Tours

Glasgow Ghost Signs Walking Tours: Free Maps

Three walks the reveal some of Glasgow’s wonderful ghost signs.

23 Nov 2020

Ghostsigns of Clapham, a Forthcoming Walk

Following my talk to the Clapham Society last summer we are joining forces, with Roy Reed, to develop a walk exploring the many ghost signs visible on and around Clapham High Street. We are currently carrying out a mixture of archival and web-based research into the 11 locations chosen for the walk, and would welcome […]

23 Mar 2018

The Future of Ghostsigns’ Walking Tours

After much deliberation I have taken the decision to cease leading my public walking tours after the last one in May this year. That means there are just two dates left for each of my Stoke Newington and Bankside walks. I will continue to offer private tours to larger groups, students and corporate clients, and […]

2 Feb 2018

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 […]

5 Jan 2018

‘London Sign by Sign’ by Marco Bazelmans

Back in May, Marco Bazelmans contacted me about a project he was working on as part of his communication design studies in Aachen, Germany. The brief was to create a guide of some sort, and he had selected signwriting as his theme. In particular, he had honed in on the idea of portraying signwriting, both […]

4 Oct 2017

John Hawkins, Steeles & Chaney Signs

This ghostsign on Stoke Newington High Street comes at about the halfway point of my walking tour through the area. It is a palimpsest which has been well researched by Sébastien Ardouin. I recently took a couple of close-up photos, one of which has added to this information about the sign. Sébastien references this old […]

25 Feb 2017

Photos of Old Stoke Newington

Amir Dotan’s excellent History of Stoke Newington project has just published over 4,000 images on Flickr, from a variety of sources. They are well worth a browse, as are his Facebook and Twitter feeds. While looking through I pulled out a handful relating to locations featured on my Ghostsigns Walking Tour. The famous, and listed, […]

3 Jan 2017

Ghostsigns with the Gentle Author on Spitalfields Life

I’ve recently had the pleasure of meeting the Gentle Author, creator and driver of the incredible daily posts on Spitalfields Life. We explored the routes of my North and South London Ghostsigns Tours, which have been documented on the blog (here and here). As with my public walks I enjoyed seeing the signs through another’s […]

17 Oct 2016

The Ghostsigns Tours App is Out Now

The Ghostsigns Tours App, and the Bankside Ghostsigns Walk within it, are now available from iTunes and Google Play (for Android). The app brings the popular Ghostsigns Walking Tours to your mobile device, for enjoyment at street level, or from the comfort of your own home. A mixture of contemporary and archival photography is used […]

16 Sep 2016

Light Capsules from Craig Winslow

Craig Winslow is an experiential designer who has recently turned his gaze towards ghostsigns, and the creative possibilities offered by applying his expertise in light projection mapping. The idea first came to him during a trip across America and has grown since. In essence it involves recreating the fading signs through a process of typographic […]

7 Sep 2016

Ghostsigns Walking Tours: One Year On

This time last year I was setting out with my crash test dummies on the first ever Ghostsigns Walking Tour in Stoke Newington, London. It went well enough for me to continue running them and I’ve now taken the walk 24 times, with 220 people, leading to 42 (not so bad) ratings for the tour […]

20 Oct 2014

Who You Gonna Call?

This was the scene on Cazenove Road, Stoke Newington, on the morning of Monday 28 July. The photo was snapped from the top floor of flats overlooking this famous ghostsign for John Brown Whiskies. I received it via email with a message concerned about the fate of the sign, in light of the forthcoming building […]

27 Aug 2014

Ghostsigns on Londonist Out Loud

I took N Quentin Woolf of Londonist Out Loud on a portion of my Ghostsigns Walking Tour in Stoke Newington. The result is this podcast (here on itunes, and here on Londonist) which we managed to record despite the myriad noises and distractions on the street. Thanks Quentin for putting it together.

14 Jun 2014

Ghost Signs and Public Lettering in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter

On 21 May, before my Type Talk at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, I helped lead a walk through the city’s historic Jewellery Quarter. This was in collaboration with Geraldine Marshall of the Birmingham Graphic DNA Project, and focused on the ghostsigns and public lettering that can be found in the quarter. It was […]

4 Jun 2014

Time Travel with Google Streetview

This fragment of a ghostsign for Daren Bread in Stoke Newington is one of the stops on my walking tour in the area. Now, thanks to Google Streetview’s new ‘timelapse’ feature, we are able to visit the location as it was in 2008, prior to the removal of the mounted sign for Lemongrass. This clearly […]

29 Apr 2014

Talks and Tours from Ghostsigns

I’m pleased to announce to regular readers of the Ghostsigns blog that I have some events coming up that should be of interest. Ghostsigns at St Bride: An illustrated talk on 20 November, previewed on Creative Review Ghostsigns walking tours: Join me in admiring some of ghostsigns that started my interest (including the one above), […]

3 Nov 2013

Public lettering walk with Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon on their latest Public Lettering walk, organised through the excellent St Bride Library events programme. As with my earlier walking tour in this part of London (Type Tour West) it started at the library but then took a different route to weave through Smithfield before […]

24 May 2013

Walking tours and talks with Frank Jump

A couple of treats next week for those residing in, or visiting, New York from Frank Jump, author of the excellent ‘Fading Ads of New York City’: 1. An Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing on the evening of Wednesday, 3rd October at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. 2. Two walking tours of New York’s fading […]

29 Sep 2012

Jim Power’s mosaics, a piece of New York history

‘Mosaic Man’ Jim Power profiled in this film showing his work on the Mosaic Trail, a Lower Manhattan art exhibit depicting the people and the history of the area and the city. Sadly many of his works were destroyed but he’s now on a mission to reinstate them. A bit off piste for this blog […]

6 Aug 2012

The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum

Walldog is the nickname given to those that once roamed the USA painting signs and slogans on brick walls, roadside barns and any other surface capable of providing a canvass for their advertising art. The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum is a celebration of their work, located in Pontiac, Illinois, The city also houses a […]

31 Jul 2012

Fort Collins and Watertown Ghostsigns

Building on the various tours and trails already published on this site, here are some more: Download a pdf of the Fort Collins Ghost Signs Tour (1) Download a pdf of the Fort Collins Ghost Signs Tour (2) Download a pdf of the Watertown Murals and Ghost Signs Tour Besides the two walking tours above, […]

17 Jul 2012

Mural walks in Brixton and East London

The London Mural Preservation Society has organised two walking tours showcasing some of London’s most iconic murals.  Check the PDFs below for full details and contact information for the society. East London Line Mural Walk, Saturday 30th June (download PDF with details of East London Line Mural Walk) Brixton Mural Walk, Sunday, 15th July (download PDF with details […]

25 Jun 2012

Guided tour of hand painted advertising on walls in Utrecht, 11th May

It may be too late to book but for those in the Utrecht area this (pdf flyer) looks to be an informative tour of the city’s historic wall advertising.  (Organised by Writing on the Wall.)

10 May 2012

Frank Jump leads a guided tour of Greenpoint, New York

Frank Jump led this tour last week to raise awareness of the ‘fading ads’ in this part of New York.  I was a bit slow off the mark to preview it but fortunately Jeremiah at Fading New York did just that and used the opportunity to ask Frank a few questions about his passion for […]

24 Mar 2012