Shepherd

Shepherd, Betterton Street, Covent Garden, Borough of Camden, London WC2, 2002 • No parking because there’s a load of sheep behind the door, perhaps. By 2017 it had become the […]

Avery Butchers

Avery Butchers, Peter Dicker, 2-3 Alma Parade, 106-108 Chaldon Road, Caterham, Surrey CR3, 2001 • A shop Local campaign that clearly failed. Both parts (Avery at left & Dicker at […]

Post Office (Wolverhampton)

Post Office (Wolverhampton), 16 Darlington Street, Wolverhampton WV1, 2016 • Charming little carved corner shop, in what I think is a faux-Jacobean style. It’s enhanced by the Post Office’s current […]

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 […]

Cafe

Cafe, corner of Henry Street and Suffolk Street, Liverpool L1, 2003 • Wonky hand-lettering for this generic cafe, which was still a derelict corner in 2014, despite being almost in the city […]

Denture-Care Clinic

Denture-Care Clinic, 32 Church Street, Rugby, Warwickshire, 2012 • Possibly England’s cutest denture emporium.

D.M. Sutton

D.M. Sutton, 58 High Street, Rottingdean, East Sussex, 2004 • Still a traditional butcher, but now called G.R. Rushman & Son.

Pleasant Sandwich Bar

Pleasant Sandwich Bar, 7 Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, 2014 • Seems like an underwhelming taste offer, but it’s actually the name of the road. 

Porky’s Pantry

Porky’s Pantry, 49 Chandos Place, City of Westminster, London WC2, 2003 • Nice lettering, shame about the scary pig paintings. Later on they changed the sign, but kept the horrible […]

B. Saunders (J. & M. Cards)

B. Saunders (J. & M. Cards), 133 High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk, 2007 • Always nice to see one of these “Brilliant”-style gold-under-glass signs surviving, even if the modern-day effort underneath […]

Frederick Pratt & Son

Frederick Pratt & Son, 32 Brighton Road, Salfords, Redhill, Surrey, 2002 • Good old-fashioned name, but now even the car in front is knackered. Founded 1948 and shuttered 2003, it used […]

Christmas Bargain Store (Dewhurst)

Christmas Bargain Store (Dewhurst), 135 High Street, Poole, Dorset, 2004 • Ah, the grim pursuit of festive cheer. Everyone looks fed up. The baby’s bum is hanging out. The D of […]

S. Krantz & Son

S. Krantz & Son, 180 Drury Lane, Borough of Camden, Loncon WC2, 2003 • Still there, but downsized to Krantz, painted dark blue, and with the beautiful old signage – and […]

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.

Liqueur Store

Liqueur Store, 32 Streatham High Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW16, 2002 • A nice conceit – but I wonder if they meant Liquor Store?

Charles A

Charles A, David Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow G40, Scotland, 2012 • Superannuated sawtooth-roofed works unit with sawn-off name, now part of a tool hire establishment.

Gardner & Finch

Gardner & Finch, 70 Caledonian Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2012 • Quali y Butch r – a classic old  frontage at the letters-falling-off stage. By 2017 it still looked […]

Voltaire Motors

Voltaire Motors, 2-4 Voltaire Road, Clapham, Borough of Lambeth, London SW4, 2002 • As poetic as its name, and nearly as long-gone. Later became Secondo, a glass-fronted “vintage and retro cafe-bar”.

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 […]

John Kimpton & Co

John Kimpton & Co Insurance Services, 85 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Recalling the heady days when anyone could get a mortgage. Now a curtain shop.

Gents

Gents Hairdressing for Men, 10d East Street, Epsom, Surrey, 2002 • A dangerously generic title; I like the way it has to qualify its function as non-gents-toilet…

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.

Adhesive Specialities Ltd

Adhesive Specialities Ltd, 59 Ladywell Road, Borough of Lewisham, London SE6, 2010 • Classic little art deco factory with a brilliant name, knocked down weeks after I happened across it, […]