Fading painted signs

Stoke Newington

[Download in high resolution] At 49 Stoke Newington Church Street, junction with Lancell Road, is this fragment of a ghost sign which, despite my best efforts, has remained a mystery in terms of decyphering. It would once have extended further to the right to fill […]

Lancell Road’s Mystery Ghost Sign

This entry was posted in Sign Stories and tagged Hackney Lancell Street London Mystery N16 Stoke Newington Stoke Newington Church Street UK on November 2, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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 (18 Feb and 15 Apr) and Bankside (18 […]

The Future of Ghostsigns’ Walking Tours

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives and tagged Bankside Bankside Ghostsigns Walk Ghostsigns Ghostsigns Tours App Ghostsigns Walking Tour Sam Roberts Stoke Newington Tours on February 2, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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 […]

On Tour with Albani Calusin and RMIT

This entry was posted in Signs in Media and tagged Albani Calusin Australia Ghostsigns Walking Tour London Melbourne N16 RMIT Sam Roberts Stoke Newington Tours UK on January 5, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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 […]

Numbers 3-7 Stoke Newington Church Street

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Stories and tagged A Nation of Shopkeepers Amir Dotan Art BEJ Smith Confectionery Hackney History of Stoke Newington Laurence George Shepherd London N16 Newsagent Player's Player's No.6 Privilege Reveal Rosa Sheppards Market Starlove Stoke Newington Stoke Newington Church Street Tobacco UK on December 29, 2017 by Sam Roberts

This fragment was one of my early discoveries when I first started noticing ghost signs in 2006. It was located on a very prominent wall on Stoke Newington Church Street, adjacent to William Patten School. At some stage after it was originally painted the patch […]

Wine & Willing: A Stoke Newington Mystery

This entry was posted in Sign Stories and tagged Bread Collective Fragment Grapes Illustration James Willing London N16 Stoke Newington Stoke Newington Church Street Stoke Newington Heritage Mural UK Vine Leaves Willing Advertising Wine Wine Glass on November 12, 2017 by Sam Roberts

Guests on my Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk in early 2015 were lucky to see a bonus fading fascia en route, advertising The Vacuum Shop. This was revealed by works to the Anglo Asian restaurant, which now straddles numbers 60 and 62 Stoke Newington Church Street. […]

The Vacuum Shop and George Braun

This entry was posted in Sign Making Sign Stories and tagged Ben Selig Catherine Shields Conservation Fading Fascias Fascia Fascias Geo Braun George Braun Ghost Signs Ghostsigns Hackney London N16 Protection Shop Fronts Signwriter Stoke Newington Stoke Newington Church Street The Vacuum Shop UK on April 15, 2017 by Sam Roberts

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 […]

John Hawkins, Steeles & Chaney Signs

This entry was posted in Sign Making Sign Stories and tagged Chaney Chaney Advertising Dalston De Beauvoir Englefield Road Ghostsigns Walking Tour Hackney John Hawkings Kingsland Road London Palimpsest Sébastien Ardouin Signwriter Steeles Stoke Newington Stoke Newington High Street Tours UK William Chaney on February 25, 2017 by Sam Roberts

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 […]

Photos of Old Stoke Newington

This entry was posted in Photo Essays and tagged Alan Denney Amir Dotan Ghostsigns Walking Tour London N16 Stoke Newington Tours UK on January 3, 2017 by Sam Roberts

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 […]

Ghostsigns with the Gentle Author on Spitalfields Life

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Signs in Media and tagged Bankside Bankside Ghostsigns Walk Gentle Author Ghostsigns Ghostsigns Tours App Ghostsigns Walking Tour London N16 SE1 Spitalfields Life Stoke Newington Tours UK on October 17, 2016 by Sam Roberts

This weekend I’m bringing a collection of original painted signs from Kratie, Cambodia, and photography of others across the country to A.S. Handover in Stoke Newington, London. The exhibition is completely free and I’ll be there all weekend to discuss the material and sign copies […]

Signs of Cambodia: Free London Exhibition

This entry was posted in Sign Collections and tagged A.S. Handover Battambang Cambodia Exhibition Hand-Painted Signs of Kratie Kratie London Phnom Penh Sam Roberts Stoke Newington UK on December 3, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Large piece of painted advertising fading on a wall — 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, […]

Ghostsigns Walking Tours: One Year On

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives and tagged Ghostsigns London N16 Sam Roberts Stoke Newington Tours on October 20, 2014 by Sam Roberts

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 […]

Who You Gonna Call?

