Sam Roberts

Ghostsigns (two years on)

So Wednesday marked the end of the second year in the life of this blog/website and I’m still quite amazed at how far things have come in such a short space of time. Last year I marked the first birthday with a video montage of some of my favourite signs collected. This year I’m offering […]

19 Jun 2009

Household & Furniture

Some great signs in the category of Household & Furniture.  See more images in the Flickr group being used to set up the Ghost Signs Archive. Here’s a little montage featuring some of the most interesting signs. Thanks again to everyone contributing their images, keep them coming! If you have any interesting ghost signs from […]

3 Jun 2009

Time Out Blog

I wrote a piece for the Time Out blog which covers a little of the personal journey I’ve been on over the last three years on the project.  Its interesting to reflect on how far things have come in such a short space of time, especially considering that I’ve also moved house, completed a masters […]

1 Jun 2009

H H stark (RIP)

Having only very recently featured in the montage for Travel & Transport I learn from sarflondondunc that this sign is no more.  The building has been knocked down to make way for new flats (see 2007 status below). Another one bites the dust… Photo by sarflondondunc

31 May 2009

Travel & Transport

Some great signs in the category of Travel & Transport.  See more images in the Flickr group being used to set up the Ghost Signs Archive. Here’s a little montage featuring some of the most interesting signs. Thanks again to everyone contributing their images, keep them coming! If you have any interesting ghost signs from the UK or Ireland then please […]

27 May 2009

Latest Received (sort of…)

Its been a while since I’ve posted some images received and I’ll probably be doing less of this as the Flickr group for the ghostsigns archive is now the natural home for all submissions, at least those from the UK and Ireland. However, I’ve been sitting on some pictures for a while now which its […]

25 May 2009

Shoes & Clothing

Slightly less material in the Shoes & Clothing category.  See more images in the Flickr group being used to set up the Ghost Signs Archive. Here’s a little montage featuring some of the most interesting signs. Thanks again to everyone contributing their images, keep them coming! If you have any interesting ghost signs from the UK or Ireland then please get […]

21 May 2009

Food & Drink

So the Food & Drink category was a popular one with plenty of material submitted to the Flickr group being used to set up the Ghost Signs Archive.  Here’s a little montage featuring some of the most interesting signs, adding to last week’s on Booze & Fags. Thanks again to everyone contributing their images, keep […]

16 May 2009

Booze & Fags 2

Since creating the montage of signs received in the Booze & Fags category a handful more have been added to the pool which are worth sharing (see below). I’m currently working on Food & Drink and it feels like the archive is finally arriving. A striking gable end for Hemmingways brewery in Leeds taken by […]

13 May 2009

Booze & Fags

So the archive is going well, there are now over 130 members who have collectively contributed over 850 pictures.  Thank you all, keep up the good work. If you not involved yet then get on board and find out more before adding your pictures. The approach I’m going to take from now on is to […]

10 May 2009

Jack Daniels Update

Sheffield, Photo by Nicky Roberts My Aunt captured the above picture in Sheffield recently (Westfield Terrace, just off West Stand). This adds to the growing number of locations in this nationwide campaign by Jack Daniels (see previous posts). Photos of those discovered so far are below (Brighton, Bristol, Leicester & Newcastle), and, awaiting photographic evidence, […]

29 Apr 2009

Google Street View

I’ve been geotagging lots of my pictures on Flickr for the UK Ghost Signs archive project. In order to get postcodes for some of the locations I’ve also been putting the street names into Google Maps. If you haven’t come across it already then you must check out Google Street View. They’ve taken what must […]

29 Mar 2009

The Archive Kicks Off

The response to getting this archive off the ground has been fantastic, thank you all for your enthusiasm and efforts so far. There are already 60 members in the Flickr Group and over 450 images contributed. Below are some of my favourites so far, just some of the evidence that the archive is going to […]

23 Mar 2009

Maggie Jones joins the archive

Maggie Jones has signed up to contribute her work to the UK Ghost Signs archive.  Here’s one of my favourites from her set, a new addition to the Hovis collection, this one from Tooting in South London. You can get involved too, more information here and the Flickr group here.

22 Mar 2009

Ghost Signs, The Archive

[The following blog post was written in March 2009 and signified the start of the effort to create a Ghostsigns Archive. This has been realised with the archive opening for business on 19th March 2010. Visit this page for more information.] So, what’s this new look banner on the blog? It’s the start of a […]

21 Mar 2009

Oxford Times

  Owen alerted me to a recent feature in the Oxford Times and kindly sent through these clippings which I’ve scanned.  While Oxford wasn’t an industrial centre like London or Leeds it still has its fair share of old painted signage. This is more evidence of the ubiquity of Ghost Signs and another organisation (Fat […]

24 Feb 2009

Colossal Media & Gentrification

Picked this up over on psfk where they reckon this is an ad for Colossal Media. The observations on gentrification could easily apply in London and perhaps many other cities around the world.

17 Feb 2009

Exhibition & Press (USA)

Letitia Street at Market Street in Olde City, by Lawrence O’Toole Lawrence O’Toole from the The Philadelphia Ghost Sign Project has secured a month long exhibition at the PRIMER Microstudio.  For those readers who live anywhere near this it would be worth getting along, above is one example from Lawrence’s collection. In addition to this […]

7 Feb 2009

Ghost Signs Received

Having been busy on my dissertation I have been neglecting to feature all the signs that I get sent by friends and readers of this blog. The last time I did a profile like this was back in March 2008 when I showed some examples from London, Europe and the USA. So here are some […]

29 Jan 2009

Ultrabold (Part 2)

Following the earlier mini-feature in the Ultrabold journal a longer photo feature has now made its way into the latest edition.  Thank you to Simon for doing a fantastic job on the layout, do grab yourself a copy. Or, if you’re too lazy, you can read a lower quality version with the scans below. [Update: […]

1 Jan 2009

James Ashby & Sons (Rose Brand Fine Teas)

James Ashby & Sons, Union Street, SE1 Rachel at Jerwood Space recently told me that the building at 195-205 Union Street is currently awaiting final confirmation of its demolition and development. It may not be long before the building and its little piece of ghost sign history is lost forever so I got down there […]

12 Dec 2008

Emmanuel Nouaillier

One of the best things that has happened since setting up this blog is people sending me ghost sign related materials from around the world. The most interesting of these are when the signs have been used as a springboard for artistic and other creative activities. Most recently I got a series of emails from […]

8 Dec 2008

Colossal Media Update

I’ve written lots about Colossal Media in the past but a visit to their website today revealed a whole load of new content including lots of videos, mainly time-lapses of their work being painted but also this new promotional trailer. Although it features some of their most recent work I still think the old one is […]

1 Dec 2008

The Return of Boyd Pianos

I saw the above headline come through on my RSS feed from Flickr and I was very excited to see the news from Fin Fahey that the classic Boyd Pianos sign has returned after being covered for some time. Perhaps something similar might happen to the old Redferns double-bill in Wandsworth one day… Good spot […]

20 Nov 2008