Maybe it’s a play on GLC (Greater London Council), a body which was abolished in 1986. This […]
Pret A Manger (Fleet Street)
Pret A Manger (Fleet Street), 143 Fleet Street, City of London, London EC4, 2015 • An executed Caledonian queen gazes down on hasty diners – for this building is Mary Queen […]
Safe £££ Pounds Store Plus
Safe £££ Pounds Store Plus, 595 Lea Bridge Road, Walthamstow, Borough of Waltham Forest, London E10 6AJ, 2004 • As opposed to a dangerous pound store, I suppose. Now gone.
Pound + Store
Pound + Store, 316 Neasden Lane, Borough of Brent, London NW10, 2014 • Extremely crammed pound emporium with enormous Edwardian-style font. Not sure if the “plus” is part of their name, […]
Pound Superstore
Pound Superstore, 125-127 Church Street, Borough of Camden, London NW8, 2003 • From the days when pound shops were one-branch, low-tech affairs. It’s still there, though it has to be […]
Drink Store
Drink Store, 92 Streatham Hill, Borough of Lambeth, London SW2, 2002 • Another generically-titled offie, with bonus wonky word spacing. Unlike yesterday’s Drink Store, this was still the same in 2014, which […]
Your Local Drink Store
Your Local Drink Store, 371 Norwood Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE27, 2002 • I always like a generically-titled shop. Recalling Father Jack out of Father Ted, the little bottle […]
Chiplins
Chiplins, 18 Devonshire Road, Borough of Hounslow, London W4, 2002 • Oh no! The dancing dancing Charlie Chaplin chip has gone, ousted by the infinitely duller Oriental Brasserie.
Cosmo
Cosmo, 182 Caledonian Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002 & 2012 • Ah, the static world of the traditional barber. I photographed this in 2002 (top) and 2012 (bottom) and […]
Bobe Communication Centre
Bobe Communication Centre, 374 Caledonian Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002 • You may think this is just another boring old international call shop, but one day these will be […]
The Beano Cafe
The Beano Cafe, 6 Caledonian Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002 & 2003 • A tale of Kings Cross: in the course of a year, the Beano edged from decaying […]
Supermarket Day By Day
Supermarket Day By Day, 224 Brixton Hill, Borough of Lambeth, London SW2, 2002 • Just a great old typeface. Later became hairdresser Asphair, with an equally wonky logo.
Adans Travel Agency
Adans Travel Agency, 175a Battersea High Street, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW11, 2002 • Sigh, the internet did away with travel agents sporting charming paintings of floppy planes and fruit-like ABTA […]
A.Z. Halal. Butchers
A.Z. Halal. Butchers, 83 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Huge wavy pediment dwarfing a mini meat emporium.
Dougal & Co
Dougal & Co, 260 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • Incongruous in a dull suburban street, a pointy oriental-style facade of a type more familiar on seaside parades. It later […]
W.H. Wellbeloved
W.H. Wellbeloved, 31 Tanner’s Hill, Deptford, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • A sculptural gable end for a wonderful name, established in 1829. Note hand-painted sign offering “surloin”, and the jaunty van […]
Brute Menswear
Brute Menswear, 73 Wentworth Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2004 • Interesting choice of name, especially as the other side of the sign says Brute Menswar.
