Interesting man hole covers in Camden – numbered and wood-filled

Walking down Parker Street a few weeks ago, on my way to find The Herds* I saw three circular man hole covers at the junction with Newton Street and went to get a closer look to see if any fragments of wood were in them. Nope. But, unusually, they all have their identification codes still visible.

More recently, whilst leading my Art Deco Camden walking tour last Saturday, I glanced down at the tarmac in Greenland Street, just before its junction with Camden High Street, and noticed a square cover plate containing remnants of wood block road surface, set within the parking bay. I returned after the walk to take some photos: 

I'm unsure what kind of utilities were accessible beneath here but eighteen of the 25 small square sections still contain wood. Wow!  How had I missed this before? Probably because I was only looking for circular covers as per the ones in Chalk Farm Road. You'll find a list of my ever-expanding collection of woodblock sightings in the A-Z here.  

There may well be other similar grid-format examples nearby, but on Saturday it was too hot to be out in full sunshine in the middle of the day so I will have a look another day. 

Round the corner in Greenland Place there is another interesting 'ghostsign' manhole cover – Mercury Communications – remember them?!

*did you see The Herds? Wow! Images and videos can be found on my Instagram @janeslondon / @janeslondonwalks

Is this the oldest building on Oxford Street?

At the eastern end of Oxford Street, between Centrepoint and Soho Square, there remains a patchwork terrace that I'm glad to see has not succumbed to the heavy-handed rebuilding that has affected many large blocks to the east. 

At the centre of my photo above, you'll see a skinny dark building at 41 Oxford Street. Is this, I wonder, the oldest building on Oxford Street? Viewed from the top deck of a bus it's possible to get a better look of the bay windows, and the decorative panels between them.

The upper floors are currently empty, as per the buildings either side and much of old Oxford Street, which begs the question, why are the powers that be building big new shiny new things everywhere else?! But that's a subject for another day in a pub.

I have tried to find out more about the history of No.41 made all the more confusing that, until the early 1880s, this street was numbered consecutively along the North side from Tottenham Court Rd to Hyde Park and then back along the South side ending at No.440. Luckily, the 1882 directory makes clear the changing numbers and we see that the property in question used to be No.421 which, in 1882, was listed as George Lloyd's coffee house. Delving a few decades further back to 1841, the occupant was Manuel Ferran, wine merchant.

A couple of years before earlier, John Tallis was busy creating illustrative streetscapes of London, and his depiction of No.421 shows a different building altogether:

Tallis, London Street Views, 1838-40, Peter Jackson, London Topographical Society, first published 1969

I'm guessing that the Georgian properties were replaced during Oxford Street's metamorphosis into a fancy shopping high street and the building we see today is c1860 or thereabouts. What do you think? 

I also notice within the Tallis illustration that No.421 is annotated as Brooks & Son, wholesale stationers, and I am now wondering if this has any connection to Vincent Brooks's lithographic printing company that would later amalgamate with Day & Sons, a mega-company that I talk about on my Covent Garden Ghostsigns guided walk... give me a minute... yep... here was John Brooks, the radical printer, the son being Vincent.

I love it when things cross-reference like that. 

If the Search facility is not visible at top right...

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Sticking my oar in

Here's another one that's been a long time festering in my inbox...

At 65 Gresham Street, on the corner of Aldermanbury, there is an office building with blue juliet balconies running around the first level. 

But, look closely to see that they resemble oars/paddles.

I've often wondered if these are a reference to one of the many livery companies in the area, specifically a company that uses boats, the prime candidate being the Company of Watermen and Lightermen. Perhaps these paddles could be a visual clue to property ownership, as per the Mercers' Maiden motifs...?

Having just looked into this today, I discover that 65 Gresham Street, a building constructed in 2000 for Legal & General that replaced Barrington House, is currently empty and plans are underway to refit the building, keeping most of the the exterior – read more here – yet the illustration within that link does not appear to show these intriguing bits of metal.

There is no mention in that link about the freeholder of the land on which it sits which still could be something to do with water. Any ideas? 

Do go and see them soon because they clearly aren't going to be in place much longer. They may well be scrapped or sold as architectural salvage. 

If you are associated with a rowing club or similar, these might be a worthy addition to your boathouse.

