Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Ghost Signs in Harringay?
I just caught a news article on the BBC News Web site on ghost signs. I often see these on various walls and wondered if there are any good ones around the neighbourhood.
Tags for Forum Posts: ghost sign, old shop sign, shop signs
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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I think there is a Hovis one at the bottom of one of the ladder roads but I can't remember which.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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It's at the bottom of Hewitt. There's an online project somewhere that collects contributions from people to record these. Smiler but different, I've been collating images of old Harringay shops signs as they make their fleeting appearances.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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In 1958 the left-hand sign was photographed, here: http://www.harringayonline.com/photo/down-local-train-at-harringay, reading "John Bull" and in 1968 they both were but the image quality isn't sharp enough for me to make it out, here: http://www.harringayonline.com/photo/flying-scotsman-travelling
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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Good spot Gordon!
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The right hand sign reads "Stevens & Steeds" and if you google that exact phrase you should find a decent photo on flickr, with a comment that links to the http://www.ghostsigns.co.uk/ website. From other references, they were a chain of grocery stores, including one locally on Tottenham Lane, and earlier in the Rathcoole Gardens area in Hornsey.
As for the left hand building, the painted area is a sort of palimpsest where older signs have leached through paint for newer signs, and I think some repointing of mortar hasn't helped either. I think it now predominantly reads 'Brymay' which was a brand of safety matches from Bryant and May. The older sign for 'John Bull' was advertising car tyres (and bicycle tyres and puncture kits too, I seem to recall).
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Apologies if I'm repeating old stuff, but can I mention Sam Roberts' amazing - to me, anyway - website about ghost signs. Naturally it's http://www.ghostsigns.co.uk/
Things that get stored, safeguarded and treasured tend to be valuable and special. The sheer ordinary everydayness of these signs makes their chance preservation more of a wonder.
(By the way, if you can't read them easily, it sometimes helps to look again after rain. Or - easier - take a photo and do some quick simple editing later at home.)
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Cool, great to see he has managed to make a business out of it too!
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I wasn't clear if you have to walk the paid tour in sepia tinted glasses. London looked so different before they invented different colour paints.
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I was at Hammersmith (coming in over ground via the Hammersmith and City Line) and saw this overlooking the platform! It took a minute or so to work out what you got twice a day for 2'6. It seems like it is saying Palais de Danse
I found a lot online about it:
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