Alberts
Alberts, 88 Whitechapel High Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2014 • Men’s clothier with a nifty sideline in Jack the Ripper t-shirts. I thought this grand frontage once […]
Eastern Computers
Eastern Computers, Dairy Product Specalist, 370 & 368 Neasden Lane North, Borough of Brent, London NW10, 2014 • Next door to yesterday’s Dairy Product, and equally weary. Together I thought […]
Dairy Product Specialist
Dairy Product Specialist, 368 Neasden Lane North, Borough of Brent, London NW10, 2014 • I like the weary “etc. etc.” – maybe the person who specified the sign thought the […]
Bangers & Mash, Tyre Shop
Bangers & Mash, Tyre Shop, 1 Wellfit Street (off Hinton Rd), Borough of Lambeth, London SW9, 2001 • Once upon a time, deep in the backwoods of Brixton, stood a greasy spoon cafe […]
The Barge
The Barge, 271 Victoria Dock Road, Borough of Newham, London E16, 2002 • I was attracted by the wonky painted wall sign of this once-grand docklands boozer, established as the Freemasons […]
Starr Racing
Starr Racing, 144 Devonshire Road, Chiswick, Borough of Hounslow, London W4, 2002 • Nice name, illustrations and tiles on this 1970s-era bookie, which looks like a set from The Sweeney. It’s […]
Bryce Lowe
Bryce Lowe, 228 Kingsland Road, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2002 • From the days (not so long ago) when Kingsland Road was scary rather than trendy. This ruinous immigration bureau later […]
Paolina Thai
Paolina Thai Food Cafe & Takeaway, 181 Kings Cross Road, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2003 • Abject-looking takeaway with nice lettering on its pavement sign (bottom). It’s still there, […]
Celine
Celine, 293 Caledonian Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002 • Giant and elegant patisserie logo, somewhat at odds with the cartoony “perfect spud” underneath. It later got covered by a […]
Cranes
Cranes, 11 Thrale Road, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW16, 2001 • How marvellous, a shop dedicated almost entirely to old lady shopping trolleys. You can see it here in 2014, looking […]
Manny Thanks
Manny Thanks, 784 Fulham Road, Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London SW6, 2001 • Doubtless this is a typo, but I like to think of it as the owner’s name. It’s now […]
To Let
To Let, Arch 485, King John Court, Shoreditch, Borough of Hackney, London EC2, 2004 • Another relic from the demolished viaduct featured yesterday – I assume this was a short let. There […]
Autos
Autos, Arch 491/2, King John Court, Shoreditch, Borough of Hackney, London EC2, 2004 • I love this angular DIY lettering. It’s under the viaduct featured yesterday and later demolished for the London […]
Car & Truck Sales Service Car & Van Hire Parts
Car & Truck Sales Service Car & Van Hire Parts, […]
Bilton
Bilton, bridge ad, Bideford Avenue, Perivale, Borough of Ealing, London UB6, 2006 • Still there, though it’s obviously an old ad – note 081 phone number, and more recently-added height […]
Ferodo (Stonebridge)
Ferodo, bridge ad, near Blackmore Drive, North Circular Road, Stonebridge, Borough of Brent, London NW10, 2014 • Ferodo got taken over in 1998, and stopped paying fees for their bridge ads – […]
Ferodo (Southwark)
Ferodo, bridge ad, Southwark Bridge Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Ferodo, a century-old brake parts specialist, still exists, and with the same lovely logo. Sadly they’ve stopped doing painted bridge ads, […]
JacLen
JacLen, 18 Dockley Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • I love the typography on this DIY doorway, deep in a Dickensian Bermondsey viaduct. It’s presumably named after Jack and […]
City Tyres
City Tyres, 2 Malcolm Place, Bethnal Green, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2007 • Mellow yellow, plus old tyres. Stayed there till around 2015 then moved to another road nearby (see […]
C&C Auto Services Limited
C&C Auto Services Limited, 13 Kingston Road, Borough of Merton, London SW19, 2010 • Another auto palimpsest – not sure what it is now, though it was still the same in […]
Camden Auto Electrics, Greyhound Couriers
Camden Auto Electrics, Greyhound Couriers, 2 Bayham Street, Borough of Camden, London NW1, 2003 • From the days when Kings Cross was a warren of auto workshops. It’s now been […]
Badat Brothers Ltd
Badat Brothers Ltd, Dacca Caterers Ltd, Simco Caterers Ltd, 2-4 Cook’s Road, Borough of Newham, London E15, 2010 • Nest of caterers in an appropriately-named road, amidst development for the […]
D. McKay
D. McKay, 19a Harrington Road, South Kensington, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London SW7, 2005 • Jewel box of a fruiterer in London’s “French” quarter. Still there 2012, not sure […]
J.A. Corney
J.A. Corney, 81 High Street, Edgware, Borough of Brent, London HA8, 2004 • Established 1947, this was still there in 2015, looking closed down (albeit with straightened lettering). There’s an even older-looking […]
The Grub Shop
The Grub Shop, 178 Lambeth Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2006 • Another great name, on a cafe which used to change colour every year. It’s now called The Corner […]
Paradise Cottage
Paradise Cottage, 477 Bethnal Green Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2005 • A colourful mixed metaphor in traditional plastic, complete with desert arch illustrations. By 2014 the shop was being […]
The Old Maids Pharmacy
The Old Maids Pharmacy, 321 Bethnal Green Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2005 • What a brilliant name. It’s still there, but with a newer, “posher” sign.
