Mercia News
Mercia News, 42 High Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, 2018 • Welcoming old-school newsie with window happily unobscured by cheap phone call posters. Mercia is an ancient name for the Midlands.
Silk Cut
Silk Cut, 41 Dorset Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW8, 2018 • Brief ghost sign revelation for a once-lavishly advertised cigarette brand, on a backstreet shop that was previously Leena […]
Post Office (Ashbourne Parade)
Post Office (Ashbourne Parade), 4 Ashbourne Parade, Borough of Ealing, London W5, 2006 • Randomly-branded postie with 1960s-looking logo in Franklin Gothic. Amazingly it’s still a post office, in the […]
City Confectionary
City Confectionary, 105 Shoreditch High Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2002 • Lovely quirky sign writing, with ‘confectionery’ spelled wrong on both sides.
W.J. Cox & Sons
W.J. Cox & Sons, 37 High Street, Whitstable, Kent, 2002 • Battered tobacconist with ghost sign saying “Established 1863” and a deep arcade entrance. A contemporary gallery later moved in and […]
H. E. King
H. E. King, 26 Albert Road, Southsea, City ofPortsmouth, 2016 • Very old newsagents shuttered due to the death of its 87-year-old owner, Ray King – the shop had been […]
The Hexham Courant
The Hexham Courant, Beaumont Street, Hexham, Northumberland, 2016 • Historic name for a local rag, founded in 1864 and probably what the old lady at the bus stand in the previous post […]
Daily News
Daily News, 616 Seven Sisters Road, Borough of Haringey, London N15, 2016 • According to Wikipedia, the Daily News was a radical left-leaning national newspaper founded in 1846 by Charles […]
Newsagent (Loughborough)
Newsagent, 5 Great Central Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, 2016 • Interesting period frontage, which my researches suggest was called R.H. Hallam before it became simply Newsagent. It’s on the road from […]
W.H. Smith & Son Kiosk (Loughborough)
W.H. Smith & Son Kiosk, Loughborough Central Station, Great Central Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, 2016 • Restored kiosk from the days before they ungramatically rebranded as WHSmith, and became noted for […]
City Confectionery
City Confectionery, 105 Shoreditch High Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2006 & 2002 • Maybe the flat-dweller crept in under the angled shutter. The top photo is from 2006, when it […]
Sai News
Sai News, 138 Church Street, City of Westminster, London NW8, 2003 • Nameless ex-newsie with painterly pink palimpsest wall and elegant stroller who looks like he’s posing for a cavalier […]
M.J. Davies
M.J. Davies, 10 New King Street, Deptford, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Stripey ghost sign for what may have been a dairy (they often had Welsh names). Looks […]
Bransdon (CB News)
Bransdon (CB News), 86 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd’s Bush, Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London W12, 2016 • Identikit newsagent-cum-homeless shelter retaining ghost sign for a previous occupant; you can see […]
W.G. Pillar & Co.
W.G. Pillar & Co., 1 Lower Street, Dartmouth, Devon, 2013 • Like a souvenir shop newly minted from the 1950s – but still there 2015. Note stop sign incorporated into […]
John Turnbull
John Turnbull, 483 Anlaby Road, Kingston upon Hull, 2005 • Bullish old newsie with eponymous plastic illustration, seen from bus. Later became Babylon Supermarket.
Welcome to Super Azarbayjan
Welcome to Super Azarbayjan, 65 Hackney Road, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2007 • Surely one of the best shop names ever. By 2012 it was a hip-looking shop with […]
J.R. Blanche (Happy Shopper)
J.R. Blanche (Happy Shopper), 76 & 74 Brixton Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW9, 2015 • Blimey, even minimarts are revealing hipsterish legacy signs now – believe it or not, this is part […]
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.
Shirley Stores
Shirley Stores, 2-8 Shirley Street, Borough of Newham, London E16, 2002 • Bleakness on the edge of Silvertown. Later became a Kwiksave.
St. Judes
St. Judes, 172 London Road, Mitcham, Surrey, 2001 • Quaintly-named newsie in quaintly-named Figgs Marsh. Jude – the patron saint of desperate causes – is nowadays sponsored by Lycamobile.
Bolton News Corner
Bolton News Corner, 68a Bridge Street, Bolton, Lancashire, 2010 • This was next door to yesterday’s Softys. It’s now the exotically-named letting agent Mezopotamya Emlak; another local newsie gone.
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 […]
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.
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.
Supercigs
Supercigs, 20 Richmond Street, Liverpool, 2003 • Now, more politically-correctly, called Supernews.
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 […]
St Noahs News
St Noahs News, 41 Trafalgar Street, Brighton, East Sussex, 2014 • Sunny frontage for the patron saint of missing apostrophes. I’m always attracted by newsagents because they’re a type of shop that’s […]
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.
