Deciphering a ghostsign in Petherton Road – Laundries and Landaulettes

Earlier week Sam Roberts contacted me to see if I could help with an enquiry he'd received about a faded sign near to the southern tip of Clissold Park.

Pic: Adam Broude

Adam Broude wanted to know if anyone had further info about a faded sign at the western end of Leconfield Road, near Newington Green, London N5. He'd managed to decipher a few words including 'General' and  'Landaulettes' so, having stood on that same spot a few weeks back, pondering the same, I thought I best get sleuthing.
I consulted a few old directories and it's clear we have two signs here; one for a company providing laundry and shirt mending facilities and a second one advertising upmarket vehicles for hire. Landaulettes are coupé versions landaus often used by dignitaries etc.
As for deciphering the sign, the best I can see and guess at, so far, is:

PETHERTON 
LAUNDRY 
SHIRT & COLLAR DRESSERS 
(and?) 
GENERAL LA... [probably LAUNDRY] ..... 
(under the satellite dish, only odd letters distinguishable)... HIRE (?)
LANDAULETTES, SALOONS 
& TOURING (?) CARS 
(a scrolly shape) then possibly LON[don?] 

Collar dressers were people who repaired shirts by mending or attaching new collars and cuffs. The 1882 directory shows Robert Ramsey, collar dresser, at 138 Petherton Rd, at the northern end of the street, so the relevance to this sign is doubtful.
By 1895 Ramsey has gone but another laundry has opened at the corner of Leconfield Road owned by William Charles Crooks, perfectly positioned to be relevant to this ghostsign. He was still trading from the same address until at least 1915 (I have no directories for the 1920s to hand). Around the corner, the 'London Shirt and Collar Dressing Company, laundry' is listed at 16 Green Lanes. There is a possibility that these two premises might have been part of the same company, one being a shop on the main drag and the other the actual laundry where the work was carried out.
By 1939, the laundry at the corner of Leconfield Rd has gone and another one has opened at No.128 (today=Mala) run by S&L Morris. Again, due to the distance from the ghostsign, I don't think this is the answer.
As regards car hire, I suggest the sign is for a motor company that would have been at 116 Petherton Rd which, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was a bicycle depot that later expanded to motorised vehicles. Today we can see a ghostsign for Barnes Motors at that address. In 1939, The Petherton Motor Works were at that location, though there are no laundries listed in the vicinity at that time.
Therefore I think the cars are the key to the date of the sign. Landaus were fashionable vehicles in the late 1920s/ early 1930s and this ties up with the laundry. 
Any further info is most welcome.

*I am still waiting to hear back from him re what he did with all this research and any feedback from his customer customer

My old GT6 Mk2 is still on the road – a reunion at the Classic Carboot Sale

On Saturday afternoon I went for a mooch around the Classic Carboot Sale at Kings Cross. I have traded there in the past but this time I thought I'd have a weekend off and be a punter.
The first car I saw inside the market area was a 1971 blue Truimph GT6 Mk2:

April 2018 – Granary Square, Kings Cross 

I said to my friend, "I had one just like that"
And then I did a double-take...
OH
MY
GOD!
"That's my old car!"
Or was it wishful thinking?
But the number plate was so familiar – EPK is in Parker, I was 20 when I bought it, and J is for Jane – I'd always thought this too much of a coincidence when I had it.
Could this really be my car?!
So when I got home I dug out my old photos.
And.... YES!

1983 – on the front garden in Albert Road, Romford, and in Bedfords Park

I'd bought it from a man in Collier Row, north Romford, and two years later sold it to another local man. Steve, the latest owner, tells me bought it in Essex and that's where he lives too. So it's never gone far.
The black and chrome-wire number plates on it today are the ones that were bought for me as birthday present by my friend Gary (an ex-boyfriend) who had helped me buy the GT6 and did all the maintenance/mechanical stuff. In fact, I think that's why he'd encouraged me to buy it because he loved working on old cars. He used to drive round in a subtlely converted Imperial Maroon Ford Anglia with "big boots and Ecobra seats". As he'd say, "Tidy!"
I notice Steve has made a few modifications and additions to the car. He as replaced or recovered the seats – they used to be tan vinyl which could be rather uncomfortable/sweaty on a hot day – no air con back then! And he's changed the wheels to those spokey ones – as you can see I never got around to replacing the hubcaps that were on it when I bought it.
It was a joy to drive, though I sometimes did feel as if I was going to take off and fly especially when on open motorways. And on returning to a car park I was often thinking it had been stolen being as it's so much lower than most other cars – and then there was that "phew!" moment when I saw it hiding behind an estate car.
I only sold it because I barely used it. I had a job in Covent Garden and went out mostly in the West End after work or used my British Rail season ticket to go back and forth at weekends. Though the car was great for local nights out or trips away and I visited friends all over the the country.
Also, though the engine was excellent, thanks to Gary, it needed some body repairs specifically to the floor and the cills and finding the correct parts had proved difficult so, seeing as by 1985 I was looking to fly the nest, I sold it and spent the money on stuff I needed for my new home.
Ah... happy memories though.
And at 52 I am glad to see it's still looking good.
I didn't get another car until about eight years later. They'll be no chance of seeing that one again because it died on me in Camden Road and the prognosis was that the cost of the repairs would far exceed the value of the car. So I made some phone calls and man from the breakers came and collected it for scrap. I watched as the claws took hold and squished it then lifted and dropped it onto the flat bed lorry. And then we waved goodbye. That was 2007. I haven't had a car since.

