Thompson
Thompson, 5 Gloucester Road, Avonmouth, Bristol, 2009 • Nice type on old ex-bike repair shop (aka Thomson Bros) in the Bristol boondocks. Now completely boarded up.
Thomas Cook (Cambridge)
Thomas Cook (Cambridge), 8 St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, 2010 • Interesting art deco window, boring noughties sign.
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, […]
W.H. Matthews & Co.
W.H. Matthews & Co., 11-13 Grove Road, Sutton, Surrey, 2002 • Rocking the 1970s wood cabin look. Now with dull plate glass frontage.
Nameless works
Nameless works, Unit 1a, Bordesley Street, Birmingham, 2014 • Curious neoclassical portal leading to a lowly industrial unit. A while back, it housed an Auto Valet Centre.
Works for You! clock
Works for You! clock (ex People Works), 8 Poole Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset, 2004 • Bleak commentary on South Coast unemployment, or desecration of fine old clock? Both, probably. I don’t think […]
Marks & Spencer clock (St Albans)
Marks & Spencer clock, 21 St Peter’s Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, 2010 • Pigeon-punishing old M&S clock on matching marbled mid-century building.
Rayner Opticians clock
Rayner Opticians clock, above 57 New King’s Road, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London SW6, 2003 • Decaying timepiece still there, now above Harvey Jones Kitchens.
Chelsea Building Society clock
Chelsea Building Society clock, 7 Ashley Road, Epsom, Surrey, 2002 • Groovy swingin’ 70s-style timepiece. I wish I’d photographed the whole frontage, the Chelsea’s still around but the logo’s changed, and […]
Georges & Co. clock
Georges & Co. clock, 88-90 Hatton Garden, Borough of Camden, London EC1, 2004 • I got hassled by security guards while snapping this in Hatton Garden, London’s diamond district. It’s […]
H. Samuel Everite Time clock (Cardiff)
H. Samuel Everite Time clock, Central Market, St Mary Street, Cardiff, Wales, 2012 • Now that’s what I call a clock, albeit handless and ‘everwrong’. It’s pictured earlier with hands here, […]
H. Samuel clock (Oxford Street)
H. Samuel clock, Unit 4, 167 Oxford Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2002 • A stylish ‘golden eye’ clock that I thought looked too good to last, and I was right […]
H. Samuel clock (Horsham)
H. Samuel clock, Clerkenwell House, 4 West Street, Horsham, West Sussex, 2003 • Old H. Samuel clock still telling the time, on an 1878 building named after Clerkenwell in London, […]
H+C clock
H+C clock, 159-173 St John Street, Clerkenwell, Borough of Islington, London EC1, 2007 • And another 1950s-style Clerkenwell clock, advertising lift manufacturers Hammond & Champness, who inhabited this building until at least […]
EuroSensor clock
EuroSensor clock, 20-24 Kirby Street, Borough of Camden, London EC1, 2004 • Another period gem from Clerkenwell: EuroSensor was a big technical firm that occupied the building in the area’s pre-gentrification days. Threatened […]
Nameless wall clock
Nameless wall clock, side of 85 Clerkenwell Road, Borough of Camden, London EC1, 2011 • For decades this giant octagonal clock rusted away high above Clerkenwell, but now it’s been […]
The Hallamshire Coal Supplies Ltd clock
The Hallamshire Coal Supplies Ltd clock, Victoria Quay, Wharf Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, 2010 • Random old clock still adjoined to a renovated warehouse.
Herbert Brown clock
Herbert Brown clock, 24 Corn Market, Derby, Derbyshire, 2010 • Those are stickers on the clock, with probably nicer writing beneath. Despite the ominous hoardings – whose sign suggests there are keys and […]
Herbert Sports
Herbert Sports, 12 High Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex, 2004 • According to the dictionary, Herbert is slang for “an undistinguished or foolish man or youth”, so it’s a brave name […]
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 […]
10/10 Ten Out of Ten Barber
10/10 Ten Out of Ten Barber, 7 Bell Street, City of Westminster, London NW1, 2003 • Eleven out of ten for the brilliant name. It’s still called that, but with a […]
Monet
Monet, 144 Balls Pond Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002 • Crimping companion for Picasso and Renoir. Still looks fairly similar, but is now called The Parlour.
