Coronation Cafe
Coronation Cafe, 190 Coronation Road, Bristol BS3, 2011 & 2017 • Traditional caff that reinvented itself as a curry house – you can see it announcing the transformation in 2012 […]
Belly Busters, Lord Byron
Belly Busters, Lord Byron, 20-22 Bridge Street East, Middlesbrough TS2, 2012 • Not two names you’d normally associate together, it is in fact Belly Busters cafe at the Lord Byron […]
Ambassador Bakery
Ambassador Bakery, 376 Neasden Lane North, Neasden, Borough of Brent, London NW10, 2016 • Cheerful Romanian bakery in a ruinous surround.
Pompey Hardware (Keys Kingdom)
Pompey Hardware (Keys Kingdom), 92 Fawcett Road, Southsea, City of Portsmouth, 2016 • Completely brilliant shop themed in blue and white after Portsmouth’s football team, aka Pompey. The owner even […]
Imperial Cinema (Peugeot Crawley Down)
Imperial Cinema (Peugeot Crawley Down), 5 Brighton Road, Crawley, West Sussex, 2002 • Car showroom behind the facade of a 1928 movie theatre, which closed after WW2. The dealership has now gone […]
Imperial Pharmacy
Imperial Pharmacy, 4 The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, 2014 • Grand drugstore in an 1804 Georgian bath house; a niche housing the chalybeate (iron-rich) spring that gave the town its […]
Imperial Dry Cleaners
Imperial Dry Cleaners, 12 Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, Borough of Waltham Forest, London E17, 2016 • Newly-painted faux ghost signage in a regeneration area.
The Imperial Pearl Co
The Imperial Pearl Co, 24 Hatton Garden, Borough of Camden, London EC1, 2004 and 2012 • Neon sign in London’s faded jewellery quarter. Presumably it’s named after Imperial China, as […]
Imperial Works
Imperial Works, Fountayne Road, South Tottenham, Borough of Haringey, London N15, 2016 • Once-great name for a graffitied complex that now houses artists’ workhops.
Imperial Wines
Imperial Wines, 2 Battersea Park Road, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW11, 2002 • Strange pink mock Tudor building, with which this ornate Edwardian frontage was presumably contemporary. Amazingly by 2008 […]
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 […]
The Regent
The Regent, 331 Regents Park Road, Finchley Central, Borough of Barnet, London N3, 2016 • Grand doorway somewhat let down by plastic canopy. Aptly, it’s flanked by a door shop. […]
Princess Dry Cleaning
Princess Dry Cleaning, 19 Wellington Row, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2015 • Until recently the old ‘Valet Service’ sign was covered by an equally attractive 1960s plastic fascia saying Princess Laundrette (complete […]
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), […]
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.
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 […]
The Lord Napier
The Lord Napier, 25 White Post Lane, Borough of Hackney, London E9, 2011 • An arty quarter slumbering in pre-Olympics dereliction. The pub actually closed in 1995, there’s some history […]
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, […]
Tudor Williams
Tudor Williams, 94-98 High Street, Dorking, Surrey, 2008 • Another nice doorstep with a dull shopfront attached; these op-art stripes look rather art deco.
Lady Godiva News
Lady Godiva News Devlins, 26 Broadgate, Coventry, West Midlands, 2013 • The equally weird twin of yesterday’s Peeping Tom newsagent; they’re situated either side of Coventry’s “famous” Lady Godiva clock, hence […]
Mercure Hull Royal Hotel
Mercure Hull Royal Hotel, Paragon Station, 170 Ferensway, Hull, 2013 • Built in 1849 and recently refurbished, this is at the start of Hull’s Philip Larkin trail. It’s described in his […]
Queen’s Garden News
Queen’s Garden News, 10a Alfred Gelder Street, Kingston upon Hull, 2013 • Alfred Gelder Street – named after Hull’s most famous architect – launches in style with this liner-like black deco building, […]
The Prince Albert Hotel
The Prince Albert Hotel, 27-29 Rendezvous Street, Folkestone, Kent, 2011 • This beautifully tiled rendezvous has had several looks, including an incongruous 1970s one – there’s a history here.
Embassy Cafe
Embassy Cafe, 1-2 Mortimer Square, Holland Park, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London W11, 2002 • Fine old greasy spoon in one of London’s most expensive areas. Still there, still […]
Regis Shellfish
Regis Shellfish, The Esplanade, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, 2003 • Aah, the English seaside – not depressing, in any way. This particular stall doesn’t seem to be there any more, but […]
Imperial Wine Stores
Imperial Wine Stores, Watneys, 178 Lambeth Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2012 • Still there, an old-fashioned sign on an old-fashioned corner where the classic 1950s comedy Passport To Pimlico […]
Tudor Café
Tudor Café, 325 High Street, Sutton, Surrey, 2002 • Another Pepsi cafe with an unfeasably small accent. Now unrecognisable as the less delightful Cafe Delight.
Kings Sandwich Bar
Kings Sandwich Bar, 6 Milroy Walk, South Bank, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • In a not-so-regal brutalist mall beneath Kings Reach Tower (ex-home of IPC magazines), due for […]
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.
Shopfront Elegy 