A house in Tudor Street, a ghostsign in Primrose Hill and a bit of Fleet Street history

This is about  a ghostsign that I have been trying to pin down for years, yet every time I end up going round in circles and I get nowhere, so I am posting it all here in the hope someone else can fill in the blanks.

24 Tudor Street, at the junction of Whitefriars Street, EC4, is a late Georgian 5-bay house, surely one of the oldest buildings in the vicinity (excluding Temple). It has, for over 140 years, been split into three businesses at street level, a barber, a store and a cafe, with, offices/residential above (tbc).

Google's aerial view shows how the old house backs onto a narrow street called Primrose Hill* no doubt named after flowers that once grew in its garden:

On the back of the house, high up on the right as you enter Primrose Hill from Whitefriars Street, there is a faded hand-painted advertisement for a company whose name appears to end in WERS. 

The major company adjacent to this sign from the 1890s was RT Tanner & Co, paper merchants, with large premises at 39-40 Hutton Street and 40-42 Salisbury Court. But the letters WERS do do tally with that company or any other businesses here for that matter. I'm wondering if it's a 1920's sign for a short-lived company as I have no immediate access to records for that period. 

The modern red bricks is Hutton Street (the rear of 22 Tudor Street) and the magnificent 1920's building is Northcliffe House built as the Daily Mail's HQ – surely a better example of this style of architecture than the M&S store that everyone's been banging on about (!).

Aware that a sign on a wall does not necessarily signify that the ad is for something within that actual building, I also searched in vain for possible candidates in adjacent Salisbury Court, an area layered in history but currently undergoing a large rebuilding project. Nothing.

Ah well, I will try again another day – do let me know if you have any ideas. 

I'd also like to find out the original owner of the house at 24 Tudor Street. The 1841 directory there are only two businesses listed in Tudor Street – William Farmer at No.2, a merchant (dealing in what?) and George Crouch, a bookseller and printer at No.5. However, the entry for Whitefriars, is more illuminating and suggests to me that the house might have been connected to one of the companies trading out of either of the two wharfs which would have been directly between the house and the river. 

I will update this info when I find out more.

Before returning to Whitefriars Street I walked through to Dorset Rise to marvel at the 1980's Neo Deco/Modernist Revival of the Travelodge – these days I am really heartened when I see this style whereas decades ago I would have derided it. This is the same reaction that what we call Art Deco would have garnered in its day, creating the Shards and Cheesegraters of their time.

Back to Whitefriars Street. As I crossed into Ashentree Court, I noticed a bespoke low relief in the pavement and an information panel in the window at the rear of Northcliffe House's most recent extension

This is the first of many panels telling the story of the building as well as technological and engineering processes behind the printing machinery housed here. It's hard to imagine today that this area was once a thriving, noisy environment, especially at night. All gone by 2000 by which time the newspapers had moved to Kensington and Canary Wharf. 

Here are some of the panels. Rubbish pics, so best you go and read them yourself next time you are walking through.

Ashentree Court merges into Magpie Alley where there's lots more info about Fleet Street imprinted onto the white-tiled walls – I spot something interesting every time. 

Exit onto Bouverie Street and turn left up towards Fleet Street, passing the Salisbury Court construction and 2021's large bizarre painted sundial where three panels tell more info about the heritage of Fleet Street and not just the newspapers.

View from the Fleet Street end of Bouverie Street looking down towards the Thames

That'll do!

*Confusing street names – the better-known Primrose Hill can be found just north of Regents Park. There's also another Hampton Court at the northern end end of Upper Street, Whetstone Park in Holborn and Cyprus is near London Airport.

Norbury and the high numbers (no, it's not a beat combo!)

Back in November 2022 I wrote about the 4-figure door numbers in Barnet. 

Subsequently, I'd had a brief look to see other similarly long roads in Greater London might have 4-figure door numbers, but I came up blank as regards Edgware Rd, Commercial Rd, Walworth Rd, and Old Kent Rd. 

The Fox & Hounds, No.1 London Road 

A few months ago, after visiting Croydon's marvellous Art Deco airport I was about to return home via West Croydon station when I noticed a bus heading towards Central London via the A23, so I hopped aboard for a top deck tour of South London. 

