London

Fading Signs

This sign on Sidmouth Street in Central London is an excellent example of palimpsest and also featured in Time Out’s original article on disappearing London. However, this particular photo offers a dramatic illustration of the effects of weathering on brickads. It can clearly be seen from the shadow cast by the sun that the top […]

16 Jul 2007

Brymay Palimpsest

I went to meet Sebastian Groes today as we’re doing a presentation at the University of Westminster next week. On my way there I passed this sign in Haringey, designed to be clearly visible from the train tracks. There are two signs fighting for attention, one from the classic blue and yellow Brymay Matches campaign […]

11 Jul 2007

MOT Tyres (RIP)

This old landmark at the Regent’s Park end of Parkway in Camden has recently been pulled down to make way for a couple of new illuminated poster sites.  I wouldn’t rate it as a classic sign but there was something about the slighty haphazard lettering that appealed. Even the lettering on the shop below was […]

11 Jul 2007

Boots (Past & Present)

Boots – Camden High Street. While browsing some of the excellent Ghost Signs on Flickr I came across this picture by 2WArmy. I think it’s great compared to my photo so wanted to share it. Look at how the detail in the brick has come out and also the detail of the lettering. Having another […]

10 Jul 2007

Peterkin Mystery

This classic sign for Peterkin’s Custard, Self-Raising Flour and Corn Flour can be seen on St John’s Hill near Clapham Junction Station. See a bigger picture here. The sign was first brought to my attention by Nicola via the Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising.  She was interested in the company and what happened to […]

4 Jul 2007

Ghost Signs UK Video

Inspired by JDProductions’ Ghost Signs video I had to have a go myself. Here’s my first effort featuring “Loving Love” by Patsy Todd and 14 of my favourite signs from around London. It was made using MemoriesOnTV software. What fun, more to come! Also see the Only Fools & Horses video with a collection of […]

3 Jul 2007

Gillette Palimpsest 2

Here’s another example from the Gillette campaign where there are three signs revealed on one site (palimpsest) in Dalston: Gillette across the middle; Cafe vertically on the right; Sunday… on the diagonal in the top left. There are probably even more but these are the most prominent.

2 Jul 2007

Gillette Palimpsest

Following the previous post on Gillette Razors I was looking again at this sign which I had always referred to as ‘Westminster Criterion Matches’. It is a rare example of two signs on different walls of the same building, sharing its home with my original post. On closer inspection it is possible to make out […]

2 Jul 2007

Gillette Razors

Frank Jump just posted this London sign he photographed while visiting in Spring 2001. It’s a classic Gillette ad with the characteristic blue background colour. The sign below is one I took on Clapham High Street and part of a an ongoing Campaign that Gillette ran in the Brickad format. You can see on the Clapham […]

2 Jul 2007

Ghost Signs Film

I came across this film that someone made with a nice music track to go with it.  It looks to be mainly USA signs but I spotted a couple in there from the Kentish Town/Highgate area, including the one for KM Larn and also the one advertising a place that used to offer Beanfeats. From […]

29 Jun 2007

Google Earth Experiment

Last winter I took some of my photos from Flickr and attempted to begin building a map of signs and locations. You can see my preliminary results here if you have Google Earth installed on your machine. You can zoom in and move around and then click on the thumbnail signs for a bigger view […]

28 Jun 2007

Vaneers

This is a huge sign for London and is tucked away round the back of Shoreditch High Street/Kingsland Road.  It was painted in order to be highly visible from the nearby train line and has the old style way of writing phone numbers, SHO (Shoreditch) being 746. Out of view on this picture is the 7 […]

25 Jun 2007

Protecting Ghost Signs

It seems from people I’ve spoken to that it is very difficult to protect signs from distruction or being covered up.  However some notable exceptions exist such as the Bile Beans restoration project, the baker in Islington and now a judge has ruled in favour of a ghost sign and against a major outdoor advertising […]

21 Jun 2007

Hovis (Haringey)

Further to the previous post on the Hovis sign in Islington, here’s another example of this style from along Stroud Green Road in Haringey. The Hovis logo is different but the principle of Hovis sponsoring the painting of the sign in return for it being featured is the same.

21 Jun 2007

Hovis (Islington)

I discovered this sign at night on 3rd April this year and only got round to photographing it on Tuesday this week. I’ll have to go back to take another picture once the estate agent’s sign is removed but have put it up today because of the story behind it. On Tuesday I asked the […]

21 Jun 2007

Martin Thompson

Martin Thompson is an artist who has done a series of pieces based on his photography of predominantly London Ghost Signs. He calls them “urban fossils”. There was an exhibition in 2006 at the Bettie Morton Gallery in Brixton which I went to and was impressed with some of the signs. I would have loved […]

21 Jun 2007

Derelict London

Derelict London is quite a well known site run by Paul Talling covering lots of aspects of the decaying crumbling city that we don’t always consider or think about. There is a specific section on signs and murals which features a couple of brickads (see above). The Brymay matches one is in New Cross and […]

20 Jun 2007

Peterkin’s Custard

Further to the post on Louis Sheldon-Williams, here’s my photo of the full Peterkin’s Custard sign (featured in the Time Out piece). The little boy looks to be of Dutch origin (look at the clogs) but information on the company is thin on the ground.

19 Jun 2007

Black Cat Cigarettes

One of my personal favourites, this one is on Dingley Road, EC1. It is for an old brand of cigarettes that no longer exists.  There used to be a factory located on this site but more interesting is that Greater London House in Mornington Crescent was originally built as a factory for these cigarettes by […]

19 Jun 2007

Blooms Pianos

I photographed this fantastic sign today after going past it so many times on the bus. It’s just by the Geoffrey Museum in Shoreditch and is covered at this time of year by a big tree.   I had to do a bit of monkey-style climbing to get onto the roof underneath, hence the odd angle. […]

19 Jun 2007

True Ghost

This sign is certainly on it’s last legs, so much so that you’d miss it if you weren’t looking. It’s for John Hirst Builders and can be seen just round the corner from the Dartmouth Arms pub, NW5.

19 Jun 2007

Vortex (RIP)

This sign and former Stoke Newington landmark were both destroyed in favour of a new development on Church Street.  The Jazz bar moved to Dalston in 2005, but 2007 saw an ongoing squat protest to stop the developers moving in. Despite some shocking luminous grafitti protesting against the possibility of Starbucks I was pleased to […]

18 Jun 2007

BP (British Petrol) Revealed

This sign was partially covered for a long time but, just the other day, the modern poster was taken down revealing an old ad for British Petrol (BP) and some other ads faded behind but in a similar colour. The history of the logo indicates that this sign may well date from pre-1930.

18 Jun 2007

Boots

This sign is clearly visible from Camden Town tube station as you look up Camden High Street towards Mornington Crescent. You wouldn’t see it if you were in a car or on a bike because of the one way streets, but on foot it catches your eye immediately. I spotted it while I was with […]

18 Jun 2007