London
-
Gardiner & Lacey at the Cat & Mutton
The Cat & Mutton pub on Broadway Market in East London has a remarkable array of Victorian glasswork on display in the main bar (see samples below). However, on a recent visit for a family Christmas meal, my uncle and I discovered the above two panels fitted to the front of the upstairs bar. Being […]
-
Sgraffito and the Old Dairy at Crouch Hill
These pictorial panels depicting the products and services on what is now The Old Dairy on Stoud Green Road have always intrigued me, and ahead of next week’s talk at the North London Lettering Association I thought I should carry out a little research. The late-Victorian building once housed a branch of the Friern Manor […]
-
On Tour with Albani Calusin and RMIT
Back in March last year I had the pleasure of taking two groups from Melbourne’s RMIT on my Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk. This was the second time I’ve worked with the University on their special European study tour and, again, it was a really enjoyable experience with two bright and enthusiastic groups. Following the study […]
-
Numbers 3-7 Stoke Newington Church Street
On one of my walking tours back in 2014 guests had the opportunity to see this reveal of a newsagent and tobacconists’ sign at No.5 Stoke Newington Church Street. Starlove, as it was known, occupied the premises from at least 1962 until the late 1970s and, prior to that, it had been a newsagent since […]
-
For Hire: Stunning Reveal near Columbia Road Market
Via Amanda Jacks on Twitter I was alerted to the reveal of this ghost sign near Columbia Road Market. It’s at the junction of Ravenscroft Street and Wellington Row. The text at the bottom is clearly ‘For Hire’ with the firm’s name being either O. or D. Leakin. (If anyone has street directories then feel […]
-
John C. Mather, Alwyne Lane
While researching the old painted advertisements of Islington I was contacted by Leo Hornak, a journalist at the BBC. He wanted to record a piece about ghost signs (coming soon), and had grown up in a house with one on the outside. It turned out to be one of those featured in Harvey’s 1999 survey, […]