Top Quality Fish & Hamburger Bar

Top Quality Fish & Hamburger Bar, c.1 Decima Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Upper crust bubbling fish logo and multi-arrowed wall sign, now totally gone. By 2012 […]

Hot Munchies

Hot Munchies, 30 Southwark Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2004, 2011, 2016 • Cheekily named arch cafe amidst sea of dirty viaduct tiles. Still there in 2018, as all […]

H’s Cafe

H’s Cafe, 82 Neptune Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2010 • Well-regarded backstreet greasy spoon with wonky hand made sign. Run by a bloke called H and his two […]

The Spar (Kennington)

The Spar, 1c Braganza Street, Kennington, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Colourful yet grim, with a DIY awning logo. It lasted till 2016 and was then redeveloped into […]

B.S.O. Solicitors New Tower Centre (Plaza)

B.S.O. Solicitors New Tower Centre (Plaza), 181 Tower Bridge Road (from Druid Street), Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2003 • Grubby yet grand (note mini-pillar) legal outpost in giant railway […]

Post Office (Adam’s Gift and Pound Shop)

Post Office (Adam’s Gift and Pound Shop), 163 Camberwell New […]

Post Office (Southwark Park Road)

Post Office (Southwark Park Road), 200 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • More non-standard postie branding. By 2017 it had become a fancy dress shop.

Fidan Kebab

Fidan Kebab, St George’s Circus, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • That’s some fat kebab.

Coin Wash

Coin Wash, 195 East Street, Walworth, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Launderette with speed queens – wow. Now called Sussan Coin Wash, with plastic sign gone.

SA Leatherwear

SA Leatherwear, 34 East Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Minimalist name for a leatherwear shop – can’t make out what the full title was.

H.W. Cooper

H.W. Cooper, Willow Walk, Bermondsey, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Colourful sign collage on a glass and perspex works. By 2017 the wonky drainpipes were still there, but […]

Jesus Saves, Heals and Re

Jesus Saves, Heals and Re, County Street, Elephant and Castle, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2012 • No idea what Jesus’s last action was, but regenerates would have been apt – […]

Kenon

Kenon, 360 Old Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2016 • Traditional plumber’s merchant with magnets in its logo (once a common hardware store motif), and an artistic display of […]

New Peking Inn (Playpaint)

New Peking Inn (Playpaint), Milroy Walk, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2011 (top) and 2001 (bottom two) • From Chinese food to fine art in grim 1970s precinct that’s now […]

Tony’s

Tony’s, 195-205 Union Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2011 • Not sure what service Tony offered – haircuts maybe – but the graffiti says, twice, that he’s a big […]

Dental Surgery

Dental Surgery, 10 Station Way, Peckham, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Dusky pink decay with a charming spelled-out street number, and an upstairs window offering ‘Dental Surge’. This part […]

Chapel Furnitures

Chapel Furnitures, 4 Browning Street, Walworth, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Giant hand sign on charming chapel for the unusually-pluralised Chapel Furnitures (maybe the singular version’s web domain had […]

Ex-shop with sunray windows

Ex-shop with sunray windows, 161 Camberwell New Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE5, 2001 • Art deco transom lights are the only remnant of this shop, which was still the […]

Cat & Cucumber Café

Cat & Cucumber Café, 182 Tower Bridge Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2003 • Nice name, wayward accent, grim rear aspect. Popular and still-extant greasy spoon once immortalised in […]

The Take-Away Bar

The Take-Away Bar, 84 Southwark Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2003 • Old-fashioned name in a grim 1960s block just behind Tate Modern, dating from the era when it was a backwater power station. […]

The Posh Banger Boys

The Posh Banger Boys, Borough Market, Stoney Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2015 • Doesn’t look that posh to me; and in fast-changing Borough Market, it’ll be something else […]

Ex-shop (festive giant wasps)

Ex-shop, corner Rennie Street and Stamford Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • Abject festive window, incorporating faded giant wasps.