All Offers Considered

Last weekend I spent two days in Lewis Cubitt Square, Kings Cross trying to sell off some of the bric-a-brac I have somehow amassed over years at the Classic Car Boot Sale. Apparently the green Roller I was paired with belongs to a famous artist. He wasn't there though; a friend of his was borrowing it for the weekend.

Markets like these are lively events but I have now had enough and the two pics of me in the bottom row, above, sort of say it all – doing stalls etc is fun but it's just so tiring, so energy-sapping. All I want to do at the end of each day is have a bath, eat comfort food, stare at rubbish on the TV and then go to bed early.
I have therefore decided no more markets of this kind for me – my achy old bones can't take it any more and in a couple of weeks I will be eBay-ing what's left at very low starting prices. I can't even be bothered to do a carboot sale!
If there is anything in the pics above that catches your eye (excluding me, the car and the cards) do contact me and make me an offer. And there's plenty more stuff not shown... grunt...

Trendell's Daimler Hire Service – Wembley 1657

This rather lovely ghostsign advertisement for Trendell's can be found on the side of a red brick building on the corner of Thurlow Gardens, Wembley.

It looks 1930s to me. As you can see, they would have been an up-market company offering [chauffeur-driven] Daimler vehicles for hire.
Note also the pre-1966 phone code WEM-1567, where WEM is short for Wembley and would have been equivalent to 936 on a keypad. More old London phone codes here.

A Waterloo Walk – marvellous mosaics and classic cars

On a recent walking tour of the Southbank led by the very informative Peter Bertoud he showed us the doorway to Southbank Mosaics in the crypt St John's. I had no idea about this. Neither did I know about the marvellous sculpture garden that surrounds the church. Of course, I will be investigating this further on a personal creative level.

A fabulous community project – check here for how to make some mosaics of your own

In nearby Roupell Street, one of the roads in the small conservation area nearby that I notice is being used as a location in the excellent second series of Unforgotten on ITV at the moment, I spotted some lovely old cars:

Classic cars in a great location – Three Citroëns and a Morris Minor

Nice eh?
Check out Peter's excellent walks and blog here.

Terry O'Neill exhibition at Fiat Chrysler Motor Village

Take a detour from your shopping expedition and rather than turn into M&S near Marble Arch, instead turn down Orchard Street to the corner of Wigmore Street and check out the wonderful exhibition of large scale limited prints by Terry O'Neill on sale through The Ransom Gallery at Fiat Chrysler Motor Village until 22nd May.

And check out the cars too.  Though, when I was there I scrutinised the vehicles and couldn't fathom why so much mis-matched moulded plastic faux-chrome is being used these days. Ugh.
And don't get me started on the decal(?) black camouflage on the Fiat and the strange futuristic over-designed multi-headlamps on the Alfa. Ugh ugh. 

Vintage Car Boot at Kings Cross this weekend

Find me selling all sorts of bric-a-brac, tins, accessories and what-not tomorrow and Sunday at Cubitt's Yard, Kings Cross.
For more info see the website.
Here's a video of last year
And some pics:

Kev's taxi will be there on Sunday only this year

Previous events at different locations: September 2014,  March 2015

Classic Car Boot Sale this weekend at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

You'd have probably thought I'd be banging on about this being Open House weekend, but I'd booked up for the Classic Car Boot Sale before I realised the clash.
And anyway, I have worn myself out in previous years chasing about London looking at interiors.
Tomorrow and Saturday you will find me and my friend Kevin outdoors selling all sorts of bric-a-brac from the boot of one of his cars – a black 1965 Zodiac (see bottom right) as used/featured in Endeavour, a Dr Who special and a Dizzee Rascal promo.

Pics from the March 2014 event along the Southbank

Electric cars – are they our friends?

See what I did there? Two Gary Numan songs for the price of one.

But to the point... what's all this nonsense about electric cars needing a noise? Are we all expected to go blind some time soon?

Do humans have motion noises? Ditto dogs and cats? Do pushbikes make any sounds? Well, yes, riders are supposed to have and use a bell, but they don't.

We have eyes at the front of our heads with which to see if there is traffic coming – has no one learned how to use or cross a road?

So who are we/they 'protecting' this time?

Oh yes, those jaywalking numpties who are far too busy twittering and listening to their iPods to be arsed to learn the difference between road and pavement.

Whatever noise is chosen it's going to be awful... nee-nah nee-nah, ding-a-ling, whoosh, parp parp, vehicle reversing, vehicle reversing... ker-thump!

And where do people think all this electricity is going to come from? Will it be magic'd out of thin air? A lot of energy goes into making energy, you know.

Top: Bermondsey, Bloomsbury, Lambeth, Brompton

Middle: Southwark, Hoxton, Dalston, Bloomsbury (RIP)

Bottom: Lambeth, Battersea, Hackney, Vauxhall