James Dean Ltd
James Dean Ltd, 119 Dulwich Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE24, 2001 • And you thought he died in a car crash. The shop’s still there, should you want an autograph.
Coin Wash (Emsworth)
Coin Wash, 1 Victoria Road, Emsworth, Hampshire, 2003 • Cute launderette, which by 2008 was looking very sad, and is now a house.
Sutton Wash House
Sutton Wash House, 2 Sutherland House, 29 Brighton Road, Sutton, Surrey, 2002 • Welcoming laundry with a Dickensian name and a logo like a car number plate. It lasted until around 2012 but now, […]
Matbro
Matbro, Unit 1, Bridge Industrial Estate, Balcombe Road, Horley, Surrey, 2002 • This proud old sign on a sleepy industrial estate caught my eye for the unusual name. According to Wikipedia, it was a […]
T.A. Boxall & Co Ltd
T.A. Boxall & Co Ltd, 20 Balcombe Road, Horley, Surrey, 2002 • Retro signage for an engineering business established in 1935, according to their website. It’s still there but with a modernised facade.
The Home and Colonial Tea Stores (Tablet Gallery)
The Home and Colonial Tea Stores (Tablet Gallery), 51a George […]
F.O.T.O.P. Friends of the Old People
F.O.T.O.P. Friends of the Old People, 4 Middle Street, Hastings, East Sussex, 2014 • Net-curtained cafe for the elderly. I thought it was closed down, but Google shows it later on […]
Elizabeths Restaurant
Elizabeths Restaurant, 30 Bridge Street, Sunderland, 2013 • Apostrophe-free diner that appears as traditional inside as out. That looks like the remnants of a shiny Brilliant-style Vitrolite facade under the […]
V for Hair
V for Hair, 51 West Hill Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, 2004 • A sign in window appraises us that the V stands for Veronica, which is a proper hairdresser name. It’s still […]
Vivette
Vivette, 33 High Street, Poole, Dorset, 2004 • I assumed this nice window belonged to a hairdresser, but in fact it was an interior design business. It now houses a yacht […]
Zoom the Loom
Zoom the Loom, 165 High Street, Poole, Dorset, 2004 • I always like a traditional net curtain shop, and this one’s also blessed with an unusual name and sign. I’m […]
Whichcraft
Whichcraft, 7 Station Way, Cheam, Sutton, Surrey , 2002 • This shop’s not as old as its great retro ‘Wools’ sign suggests – their website says they opened in 1996. They now have […]
St Keverne Newsagents
St Keverne Newsagents, Lemon Street, St Keverne, Helston, Cornwall, 2012 • Perhaps this is why I like newsagents: this was my local newsie when I was a kid. Back then it […]
Victoria News
Victoria News, 19a Terminus Place, Victoria Station, City of Westminster, London SW1, 2004 • I like this because it’s named after me. It’s in a gloriously grubby arcade attracting a wide socio-economic mix (see below), […]
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 […]
159 Newsagents
159 Newsagents, 159 Battersea High Street, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW11, 2002 • This one hasn’t even got a name, just a number, and some superannuated Pepsi sponsorship. After the glory days […]
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 – […]
Super News
Super News, 140 Crouch Hill, Borough of Haringey, London N8, 2014 • Having your newsagent’s sign sponsored by an actual newspaper as opposed to an international sim card purveyor is starting to […]
The Smart News
The Smart News, 8 The Strand, Derby, Derbyshire, 2010 • Interesting use of definite article – as opposed to getting your news on the smart phone, perhaps? Still there and still the […]
Easy News
Easy News, 30 Trafalgar Street, Brighton, East Sussex, 2004 • Another cheerful Brighton newsagent offering depressing news: “Appeal bid by teacher Jane’s killer”. The shop’s still there, still lurid pink, and they’ve […]
Good News
Good News, 33 Sydney Street, Brighton, East Sussex, 2014 • Brighton newsies seem to have appropriately sunny names, but the news in the window isn’t so good – “Mum’s horror […]
Good News News Gents
Good News, 23 Berwick Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2002 • News Gents, it says. If only it really was called that. Unusually for a newsagent it’s still there and […]
Moor News
Moor News, 20 Killigrew Street, Falmouth, Cornwall, 2012 • Moor News, as opposed to yesterday’s Little News, geddit? I like a proud local newspaper name, and the West Briton is as […]
Little News
Little News, 9 Little Turnstile, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2003 • Unfortunate choice of name for a newsagent, albeit based on the name of its ancient London alley. It’s still there, […]
The Pantiles News
The Pantiles News, 66 The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, 2014 • Now for a few days featuring newsagents, a dwindling resource I find fascinating for the way they sum up an […]
Days Garage
Days Garage, 6 Oxford Street, Whitstable, Kent, 2002 • Established 1919, still there, and they’ve kept the charming wooden telephone sign.