Central Express Dry Cleaners

Central Express Dry Cleaners, 151 Camberwell New Road,Borough of Southwark, London SE5, 2001 • Grim yet intrinsically Christmassy with its green and red colourway. By 2015 it was to let.

Spencer’s Shoes

Spencer’s Shoes, 99 Peckham High Street, Peckham, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Wish I’d caught this 1960s throwback while it was still open. It’s now Bilex Money Transfer, and […]

Unity Shop

Unity Shop, 2 Atwell Road, Peckham, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Elegantly-pillared charity shop lookalike selling ‘georges & Swiss voile laces’ – ‘georges’ being presumably georgette. Now gone.

Inter Biz

Inter Biz, 1d Blenheim Grove, Peckham, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Wonkily hand-painted one-stop shop for a bewildering array of financial services. A note on the door says ‘Am down the […]

G.J. Petts

G.J. Petts, 5 Westmoreland Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2001 • Unfortunate name for a butcher. Was still there in 2015, looking even more battered.

Quickie Heel Bar

Quickie Heel Bar, 198 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • Brilliant name, as featured in the book Formerly (right). No longer there, of course.

Christian Caring

Christian Caring Ministries, 189 Old Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Not sure if this is a church or a shop – God moves in mysterious ways. Now beauty […]

Rock Steady Eddies

Rock Steady Eddies, 2a Coldharbour Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE5 • Longstanding Camberwell landmark, famed as the nearest cheap cafe to Maudsley ‘mental hospital’ (to use the 1980s term). Reviews could […]

Crown & Glory

Crown & Glory, 10 Coldharbour Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE5, 2015 • Upper case italic script, always a bold move. A holdout from the bland new signage infecting the […]

99p-+ Awamz Store

99p-+ Awamz Store, 82 Rye Lane, Peckham, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Splendidly-clad punter outside a bargain shop whose ‘-+’ allows infinite leeway in pricing. Now a Lycamobile-branded […]

Valentine

Valentine, 171 Long Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2011 • Scary pub squat with extreme name / appearance mismatch. It may have originally been called the Valentine & Orson, […]

Unique News

Unique News, 118 East Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Depressing news, more like it (note noose over door). It’s now, bizarrely, called Ozone Sauna Detoxification Booth – […]

The Drink Box

The Drink Box, 159 Camberwell New Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE5, 2001 • Looks like it’s called Off Licence, but tiny ornate handwriting reveals its true identity. It’s been […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Home & Ware Store

Home & Ware Store, 149 Rye Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • I like the way this offers Home and Ware as opposed to mere Homeware. It used […]

Roy’s Furnishers

Roy’s Furnishers, 147 Rye Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • More Peckham ruination: a superannuated sign somewhat at odds with the fashion emporium within. By 2012 it was […]

Maestro Records, Mobiles Phone

Maestro Records, Mobiles Phone, 61 Rye Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Poignant collision of old and new tech divided by a fat conductor, in a typically ruinous […]

Clover Dairies Limited

Clover Dairies Limited, circa 201-203 Old Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • This attractive block next to yesterday’s Gin Palace was similarly demolished, to be replaced with bog-standard shop’n’flat […]

The Gin Palace

The Gin Palace, circa 205-9 Old Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Legendarily dodgy boozer on the cheapest bit of the Monopoly board. Previously known as The Castle, […]

Anjay Displays Ltd

Anjay Displays Ltd, 227-229 Waterloo Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • I always like sad shop dummies. I think this shopfitter’s still there, though the road’s changing quickly.

Criterion Restaurant

Criterion Restaurant, 129 Peckham High Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • No T outside, but plenty within, for this handsomely shabby caff with a fine old-fashioned name.  

Fancy Goods

Fancy Goods, 3-11 The Cut, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2013 • Earlier incarnation of a fairly gruesome ex-Costcutter, in transition to becoming a Tesco Express.

