Offices past

This delightful ghost sign lives on in the Chinatown district of Manchester. The offices at 36 Charlotte Street were known as Fraser House, and were built in about 1855 by Edward Walters. The building is now grade II listed.

This wall is the entire property of the county of Middlesex

Strange little sign in Sans Walk, in the Clerkenwell area of London. Why did the county of Middlesex only own this one wall? Why did they invest in a sign to boast of this paucity of property? It's a mystery. If you know more, please do tell.

Confection of delights

This sign, on the corner of Shaw Road and Heaton Moor Road in Heaton Moor, Stockport, looked so great against the blue sky that I had to take a picture.

When the nearby railway station at Heaton Chapel was built in 1852, shops and houses sprang up around Heaton Moor road to meet the needs of the new commuters. This building was originally George Hallmark’s Bakers and Flour Dealers, and when it was converted to the Kro Bar they kindly kept the old signs.

If you’re interested, there’s a great photo of the shop in 1905 in the somewhat mesmerising book “The Four Heatons through time”, by Ian Littlechilds and Phil Page. For ideal results, read it in the Kro Bar. 

Stockport station - so good they named it twice

A man walked into Stockport Station recently and asked the guard if he was in the right place – he was due to pick up his friend from the London train arriving that evening at Edgeley Station.  The guard laughed and said he was in the right place, but he was about 40 years too late. In answer to the man’s puzzled face, the guard explained that the station was called Stockport station, but it had once been known as Stockport Edgeley station, to avoid confusion with the nearby Stockport Tiviot Dale station - which had closed in 1967.

And it is confusing. The modern front of the station is called Stockport, but at the back of the station (where the short stay car park is), this wonderful mosaic sign remains - to the confusion of some visitors. 

I'm a fire watcher

I was thrilled to find this ghost sign from World War two on a building in China Lane (on the corner of Dale Street), central Manchester.

The fire watcher’s job was to look out for incendiary bombs, and put the fire out before it spread. The Fire Watchers Order of 1940 required factories and large businesses to provide their own fire watchers. Hundreds of incendiary bombs were dropped at a time, and a fire watcher’s equipment included a bucket of sand and a bucket of water.

There’s a good account of what it was like to be a fire watcher in Manchester on the BBC here. 

Local hero

Nelstrops Albion Mills in Stockport.

I’ve gone past this mill countless times, and have always admired the white wash of flour up the side of the building. It was only when I saw Nelstrops flour for sale in a local shop that I was prompted to look into its history.

It turns out that Nelstrops is the only independent family miller in the North West. The company was founded in 1820 by an enterprising 19 year old, William Nelstrop, who later became Mayor of Stockport. According to the company’s website, he was offered a knighthood by Queen Victoria for his role in defusing the anti-corn law riots, but refused the honour – partly because he sympathised with the poor who could not afford bread, and partly because the lower wheat prices would benefit his business.

The business is still run by his descendants, and the Albion Mills on Lancashire Hill have survived fires and blitz. The sign on the top says the building was erected in 1820 and rebuilt in 1894.

Read more on the company's website

Ghost train

You're surrounded by history in Plymouth's Barbican area. This wonderful ghost sign has survived competition, depression, blitz and redevelopment, and happily towers over tourists today.