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 […]
Ladywell Supermarket
Ladywell Supermarket, 111 Ladywell Road, Borough of Lewisham, London SE13, 2011 • The ladies of Ladywell, patronising a rather tatty shop in a fadedly genteel area. The mosaic pillars may indicate […]
Jai Amibika
Jai Amibika, 3 Great Eastern Street, Borough of Hackney, London EC2, 2006 • A colourful shutter by the street artist Eine, who at the time wasn’t famous. Painting doors paid […]
Cost to Cost
Cost to Cost, 227 Shoreditch High Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2005 • Somewhat meaningless variation on the Costcutter theme. The Cost to Cost logo later got reduced to near […]
Costprice
Costprice, 41 Brick Lane, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2007 • Jaunty take on the Costcutter theme. It’s become more sedate since this was taken.
Market News
Market News, 14 Market Hall, Kirkgate Market, Leeds, West Yorkshire, 2014 • Semi-circular hole-in-wall bracketing the entrance to Leeds’ wonderful Kirkgate Market.
Shrewsbury Chronicle Shropshire Star
Shrewsbury Chronicle Shropshire Star, circa 48 Chester Street, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, 2014 • The Shrewsbury Chronicle, founded 1772, is one of Britain’s oldest newspapers; the Shropshire Star emerged somewhat later, in 1964. Both are […]
Coventry Evening Telegraph
Coventry Evening Telegraph, 157 Corporation Street and Chapel Street, Coventry, Warwickshire, 2013 • Regional newspapers, where they survive, are downsizing or agglomerating, and moving on from their 20th century purpose-built HQs. […]
Thanet Times, Vera’s Kitchen
Thanet Times, Vera’s Kitchen, 11 Broad Street, Margate, Kent, 2014 • A striking old ghost sign on an ex-newspaper office, which features on the Ghostsigns calendar here. The building dates from 1760, […]
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 […]
Peeping Tom News
Peeping Tom News Devlins, 20A Hertford Street, Coventry, West Midlands, 2012 • Creepy name for a toyshop, you may feel. All will be revealed tomorrow (no pun intended).
Front Page News
Front Page News, Odeon Building, 33 Jordan Well, Coventry, West Midlands, 2013 • Lebara seem to have colonised every paper shop in the universe, but this must be the grandest. (2014 […]
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, […]
Coast News
Coast News, 9 East Parade, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, 2013 • Wonder if it’s just serendipity that the old sign matches up with the new(ish) one?
Channon
Channon, 21 North Street, Leatherhead, Surrey, 2003 • Nice old sign on a newsagents that’s clearly seen better days. By 2009 it was overshadowed by a Lidl; I don’t know if […]
WH Smith (Walsall)
WH Smith (Walsall), 50 Park Street, Walsall, West Midlands, 2005 • Stunning home for the stationers – Walsall is full of faded old buildings far grander than you’d expect. Notice […]
Rahie Off Licence Newsagent
Rahie Off Licence Newsagent, 5 Whitechurch Lane, Edgware, Borough of Barnet, London HA8, 2004 • I knew times were tough for newsagents, but this is ridiculous. Now called Price Cutter.
Henrietta’s News & Food
Henrietta’s News & Food, 1-3 Slipshatch Road, Reigate, Surrey, 2002 • Not wishing to diss Henrietta, but there’s a quiet despair about suburban shopping parades. (This particular shop is now updated […]
Teignmouth Parade: Terry’s News, Lloyds TSB
Terry’s News, Lloyds TSB, 4 & 3 Teignmouth Parade, Perivale, Borough […]
Trustin Fairbag
Trustin Fairbag, 135 Station Road, Edgware, Borough of Barnet, London HA8, 2004 • A fantastical, Harry Potteresque name which is there no longer, as it later became prosaic Express Food & […]
Hercules Newsagents Ltd.
Hercules Newsagents Ltd., 4 Hercules Road, Waterloo, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2001 • Hercules and Mars, geddit? Greco-Roman divinity-based newsagent that’s been shuttered for years.
K.T. Andrews (London) Ltd.
K.T. Andrews (London) Ltd., 404 St John Street, Borough of Islington, London EC1, 2002 • 404 not found: this became half a Pret a Manger.
Belgravia Cigarette Coy.
Belgravia Cigarette Coy., 25 Grosvenor Gardens, Victoria, City of Westminster, London SW1, 2004 • Currently a newsagent of the same name, windows unchanged; so the old fag ads may lurk […]
Burnards (B.J. Warrell)
Burnards (B.J. Warrell), 38 Brixton Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW9, 2001 • This beautiful palimpsest probably remains beneath the huge blue fascia of later occupant Ever Fresh Food & […]
Jami Newsagents J.B. Winton Ltd
Jami Newsagents J.B. Winton Ltd, 322a Grays Inn Road, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2002 • I like the way Jami is tacked onto the previous name. Now gone and […]
Shopfront Elegy 