This entry was posted in Sign Stories Signs of Note and tagged Alcohol Cazenove Road John Brown John Brown Whiskies London N16 Stoke Newington Stokie Tours UK Whisky on August 27, 2014 by Sam Roberts

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 […]

Ghostsigns on Londonist Out Loud

This entry was posted in Signs in Media and tagged Derelict London Interview London Londonist Londonist Out Loud N Quentin Woolf N16 Podcast Press Radio Sam Roberts Stoke Newington Tours UK on June 14, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Reverse painted glass sign advertising W.A.Higgs — Walking past Tatreez, the Palestinian restaurant, I spotted this beautiful Victorian sign on the inside. It is clearly a shop fascia which got me wondering why it isn’t on the front? I did some digging at the Hackney Archives and found out that W.A.Higgs & […]

W.A.Higgs & Co: A Stoke Newington Beauty

This entry was posted in Individual Signs Painted Lettering and tagged Fading Fascias Fascia Higgs Indoors London N16 Stoke Newington Tatreez Tea UK W.A. Higgs on May 21, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Partial remains of fading painted sign on a brick wall advertising Daren Bread — 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 […]

Time Travel with Google Streetview

This entry was posted in Individual Signs and tagged Daren Bread Google Hackney London Mapping N16 Stoke Newington Streetview Timelapse Tours UK on April 29, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Hand-painted shop fascia for D.Appell — Ghostsigns are regularly revealed by property development and the updating or removal of billboards. This is the first instance I’ve come across of the weather, in this case the wind, leading to a shop fascia becoming visible once again. The ‘Valentine’s Day Storm’ last Friday […]

D.Appell Fascia Revealed by the Valentine’s Day Storm

This entry was posted in Individual Signs Painted Lettering and tagged D.Appell Greengrocer Hackney Archives Hackney Society London N16 Peter Hardwicke Reveal Stoke Newington UK on February 19, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Painted sign on a wall advertising R Ellis, Ironmonger — 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 […]

Talks and Tours from Ghostsigns

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives and tagged Event Ghostsigns London N16 Sam Roberts St Bride Stoke Newington Talks Tours on November 3, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Fading hand-painted sign on a Hackney wall advertising Blooms Pianos — Love Local Landmarks, an English Heritage-backed project, has been successful in gaining local listing status for two of Hackney’s most famous ghostsigns. The Blooms Piano sign (above) and the Waterman’s Fountain Pen sign on Stoke Newington Church Street have both been recognised for their “Aesthetic […]

Local listing status for Hackney ghostsigns

This entry was posted in Sign Preservation Signs of Note and tagged Blooms Pianos English Heritage Ghostsigns Hackney Hackney Council Hackney Society Listing Local Listing London Love Local Landmarks N16 Protection Stoke Newington UK Watermans Fountain Pen on May 12, 2013 by Sam Roberts

While back in the UK recently I spotted this while strolling around in my old Stoke Newington stomping ground. Those familiar with the site as it once was will have some sense of what they’re trying to do here. I’m guessing the primary motivation is […]

The partial repainting of F.C. Dyson Provisions & Groceries, Stoke ...

This entry was posted in Individual Signs Related Work and tagged Dyson Ghostsigns London N16 Restoration Stoke Newington on June 9, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Peeling black and white hand painted sign on a building advertising Strongs Meat — After discovering the ‘Ghost Signs of Louisville’ Tour on History Pin I couldn’t resist having a go myself. The preliminary result is my first tour, ‘Stoke Newington Ghostsigns’. I reckon the walk would take a couple of hours depending on how long you stop to […]

Stoke Newington Ghostsigns: History Pin Tour

This entry was posted in Photo Essays and tagged Food Hackney History Pin London Meat N16 Slogan Stoke Newington Strongs Tours UK on December 18, 2011 by Sam Roberts

Vortex Jazz Bar Stoke Newington — 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 […]

Vortex (RIP)

This entry was posted in Individual Signs and tagged Hackney Jazz London Music RIP Stoke Newington Stoke Newington Church Street UK Vortex on June 18, 2007 by Sam Roberts

Watermans Ideal Fountain Pen — This is my first venture into blogging and so I thought an intro post might be worthwhile.I will be updating with new discoveries all the time but here’s a nice opener of the sign that inspired me. It is in Stoke Newington and from an […]

Welcome to Ghost Signs

This entry was posted in Signs of Note and tagged Hackney London N16 Stoke Newington Stoke Newington Church Street UK on June 16, 2007 by Sam Roberts