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 […]
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.
Herbert’s Whetstone News
Herbert’s Whetstone News, 1452 High Road, Whetstone, Borough of Barnet, London N20, 2011 • That’s quite a font, Herbert! It still looks the same, unencumbered by Lycamobile ads and their ilk.
Taxi & cafe arches (Westbourne Park)
Taxi & cafe arches, canal towpath, beside bridge near Westbourne Park, Great Western Road, City of Westminster, London W9, 2011 • Towpath derelicton: it may be in Westminster, but gentrification […]
Holloway Service Station T/A Sparsholt
Holloway Service Station T/A Sparsholt, 23-27 Crouch Hill, Borough of Islington, London N4, 2014 • A neat high street corner garage housing Swiss Cheese plants and a TUX-reg Roller – it’s like London in a […]
Hornsey Automatic Transmissions
Hornsey Automatic Transmissions, 1 Stapleton Hall Road, Borough of Haringey, London N4, 2014 • I assumed this was closed down, but Google Street View shows it operational a month after I […]
J.F. Turner
J.F. Turner, wall above Ying’s, 125 Hanley Road, Borough of Islington, London N4, 2014 • Graffiti by moron over ghost sign for baker; both elements are still there.
Furniture Arkade
Furniture Arkade, 320 Lewisham High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE13, 2010 • Your one-stop spot for Bed’s, Ward Robe and Sofa. I think that’s Michael Jackson peeking out from the rug, […]
Kings & Queens
Kings & Queens, 300 Lewisham High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE13, 2010 • Not very palace-like. Now has a plain purple sign, with windows by Lycamobile.
Mann Countrywide
Mann Countrywide, 171 Lewisham High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE13, 2010 • Wishful thinking, but that oval looks like it could once have held a Boots sign.
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 […]
Gianno Couture
Gianno Couture, 7 Crown Parade, Crown Dale, Streatham, Borough of Lambeth, London SE19, 2002 • Interesting image for a haute couture shop. Now the charmingly-named Gladness Barbers.
Brilliant Neon Ltd.
Brilliant Neon Ltd., above Best-One, 218 Earls Court Road, B orough of Kensington and Chelsea, London SW5, 2010 • Tiny reminder of a long-gone fascia, still hanging on above a minimart. It’s […]
Diamond Laundry
Diamond Laundry, 190 Finchley Road, Borough of Camden, London NW3, 2014 • It’s getting harder to find laundries in central London these days, especially ones named after precious stones.
PriceLess Shoes
PriceLess Shoes, 45 Tooting High Street, Tooting, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW17, 2006 • Budget shoe chain with socking great logo, which I always liked for its basic brashness. It […]
The Modern Gents Continental Hair Stylist
The Modern Gents Continental Hair Stylist, 99 Upper Tooting Road, Tooting, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW17, 2006 • Once modern, now a charity shop.
Cafe (Garratt Lane)
Cafe, side of 886 Garratt Lane, Tooting, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW17, 2006 • Subtle ghost sign which is still there. Typography suggests nineteen-teens.
Cafe (Bow Road)
Cafe, side of 181 Bow Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E3, 2006 • Became a tasteful wall ad for hairdresser Noor, minus – ironically or appropriately, depending on how you look at […]
Ford Specialist
Ford Specialist, 123 Fairfield Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E3, 2010 • Mmm, I must buy a Ford so I can take it there. (Checks Google Street View.) Blimey! It’s […]
Hand Car Wash (Bow Road)
Hand Car Wash, Corner Bow Road & Arnold Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E3, 2007 • Oops, back-to-front N alert. I had a Ferodo bridge behind me, I should […]