As I studied the screetscape to the side of me I noticed that the shops and houses bore door numbers in the high 1300s. Ooh. I was hooked. Up it went though the 1400s... 

... until it busted the Barnet ceiling of 1541...

...reaching its peak at Norbury Islamic Academy, 1595-7 London Road, mid-way between Norbury train station and the borough boundary designated by The River Graveney where the London Road meets the southern end of Streatham High Street.

An oddity along the way though...
does anyone have any idea what this 786 on No.1428 signifies?

All pics are screengrabs from Google Streetview

Art and craft in Bloomsbury

On my way from Covent Garden to Cockpit Open Studios on Thursday, I took one of my ‘follow my nose’ detours and turned off Theobald’s Road into Old Gloucester Street, tempted at first by the elegant 'Art Deco' façade of Faraday House but also keen to re-investigate the interesting back streets in this zone, because ever time I find something new to me.

Faraday House, built as an electrical engineering college – I love the chunky geometric letterform here which looks to me to be a 1980's NeoDeco addition (any info welcome) - note also, the FH within the railings. 

I was about to use the path by the playground into Boswell Street but, as I stopped to take a photo of the delightful cornerstone there, I recalled another typographic gem in this vicinity – the lovely metalwork in the alley that leads to the rear of number 27 showing that British Monomarks, a mail handling service, was established in 1925.

Gorgeous Jazz Age letterform

As I turned back and exited the alley I noticed an A-board in the street advertising a gallery and cafe that is open until 2.30pm. Ooh a gallery. I didn’t know there was one there at all.  I assumed this was a new venture. 

It was gone 3pm and I misunderstood the information on the sign, thinking that it was closed, especially as the doorways looks like it leads to offices/flats, so I wandered up and down looking at the outside of the building thinking it odd that I couldn’t see inside due to the high set schoolroom windows. Hmm. To hell with it! I decided to enter anyway and investigate. 

Well, knock me down with a feather – look at this:

What an amazing space! The wooden floor in the main room is wonderfully creaky. I was flabbergasted to discover from the lady at the reception desk that there has been a gallery here since 1979 yet, despite wandering past here many times, I’d never noticed it because it still looks like an ecclesiastic educational facility from the outside and I just assumed that the artworks depicted were by the pupils at an art class. 

The back room gives access to the residential spaces beyond.  I love that asymmetric pitched roof.

Then for a wander through the residential developments beyond – a complete contrast to the well-to-do Georgian era town houses in the area. I love the mix of different architectural styles, the murals and the hexagonal paving stones. 

At the end of Orde Hall Street I encountered a big gap in the streetscape where a large chunk of Great Ormond Street Hospital is being rebuilt. I checked the street view on my phone – the 3rd pic below is a screen grab showing what was there before:

And so to the Cockpit studios in Cockpit Yard off Northington Street where over 150 people beaver about being crafty.  

I chatted with many of the artists and especially enjoyed finding out about mosaics, metalwork, woodcarving, embroidery, weaving, basketry, tailoring and ceramics, making the decision to swerve the many many talented jewellers! 

The studios will be open all weekend. More info here.  

Next weekend, 13-15 June, I’ll be visiting Cockpit’s south London studios in Deptford – hope to see you there. 

A bizarre bootscraper installation near World's End, Chelsea

Last January, whilst cutting through from Kings Rd to Fulham Rd, I stopped in my tracks when I spotted a boot scraper protruding out of a gatepost mid-way along the street. I pointed it out to my friends, who were equally bemused, and took these four snaps:

How stupid! 

Why? Because the large flat dish section at the back of the hole is actually a base plate that ought to be set flat under the ground and filled with cement, such that the H-shape, bridge-style, boot-scraper element is perpendicular and easily accessible for the removal mud and gunk from one's riding boots or wellies before entering the property. Instead, here we have a hole crudely bashed out of a gatepost and the scraper tipped over at +90 degrees!  See here for the different designs. 

I've spotted some abused and broken examples but never before have I seen anything like this one in Chelsea.

H-bar types like this one are usually sited beside a path or either side of a door/portico. The ones that are set within walls often resemble mini-fireplaces and can mostly be found on terraced houses that are flush to the public pavement so as not to cause a hazard. 

