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wooden slats

2005

Wright’s Bar

Wright’s Bar, 5 Houghton Street, City of Westminster, London WC2, 2005 & 2015 • Classic 1960s-looking logo and finger sign, next to the London School of Economics. It’s shown below […]
Wright’s Bar

2001

Cafe Restaurant

Cafe Restaurant, 25 St Cross Street, Borough of Camden, London EC1, 2001 • Wonderful old Italian caff shot with dreadful old digital camera – both long gone. According to a […]
Cafe Restaurant

2002

Robin G. Renée

Robin G. Renée, 300 High Street, Dorking, Surrey, 2002 • Another example of classic 1960s wood slat and script signage, plus leafy wrought iron door grille. It later became Dorking […]
Robin G. Renée

2001

Rene Hair Fashions

Rene Hair Fashions, 111 Essex Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002 • Classic 1960s weatherboard sign with 071 number. It disappeared soon after, and by 2017 the unit housed […]
Rene Hair Fashions

2010

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Osnabruck Square, Albert Rd, Derby, Derbyshire, 2010 • Coffee kiosk established in 1960 and named, bizarrely, after an 19th Century anti-slavery novel. Still there, despite rumours in […]
Uncle Tom’s Cabin

2003

Giovanni’s Room

Giovanni’s Room Wine Bar, 42 Theobalds Road, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2003 • Faded 1970s chalet chic with name like a dodgy erotic novel – love the standalone door awning. I’ve already published its […]
Giovanni’s Room

2007

Coe Electrical

Coe Electrical, 132 High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk, 2007 • Looks like the plug was pulled decades ago on this old-style electrical shop.  By 2015 it was unrecognisable as Sew Fabric.
Coe Electrical

2004

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 […]
Zoom the Loom

2003

R. Soles

R. Soles, 109a Kings Road, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London SW3, 2003 • Punning purveyor of cowboy boots to the already well-heeled, founded in 1975. 
R. Soles

2005

D. McKay

D. McKay, 19a Harrington Road, South Kensington, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London SW7, 2005 • Jewel box of a fruiterer in London’s “French” quarter. Still there 2012, not sure […]
D. McKay

2014

Same Day

Same Day, 19 Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, 2014 • I have a soft spot for these 1960s-style wood-slat signboards. This jaunty example may look like a hipster pastiche, but it’s the […]
Same Day

2008

Keys

Keys, 42 Theobalds Road, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2008 • Not a key shop but a cafe, next to an ornate doorway. Became a badly-reviewed Ethiopian restaurant called, no less surreally, […]
Keys

2002

Lewins

Lewins, 190 High Street, Sutton, Surrey, 2002 • Established in 1934, this jeweller and pawnbroker is still there, but with an updated black frontage foregrounding golden pawnbroker’s balls, and the charming 1960s […]
Lewins

2001

Jason’s

Jason’s, 34 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Borough of Croydon, London CR5, 2001 • More old-style wood panelling (see Chunnel Bar, yesterday). Now Pizza Night, not made with pet food I hope.
Jason’s

2003

Chunnel Bar

Chunnel Bar, 133 Lower Marsh, Waterloo, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2003 & 2011 • Uncompromisingly drab wooden frontage as 1970s as its monicker: Eurostar bypassed Waterloo several years ago, and […]
Chunnel Bar

2010

RF Potts

RF Potts, 66-68 Babington Lane, Derby, Derbyshire, 2010 • Not as old-fashioned as its faux-digital font suggests, it even has a website which offers a virtual tour, says they were established in 1933. […]
RF Potts

2002

Little Kitchen

Little Kitchen, 12 Lendal Terrace, Clapham, Borough of Lambeth, London SW4, 2002 • Now gone to the great kitchen in the sky, along with its generic Pepsi sign.
Little Kitchen

2003

Mark of Mayfair

Mark of Mayfair, 7 Middle Street, Horsham, West Sussex, 2003 • That’s Mayfair of Horsham. Stylish 1960s slatted facade now redeveloped and unrecognisable as The Company Hairdressing.
Mark of Mayfair

2004

Bridge Cafe

Bridge Cafe, 2 Bridge Rd, Willesden, Borough of Brent, London NW10, 2004 • Wonky cafe-shack that’s now demolished. The  DIY logo looks like half a burger bun, but it’s meant to […]
Bridge Cafe

2000

Euston Bookshop

Euston Bookshop, 40 Eversholt Street, Euston, Borough of Camden, London NW1, 2002 • The kind of bookshop that needs its windows blacked out. By 2012 was signed “To Let”, perhaps a […]
Euston Bookshop

2002

Westminster Sauna

Westminster Sauna, 162 Westminster Bridge Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2002 • I like to think this was thronged to the net-curtained gunnels with MPs. Later demolished to make way […]
Westminster Sauna

2002

Adel Hair Fashions

Adel Hair Fashions, 204 Battersea Park Road, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW11, 2002 • One of the most beautiful facades I ever found. Unrecognisable now as Chesney’s luxury fireplace emporium.
Adel Hair Fashions

2002

Café – Restaurant

Café – Restaurant, 187 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Boasts ridiculously tiny accent on Café. Astonishingly, this still looked exactly the same (minus flags) in […]
Café – Restaurant