Wild thing

Here's a pretty tiled entrance sign in Stockport's lovely old market place. I believe Wild was a shoe shop - the building is now part of the excellent Stockport Story museum. It's in an interesting part of town: the beautiful Victorian covered market has a great vintage fair once a month. The atmospheric Staircase House museum is next door. And once you've done all that you can treat yourself to a fantastic Art Deco afternoon tea in the Plaza. All this just seven miles out of Manchester. If you're coming from that direction, why not treat yourself to a trip on the fabled 192 bus route too?

Shh!

Shh, please close the doors quietly at St Katharine Cree in Leadenhall Street, London. How can you ignore such a graceful sign? Spread across two doors, it seems to have stood the test of time.

Bury nice

I went to Bury market for the first time today and it's rather splendid. It's been voted best market in Britain several times, and no wonder: you can buy pretty much anything, from black pudding to gravestones. You're welcomed by this pretty sign, and in you go, greeted by smells of fresh food, fish, bread, pastries and puddings. There's been a market in Bury since 1444, and it's so popular, it's even got its own coach stop.

Down memory lane

I walked down Portobello Road recently and it was fun. I used to hang out there years ago as a teenager, thinking I was very cool under the Westway and at Rough Trade Records. I was pleased to see this old sign still there among the antique and vintage clothes stalls. The market is going from strength to strength and the bits by the Westway manage to look great while still holding on to a bit of quirky.