I was so busy chatting with my friends that day that I forgot to take any photos of the street and the house itself. A few weeks later I tried to find it on Google Streeview but I couldn't see it because the middle section of the road wasn't available. Ooh that's frustrating! 

Last week I was in the World's End area of Chelsea last week so I nipped round the corner to take more pics. 

Ah... it turns out I was googling in the wrong street – I had been convinced that we had walked along Gunter Grove, but I now realise it was outside No.33 Edith Grove:

It turns out this daft yet amusing addition is easily visible on Google Streetview here which shows us that it was installed sometime after October 2022. It's not the only silly thing in the street – the Banksy elephants are practically opposite:

Oooh, how did THAT happen with no-one seeing them do it or having in any prior knowledge?! Hmm. ditto that stupid tree mess that 'appeared' on a wall near here, in Hornsey Rd last year. 

It's sad to see what a sorry state The World's End pub is in these days. I went there often in the 1980s and 90s and loved the interior and the mix of people. A few years ago I wandered in with a friend hoping for a pint in a proper old boozer but we found they had no ale on tap so we didn't stop. Had we seen the signs outside that boasted "three floors of food, drinks and fun" we'd have swerved it.  That particular funhouse business has since folded, gone the way of previous attempts to revamp this  premises, hence it is again closed and boarded-up with wood and metal protective panels. 

Gone are the days of The World's End's Victorian 'gin palace' splendour. Almost all of the etched glass windows were replaced decades ago and I noticed that some of those small bits that remain on the west-facing side are smashed where people have clearly tried to break in to the building. The restaurant at the end of the terrace of nearby shops is also partially boarded up making this zone look grubby and unloved, yet the three charity shops here are offering second hand stuff that is ridiculously overpriced. History about this area here. 

Better Hearth, 109 Holloway Road – layers of history revealed (and lost)

Better Hearth is a company selling just that, all things to make your fireplace area more attractive and cost-efficient. The shop's header board is an etched semi-transparent sign that allows us to see an older sign behind it for R.E. Wilson 

Better Hearth have preserved the history here by attaching their own sign on spindles such that the old carved board can be seen if you go up close to the shop and look upwards. Nice. 

In November 2009, I was at Islington Museum Reference Library on St John Street looking for information about something else in Holloway Road and in amongst the weighty pile of old photos they gave me to look through I discovered this drawing.

It shows the plans for this clever installation – if there was a date on it I didn't see it or make a note of it. Later that week, I returned to the shop for a closer inspection and noticed that the door number at the left side included a real treat – a hand-written pencil mark at the bottom left corner showed that the sign was made in April 1912:

Fab!  But less than two years later, sometime in mid-2011, this numbered side panel and its twin on the right hand side were painted black all the way to the edges. Such a shame. But at least we can still see most of it, especially as many other companies uncover signs and then quickly cover them again (as per some of these) or, worse, they slap paint directly over them. I've written about two other reveals along this section of Holloway Road – Williams Pie & Eel shop and the leather shop at 229. I also recall that approx 2010 my sister and I found an old carved shop sign adorning the wall of a South American restaurant a few doors at approx 239. I'm sure we took photos. The owners were very proud of it having uncovered it during their refit, but a year later the restaurant had closed and I never again saw that sign 

Back to R.E. Wilson – Robert Emilius Wilson, watchmaker, is listed at this address in the 1882 directory but I cannot confirm if it the business was actually started here. By 1912 he has commissioned a new sign which would have had a sheet of glass over the top, crisply hand-painted on the rear to give a smooth street-facing frontage. Jewellers' windows were often some of the best, most opulent, shop fronts as per my montage of images in this old post.  

The reason I am writing about all this now, rather than +10 years ago when I saw the change to the number boards, is that last month I was walking past and saw that the modern sign had been removed along with half of the old sign and this allowed a better look at the carved elements and part of the internal mechanism for the awning:

Here are some close-ups:

Better Hearth's own sign has since been reinstalled. 

I cannot tell how long Mr Wilson the watchmaker was here. By 1939 the shop is listed as H.V. Barrett Ltd, photographers. Better Hearth, a family-run business, has been trading since 1976 and it's just occurred to me that, rather than just walking past and speculating, or sitting and writing, I really should pop in for a chat – if the people at BH took time to preserve the old sign in the first instance, they may well have more information about the shop's history.