Olives

Olives, 200 Blackfriars Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2014 • Tiny and ever-changing hole-in-the-wall in a defunct railway station. My fave incarnation was the Toast Office, but I can’t find […]

Sons of Temperance Friendly Society

Sons of Temperance Friendly Society, 176-177 Blackfriars Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2014 • Former HQ of a 19th-century financial co-operative for teetotallers, now being wound down; they sold the […]

Floor Cover (Chicken Cottage)

‘Floor Cover’ ghost sign, Chicken Cottage, 177-179 Rye Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Presumably a larger sign was pulled away complete with plaster, revealing the ghost sign beneath […]

Clueless

Clueless, 88b East Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Not the ideal name for a boutique. Now called “CD’s DVD’s“, which also lacks an air of longevity.

Skivers

Skivers, Druid Street, London Bridge, Borough of Southwatk, London SE1, 2003 • Nice name, but they surely didn’t attract many skivers at 6am. These under-viaduct roads at London Bridge have all […]

St George the Martyr

St George the Martyr, Borough High Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • An ambitious but not-very-successful bit of Christmas calligraphy. At the time, a church boasting a website seemed […]

Lou Farrow’s

Lou Farrow’s, 277-279 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • Super-basic pie & mash frontage near Millwall football ground. It’s still similar but neatly updated, sans random letter-spacing […]

Prestege Cleaning Supplies

Prestege Cleaning Supplies, West Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • Nice sign, shame about the spelling. Classic little council estate shop of the kind that’s fast disappearing; this one […]

Hing Loong

Hing Loong, 59 Tower Bridge Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Faded takeaway with semi re-inked letters; it’s still there, with new sign.

Copy Copy

Copy Copy, 181 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • To some boring, to me charmingly mundane, with witty double name. Later became AM DIY Builders Ltd.

Livebait

Livebait, 43 The Cut, Waterloo, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2006 • This was the first Livebait, launched in 1996, which had a fully-tiled interior in classic pie-and-mash parlour style (I’m […]

Auto Electrical

Auto Electrical, 223 Old Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Last glimpse of classic signwriting prior to replacement with jerrybuilt-looking office block.

Doves Solicitors

Doves Solicitors, 200 & 202 Old Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Yes, I’d certainly get my mission-critical legal work done here.

Schwar & Co

Schwar & Co., 250 Walworth Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Phwoar, Schwar the jewellers and its golden gem of a sign is still there.

Bert’s

Bert’s, 354 East Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • A yellow plastic sign replaced the splendour of this intricately patterned lenticular gold lettering; see close-ups for detail.

Budget Carpets

Budget Carpets, 1a Penrose Street, Walworth, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Incongruously grand classical facade for a budget emporium, still in business today.

D. Morgan & Son’s

D. Morgan & Son’s, 173 Manor Place, Kennington, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2001 • Dairy with greengrocer’s apostrophe (unless there really was just one son), from a parade now behind […]

A. Smith

A. Smith, 122 Southwark Bridge Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • Venerable funeral parlour demolished circa 2007 and replaced with flats and offices; this corner is unrecognisable now.

Club Gear

Club Gear, 40 East Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Aaaw, he’s gone there looking for his club gear and it’s closed down!

The Tea Hut

The Tea Hut, Surrey Row, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Ramshackle snack kiosk allegedly dating back to the 1940s but demolished circa 2008 to make way for apartments.

Beddy Buyz Ltd

Beddy Buyz Ltd, 197-199 East Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • It might look like a closed-down ruin, but it’s still going strong. Note tiny “snores” emerging from the […]

Nicholas Johns

Nicholas Johns, 281 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London, SE16, 2002 • Oddly beautiful, in all its fairy-lit ruined pinkness. Was reborn as the lurid-sounding Curry Den, with tiny mosaics […]

Bespoke Windows

Bespoke Windows, Great Suffolk Street (sign for 70 Ewer Street), Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Nice take on the then-new Tate Modern. The area’s got too posh for light […]

Capital Taxi’s

Capital Taxi’s, 28 Great Suffolk Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 & 2010 (bottom) • Ah, the greengrocer’s apostrophe. By 2012 just a patch of striped wall remained and the […]

Tonys Snacks

Tonys Snacks, 7 Meymott Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • This usually ornate backstreet caff (shown both closed and open) was knocked down to make way for a hotel.

