Bankside Ghostsigns Walk
Join ghost signs expert Sam Roberts for the Bankside Ghostsigns Walk. You’ll take a stroll (in real life, or virtually) through Bermondsey and Bankside, South East London, and learn about their fading painted signs. With both audio and text options, you’ll hear their stories told, and those of the businesses they represent, including:
- Why the leather trade set up in Bermondsey;
- The creation of fake (or ‘faux’) ghost signs for film sets and to market property;
- A variety of novel productions techniques, and whether signs produced in these ways are ‘ghost’ signs, or not;
- The various impacts of the Second World War on the area’s signs.
The walk lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes on foot, or 40 minutes if done in ‘armchair’ mode using the google streetview links. Each stop is located on google maps, with directions given to aid navigation between them. The signs are transcribed and their stories (audio and text) enriched with a wealth of archival and other contextual images.
The walk was originally developed for the London Design Festival in collaboration with Better Bankside. Many of the featured signs are included alongside more than 250 across the Capital in the book Ghost Signs: A London Story, published by Isola Press (order page).
30 Days
This plan gives 30 days’ full access to the Bankside Ghostsigns Walk, including audio, text and images for each of the 19 stops along the route. Every one is geo-located with google streetview links if you want to access the content remotely. There are also links to further references and resources. If you are a full-time student or unemployed then please contact sam@ghostsigns.co.uk to receive a discount coupon.