Dad’s Unisex Hair Salon
Dad’s Unisex Hair Salon, 96 Hoxton Street, Borough of Hackney, London N1, 2006 • Maybe dad’s inside. Note unfortunate wire placement over the word “unisex”. It’s now something else, with […]
New Experience
New Experience, 275 Eversholt Street, Borough of Camden, London NW1, 2003 • Probably quite an old experience. Now called Experience Massage (To Let), in what is still quite a run-down […]
Chris & Chris Fashions (Crouch End Food Centre)
Chris & Chris Fashions (Crouch End Food Centre), 34-35 Broadway […]
Syd’s (Hillary Caterers)
Syd’s (Hillary Caterers), corner of Calvert Avenue and Shoreditch High Street, Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2002 • Rus in urbe; note bespoke piping to lamp post. Founded by a Great War veteran in […]
Raynsford’s
Raynsford’s, 153 Battersea High Street, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW11, 2002 • Nice signwriting; still looked the same in 2012, not sure about now.
Stones Television & Radio
Stones, circa 22 Atlantic Road, Brixton, Borough of Lambeth, London SW9, 2014 • 1920s-style ghost logo for a Brixton business that’s long, long gone. There’s a great picture history on […]
T.V. Video & Audio Sales & Service
T.V. Video & Audio Sales & Service, 145 Bethnal Green Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2005 • Another prosaically-named emporium, looking as weary as the hulking TVs stacked inside. Recently became Isambard’s […]
Muslin
Muslin, 256 Bethnal Green Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2005 • A very specific offering. Later became Sterling de Vere, a posh-looking letting agent (albeit still in a ruinous […]
Smokers World
Smokers World, 344 Bethnal Green Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2005 • Fags, mags and net curtains – interesting mix. It was still there in 2012, not sure […]
Hill Cleaner’s
Hill Cleaner’s, 565 Green Lanes, Borough of Haringey, London N8, 2013 • Unmissable sign with an esoteric use of apostrophe. It’s not noticeably on a hill, so maybe that’s someone’s surname.
Nicholas Printers (Baldwins)
Nicholas Printers (Baldwins), 481A Green Lanes, Borough of Haringey, London N8, 2014 • A multi-named palimpsest in colourful Green Lanes.
N. Davalou Carpets
N. Davalou Carpets, 372 Edgware Road, City of Westminster, London W2, 2003 • This antique shop sold weird stuff, but I was more fascinated by the old garage gates next […]
White Swan
White Swan, 217 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Look, the net curtains have got swans on! ‘Smoking allowed throughout’, proclaim stickers in the windows. “The place could do with […]
Barrier Animal Care Clinic (Thames Barrier Arms)
Barrier Animal Care Clinic (Thames Barrier Arms), Eastmoor Place, Borough […]
The Rose of Denmark
The Rose of Denmark, 78 Shirley Street, Borough of Newham, London E16, 2002 • Looks more like the Rose of Beirut, but is in fact at the head of London’s […]
The Graving Dock Tavern
The Graving Dock Tavern, 353 North Woolwich Road, Borough of Newham, London E16, 2012 • A graving dock is a dry dock for working on ships’ hulls – but it’s […]
Crowson & Sons Ltd
Crowson & Sons Ltd, 17-23 Farringdon Road, City of London, London EC1, 2004 • Nice mid-century building (note tiny replacement ‘s’ on ‘Sons’) selling fancy cheeses no more; it was knocked down […]
Evans & Witt
Evans & Witt, 58 Long Lane, Smithfield, City of London, EC1, 2004 • Purveyor of stationery supplies to the meat trade. Still there, along with conjoined neighbour Smithfield Cafe, featured yesterday.
Smithfield Cafe
Smithfield Cafe, 59 Long Lane, Smithfield, City of London, EC1, 2004 • 24-hour pit-stop for Smithfield’s traders and, more recently, hipsters. I think it’s still there, though the area is changing swiftly. […]
Catering Meats (Smithfield)
Catering Meats (Smithfield), 308 London Central Markets, Smithfield, Charterhouse Street, London EC1, City of London, 2004 • A more utilitarian but no less period Smithfied frontage than yesterday’s. This one’s […]
Edmund Martin Ltd
Edmund Martin Ltd, 3 Lindsey Street, Smithfield, City of London, EC1, 2004 • Sigh, you don’t see many tripe dressers around these days. It’s now a giant hole in the […]
G.W. & A.E. Thomson Ltd (Navals Jewellers)
G.W. & A.E. Thomson Ltd (Navals Jewellers), 228 Kilburn High […]
Burton (Antique Warehouse)
Burton (Antique Warehouse), 9-14 Depford Broadway, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • This grille, which I spotted at ground level, alerted me to photograph the shop above it, but if […]
La Galerie Claude Sagny
La Galerie Claude Sagny, 47 Kingston Road, Borough of Merton, London SW19, 2010 • That’s enough “new old” galleries, now for some “old old” ones. This retro frontage was later […]
Margaretta Rickards (Arthouse Deli)
Margaretta Rickards (Arthouse Deli), 46 Topsfield Parade, Tottenham Lane, Crouch End, Borough of Haringey, London N8, 2014 • I thought this was a gallery when I photographed it, but it’s […]
H.F. & G.W. Smith (Breese Little)
H.F. & G.W. Smith (Breese Little), 30d Great Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, Borough of Islington, London EC1, 2013 • Trendy gallery Breese Little appropriating a previous owner’s more prosaic title.
