Ghostsign – Hinton and Gunner, two Wembley pork and beef butchers

In a narrow alley on the side of Paddy Power, Ealing Road, Wembley Central Central station there is a lovely multi-layered painted sign, see here.  

It's impossible to get a straight-on shot of this sign so I have transformed it using Photoshop to make it more legible

As you can clearly see, there have been at least two butchers trading at this location – it's evident that one has been painted over the other. However they offered mainly the same thing:The earlier blue/green lettering is for R. Gunner whose name is shown in italicised script that runs diagonally up and across the whole panel. Also in the same colour, at top left: DAIRY FED PORK, and at bottom right: ENGLISH & SCOTCH MEAT ONLY – the information imparted succinctly and clearly

The subsequent black lettering for HINTON is now fading fast. It is more descriptive of the products available (/ = line break and [xxx] indicates where I cannot decipher some words):
PURVEYORS / OF / SCOTCH BRITSH BEEF / GRASS FED [xxx] / DAIRY FED [xxx] / VARIETY OF COOKED MEATS / Families [xxx] / or [xxx].
Hints of a later third sign are also evident though no discernible letterforms remain.
I'd love to see pics of how this sign would have looked in the past. If anyone has any archive images of this location, please do contact me via email or add links in the comments section below.

Oops – What the Dairy is Going on Here?

After visiting the National Gallery (see my last post) I walked up Whitcomb Street to the library on Orange street where I was verbally abused by a mentally challenged man of the street. But that's another story.
The two-sided Dairy sign is still there...
But, er...

Top row 2009, bottom row Feb 2017

Perhaps the D fell off and had to be reattached...?
But it's upside-down!
Was it some kind of bright idea to get the verticals aligned at the front edge?
Why not go the whole hog and spin the R too?

Cagnacci's Repentant Magdalene – Room 1 at The National Gallery

I went to the press viewing of this gorgeous painting last Tuesday.
Go see it – it's lovely.
I took some pics – they turned out to be rubbish...

... but not as rubbish as the front wall by the National Gallery's portico entrance on Trafalgar Square where the 'performers' who stand on bits of wrought iron dressed as Star Wars characters leave their empty drinks cups.

Vanessa Bell at Dulwich Picture Gallery and Sussex Modernism at Two Temple Place

The Dulwich Picture Gallery is always worth a detour. Not only does it have a diverse and perfectly sized permanent display, but the curators are very good at putting on interesting additional exhibitions, often by artists who are not that well known.
At the moment you can see works by Vanessa Bell, prolifically creative and sister of Virginia Woolf the author.
 

A woman after my own heart – from age eight I was obsessed with making repetitive patterns on graph paper

More of Vanessa's work can be seen at Two Temple Place as part of their current exhibition Sussex Modernism which includes some truly gorgeous sculptures by Eric Gill and David Jones.
Even if this kind of art isn't your thing, do go inside this free exhibition because the interior is marvellous – it was originally built the as the Astor's London office and is only ever open during exhibitions – all wood panelling, stained glass and carved details – here's a post about a previous visit. 

Love and peace – not just for Valentine's day

In a back street within the Peabody Estate to the side of Whitecross Street market there is a mosaic on a wall. In a circle it says I (heart) EC1. But look closer and see the messages and drawings within because there are lots of lovely quotes and sentiments there.

The caption on it reads: "This mosaic has been created by Western* Primary School working with Carrie Reichardt, Karen Wydler and Sian Smith, supported by Islington Council, Whitecross Street Party, Whitecross Street Community Centre and Peabody". 

Mad In England – Carrie Reichardt – Craftivist and Renegade Potter

Love isn't seasonal 
I have produced some cards using my photographs of this artwork. 
Also see 'Love Love Love' using my adaptations of the sign that currently wraps around the old Angel tube station on Pentonville Road.  

Cards available all year round – contact me directly or purchase online

Or how about a Vinegar Valentine?

*Spelling error here: The school is actually called Prior Weston Primary School. Sir William Weston was the last english prior of the Order of St John. 

A narrowboat cruise through Islington Tunnel with Hidden Depths

There was a two-day event in and around St Pancras Lock this past weekend and it included free access to The Canal Museum and free rides on Freda, the larger of Hidden Depths tour boats.
Denise and her crew shuttled people back and forth the museum and Granary Square and as an special treat for the final trip on Sunday we went through the Islington Tunnel. At 860 metres long it's the 9th longest in the UK (I think that's right), made with four million bricks and almost 200 years old (completed in 1818).

As the day drew to a close, and the crew moored up and secured the boat for the night, the view west was lovely with the sky was turning a beautiful shade of pink. And then to nearby The Charles Lamb for a few pints of ale. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday.

Another visit to Lower Marsh – barrows and arrowsI still think there must be an old painted ad and a lost ghostsign

Back in March 2014 I wrote about Lower Marsh and its demise as a once thriving market street. And then followed it up with a piece about the old costermongers' barrows along that street with their carved stamps.
I was back there recently and so I snapped a few pics for an update:

There were only four barrows left on my most recent visit.

These lovely old barrows are now relics of a bygone time. Earlier this year The Gentle Author wrote a full and interesting piece about the last few days in the workshop of Hiller Brothers Barrow Makers, a company name that features on some of the ones in Lower Marsh. See also an earlier post written about the barrows of Spitalfields.
I am always saddened to see trades like these fade away in the face of progress. As an occasional market trader myself I have noticed that the style of market stalls on offer these days is ever-changing. For casual events it's rare to be allocated a standard metal frame with decent hanging space and cover – often it's either tables from a community centre or pop-up open-sided marquees. And Christmas markets are now more likely to be Bavarian-style wooden shacks. Surely if people want to visit a market of that type it would be better to go to mainland Europe to get the real deal? Can't we offer the tourists an English Victorian-style Christmas instead? I am sure they'd love that. Without the paupers and pickpockets of course.
Anyway, I digress, as usual.
I spotted some other changes in Lower Marsh, and two things in particular:

I still think there must be an old ad under that red paint above the old Artichoke Pub

On the side of Sino Thai Restaurant, on the corner of Leake Street, there is a nice addition – an arrow of little nesting boxes created by http://wearewaterloo.co.uk/news/feathered-friends. How lovely.

But at the end of Vauxhall end of the street I see that a new building now obliterates the ghostsign that once read, "Dover Castle Proprietors / Pioneer Catering / Luncheons & Dinners / [...] Prices / [...] Stout". See the fourth pic, above right, for how it looks today.
The rebuilt New Dover Castle pub was actually on the opposite corner of the street at 172 Westminster Bridge Road and is now the Walrus Bar and Hostel.