Taylors Cleaners

Taylors Cleaners, 68 Herbert Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Interesting use of a 5-dot ellipsis. Now called Tailors & Cleaners, in a still-interesting road.

Mr Videos

Mr Videos, New Cross Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE8, 2002 • Seems to specialise in films about men with guns (maybe Mrs Videos sells exclusively rom-coms). I think we […]

The Victoria (Woolwich)

The Victoria, 757 Woolwich Road (corner of Eastmoor Street), Borough of Greenwich, London SE7, 2005 • Grand from the front, and completely destroyed at the back. It’s still there, and […]

Robert Walker Cut Price Sweets Cigarettes

Robert Walker Cut Price Sweets Cigarettes, 75 Deptford High Street, Borough of Greenwich, London SE8, 2002 • Pastel-hued cheap fag emporium which had disappeared by 2014, and by 2017 was (bizarrely) […]

GMT Cafe

GMT Cafe, 38 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Classic greasy spoon named after Greenwich Mean Time, which originates nearby. (Note also the naive cheery chef signboard, […]

Millennium Pizza

Millennium Pizza, 119 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • That jellyfish in its 2000 logo is in fact the nearby Millennium Dome (as the O2 was once […]

The Greenwich Millennium

The Greenwich Millennium, 44 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • A short-lived (and grubby) celebration of 2000, near Millennium Grill. The premises went on to have a […]

Millennium Charcoal Grill Kebabs

Millennium Charcoal Grill Kebabs, 30 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Part of an entire row of Greenwich shops that named themselves after the 2000 millennium. Unusually, […]

Post Office S.S.

Post Office S.S., 8 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2004 • Mars Bars and bright graffiti couldn’t save it; postal duties had ceased by 2012 and it is […]

S.H. Bargains

S.H. Bargains, 2a Brookmill Road, Deptford, Borough of Greenwich, London SE8, 2002 • Nice sign writing, shame about the spelling. Became a hairdresser called Trio Style (2016), while the area […]

The Duke of Cambridge

The Duke of Cambridge, 26 Bloomfield Road, Plumstead, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • The pub has gone, but the sign remains. Here’s the block of flats that replaced it. It […]

R.M.V. Double Glazing

R.M.V. Double Glazing, 77/78 Frederick Place, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Ostensibly a fantastically grim and unpromising building, but there’s a bit of Edwardian lettering peeping through the […]

The Commons

The Commons, 59 Plumstead Common Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Grim-looking club whose name is a play on its politics and position – the local Conservative association and Plumstead Common, […]

Carem Plumbing & Heating Supplies

Carem Plumbing & Heating Supplies, 177 Trafalgar Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Old-school plumbing signs with interesting USP. Still there, very faded.

Herbert Best Kebabs & Pizza

Herbert Best Kebabs & Pizza, 64 Herbert Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Bold sign bearing the name of its superb old-school shopping road. Now called, more boringly, Delight.

Handy Supply Co

Handy Supply Co, 41 Herbert Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • DIY type for a DIY store. It’s now, blub, a Peri Peri Grill.

Gents Hairdresser D. Burns.

Gents Hairdresser D. Burns., 76 Herbert Road, Plumstead, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Barber embedded in an old tiled grocer’s, and you can see an even older sign […]

Knapp’s News

Knapp’s News, 60 Plumstead Common Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • A good old-fashioned name, with wonky sign writing, a name check somewhere on the premises for every single newspaper […]

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.

Abbey Arms, Harry’s Mini Cabs

Abbey Arms, Harry’s Mini Cabs, 31 & 31a Wilton Road, Abbey Wood, Borough of Greenwich, London SE2, 2014 • A pub in Abbey Wood that’s still standing. It doesn’t have […]

Ex-Drinks Cabin

Ex-Drinks Cabin, 498 Abbey Wood Road, Abbey Wood, Borough of Bexley, London SE2, 2014 • The black bottle speaks of a booze store, which internet research suggests was called Drinks Cabin. Google Street View shows it […]

Barrier Animal Care Clinic (Thames Barrier Arms)

Barrier Animal Care Clinic (Thames Barrier Arms), Eastmoor Place, Borough […]

Wavy Line (Woolwich)

Wavy Line, 46 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Evocative holdout from the era before Costcutter and the like. Still vacant in 2012, with nice tiling intact but […]

Steve’s

Steve’s, 21 Herbert Road, Plumstead, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Greengrocer with unfeasibly large name; still there, looks nice when open.

M. Stephens.

M. Stephens., 44-46 Herbert Road, Plumstead, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • So good they named it twice: classic signwriting, and what looks like plans for a fancy “44” over […]

J.W. Ould

J.W. Ould, 35 Herbert Road, Plumstead, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Three layers of old signage here, though I can’t find out the full name. Later became Belleza Hair […]

The Terminus.

The Terminus. (aka Eastern Promise), 38 Greenwich Church Street, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Old glass sign briefly revealed (and probably still lurking there) by Eastern Promise cafe replacing […]

Dowell’s Coals

Dowell’s Coals, Norway Street, Greenwich, London SE10, 2005 • An old docklands warehouse sign that disappeared under a huge development of riverside flats.

Hunt and Son Security

Hunt and Son Security, Riverside Way, Borough of Greenwich, London SE7, 2005 • So called because you have to hunt for them in the cafe, where they have “poped”.

Blackwall Aggregates Limited

Blackwall Aggregates Limited, 295-303 Tunnel Avenue, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2005 • Classic view of Canary Wharf from behind O2 (the ex-Millennium Dome); nowadays this yard is a neatly […]

C.E. Pound

C.E. Pound, 162 Trafalgar Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • This art deco-ish beauty may still lurk beneath current incumbent Mr Chung’s equally large sign.

Hong Kong Garden

Hong Kong Garden, 22 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Now says New Hong Kong Garden on a garish magenta sign, but the yellow stripes beneath remain.