Classic Magazines
Classic Magazines, 108 Baylis Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2014 • Revealed when my local Payless (aka Paymore) closed down, under onslaught from Tesco Metro.
Keys
Keys, 42 Theobalds Road, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2008 • Not a key shop but a cafe, next to an ornate doorway. Became a badly-reviewed Ethiopian restaurant called, no less surreally, […]
D&T Upholstery Repair
D&T Upholstery Repair, 436 West Green Road, Borough of Haringey, London N15, 2014 • Imaginative conversion of a run-down shop front near yesterday’s Tap & Die. According to the internet, DT […]
The Tap & Die Co
The Tap & Die Co, 445 West Green Road, Borough of Haringey, London N15, 2014 • Yikes – don’t tap that phone! According to the firm’s intricate website, they do indeed supply […]
Romanys
Romanys, 51 Brewer Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2014 • Example of a useful old Soho shop that’s still there, a rapidly diminishing group. I included the bloke because […]
Sergios
Sergios, 3 Eagle Place, City of Westminster, London SW1, 2003 • Classic caff next door to yesterday’s M. Landaw, and likewise gone. Wish I’d got a better pic, they had […]
M. Landaw
M. Landaw, 5 Eagle Place, City of Westminster, London SW1, 2003 & 2014 (bottom) • Stylish alleyway newsagent looking straight out of Vienna. Not only has it disappeared, the entire […]
Kosher King
Kosher King, 293 Hale Lane, Edgware, Borough of Barnet, London HA8, 2004 • What a magnificent sign! Sadly it’s now minus crown and called, rather randomly, KosherNet – I guess they sell […]
Kings Pharmacy
Kings Pharmacy, 104 Edgware Road, City of Westminster, London W2, 2003 • It’s nice when a regal name has a suitably noble sign. Judging by the dual crowns and lack of […]
The Emperor Stores
The Emperor Stores, 48a Gloucester Road, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London SW7, 2005 • Not as regal looking as its wonderful name. It’s still there, but now with a […]
Empress Coaches
Empress Coaches, 3 Corbridge Crescent, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2012 • Long-lived business on the banks of the Regent Canal, complete with vintage Derv pumps and exuberant foliage. Founded […]
L&D Motorcycles
L&D Motorcycles, 179 Kennington Lane, Borough of Lambeth, London SE11, 2005 • A forest of for sale signs on this old-time motorbike store. Fitting therefore that it became an estate agent, […]
Mercury Discount, Cambridge Heath Appliances
Mercury Discount, Cambridge Heath Appliances, 274-278 Cambridge Heath Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2002 (top two) & 2006 • Beautiful signwiting, caught on its way out. Now a […]
Textile Fabrics M+M Overseas
Textile Fabrics M+M Overseas, 18 Calvert Avenue, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2002 • From the same school of signwriting as yesterday’s shop. By 2012 it was an anonymous tailors, while the other […]
R-H-Leather
R-H-Leather, 36 Goulston Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2004 • Slightly less glamorous than yesterday’s clothes shop. Later became Gaba Unique Fashions Ltd, whose unique fashion statement was that it also […]
J & Sons Unisex Hair Salon
J & Sons Unisex Hair Salon, 501 Cambridge Heath Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2006 • Ambitious hand-painted lettering depicting a mysterious pater/materfamilias (it’s hard to tell which from […]
Porky’s Pantry
Porky’s Pantry, 49 Chandos Place, City of Westminster, London WC2, 2003 • Nice lettering, shame about the scary pig paintings. Later on they changed the sign, but kept the horrible […]