Chemist

Chemist, 182 Jamaica Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • The word chemist is falling from use; this is now a pharmacy.

Alum Food Store

Alum Food Store, 100 Harper Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • Splendid hand-made sign, though possibly misspelt as the name changed to Alom when they got a “proper” one.

Farey & Sons

Farey & Sons, 37 The Cut, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Became an army surplus store with yellow plastic sign – still old-school, but much less beautiful.

Bob’s Shoe Repairs

Bob’s Shoe Repairs, 171 Blackfriars Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • Classic if wonky signwriting. Now a dry cleaner in a block due to be demolished.

Dolla

Dolla Cosmetics & Hair Salon, 75 Tower Bridge Road, Bermondsey, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Nice old-fashioned typography, which later got replaced with a swirly purple logo.

America St Testing Stn

America St Testing Stn, 39 America Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • A lovely name, charmingly hand-painted. Was replaced by a far less cheerful-looking auto business.

African Prices

African Prices, 390 Walworth Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2001 • As opposed to princes. By 2012 it had been renamed Sofisticats.

Spendloads-Please

Spendloads-Please, 129 Jamaica Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • There used to be two branches of this splendidly-named hairdresser, both now gone.

George Staples

George Staples, 2 West Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • Now Hair Candy – not the same kind of sustenance at all.

Fanny Adams Unisex

Fanny Adams Unisex, 10 West Lane, Bermondsey, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • They probably didn’t know that Fanny Adams was an 8-year-old whose murderer tore her into pieces. […]

Cafe Breakfast Dinners and Teas…

Cafe Breakfast Dinners and Teas…, 177 New Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • Generic yet specific; and I like the 1930s stepped fascia. Now plasticky blue Cafe […]

Caustin Church Metalware

Caustin Church Metalware, 188a Warham Street, Kennington, Borough of Southwark, London SE5, 2001 • This classic old works was later demolished – sadly this is the only photo I took.

Gerry’s Curtains

Gerry’s Curtains, 56 East Street, Walworth, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Looks like Gerry left some outside. Unchanged by 2012 in old-school East Street market.

George’s Fruit & Veg

George’s Fruit & Veg, 273 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • Metamorphosed into two shops: Brother’s Barbers and Dammy Stores.

Robinsons

Robinsons, 48 Old Jamaica Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • Another casualty of the monolithic Bermondsey Spa development (see below).

Junk & Disorderly

Junk & Disorderly, 25 Old Jamaica Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • The whole road was later junked for a massive new apartment quarter, Bermondsey Spa.

Good Man Chinese Food

Good Man Chinese Food, 193 New Kent Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • Still there, despite bearing the unusually frank food message of jumbo, junk and horse.

The Pot Company

The Pot Company, 16-20 Raymouth Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • As in garden accessories, not drugs. Now obliterated: the arches were refurbished with anonymous blue units.

The Manor Cafe

The Manor Cafe, 163 Manor Place, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2001 • The whole parade was later boarded up with Southwark council’s bright purple hoardings, still there in 2012.

Shoefayre

Shoefayre, 129-131 Borough High Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2013 • Was hidden by decaying scaffolding for over a decade until being revealed again in a street “smartening” for […]

Glass Mirrors

Glass Mirrors, 205 Grange Road, Bermondsey, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • As opposed to plastic mirrors, perhaps. Still derelict by 2012, though sans name boards and bearing a […]

Kehoe’s.

Kehoe’s., 5 Stoney Street, Borough Market, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Borough Market gentrified and this became smart Applebee’s Fish, but there’s still a Kehoe’s cobbler nearby.