Farm Hall at the gorgeous Theatre Royal, Haymarket

I'm a bit late with this as Farm Hall, the production I went to see a few weeks ago, has now finished its run. I really enjoyed the play – clever and thought-provoking conversations between captured officers imprisoned in a stately home during WW2 – go Google for reviews.

The thing about going to the theatre or to the cinema is that we rarely look around us at the often sumptuous surroundings being as we are too busy chatting with our friends, trying to find our seats, or queueing for drinks, ice cream or the toilet during the interval. Then the play ends and we all splurge out into the street having missed all the clever architectural embellishments within.

I often go to the theatre or cinema alone to be able to pay attention to the production without interjections and conversations and, during the intervals, I like go investigating. I have visited The Theatre Royal Haymarket many times and each time, even though it's small, I find something new. Many years ago I went on a tour of the building, yet I don't seem to have written about that experience here. (note to self; dig out those photos and add to this post). 

On this occasion my seat was in the stalls and I took a sequence of snaps of the opulent surroundings 

The first half of the play flew by being as it was so engrossing. In the interval I went exploring and  found intriguing little hinges and handles and shiny brass plates within the floor and as push plates on doors:

These doors lead to The Oscar Wilde Room, named to commemorate his two plays that were staged here. The room is also signposted at the front of the theatre under the portico and there is a green plaque at the rear of the theatre at shoulder level here.  Adjacent to this room is a recess that would have contained an ash tray, no doubt used by Oscar himself, a keen cigarette smoker. 

Continuing the subject of ashtrays, the very first pic showing my ticket is in front of a brass corner shelf on the stairs which was also used for this purpose. Here's a better pic of it:

The second pic is looking down into the bar area which, as these next pics show, is slathered in stucco:

And then the bell rang and we all returned to our seats via the doors marked 'Exit' 

I am convinced that there used to be a bakelite phone within one of the stairwells. Or perhaps I am getting my theatres confused. 

UPDATE: Yep... I have found some pics I took in 2015 whilst on a guided tour:

The phone was on the stairs where a flower-shaped window offered a marvellous view out to Haymarket and Her Majesty's Theatre, opposite. But I cannot recall seeing the phone when I went to see Noises off* in November 2013 otherwise I'd have taken more photos of it.

The next two pics show a brassy little pot that I expect was instead used to stash chewing gum or other small rubbish. Not being screwed down, I suspect it was pocketed. The animal head along the handrail is one of many in the bar area.

*my one-word review of that 2023 production of Noises Off: painful.  

Ghostsigns in Goldhawk Road, W12

Last week I wrote about a ghost sign in Uxbridge Road and said I'd find out more info about some of the others in that area.

Starting at Ravenscourt Park (western) end of Goldhawk Road, this Brymay matches sign on end of King's Parade, has seen better days. The pic to the right shows how it looked when I photographed it in 2008. There's only about half of it there now, thanks to the insertion of a multi-level extension, and what remains of the lettering is now rather faded. It makes a kind of top and tail with another Brymay sign on Shepherds Bush Green

But, not far away from there, I was extremely pleased to find that one of my favourite 'hidden' gems is still intact, albeit obscured by Melville Court and a large fir tree on the side of No.1 Cathnor Street. It is an ad for Herbert W. Dunphy, a local estate agent. It could be argued that this doesn't really qualify as a ghost sign being as his company is still trading today albeit with a slightly different name. 

The company1908 office was at 162 Goldhawk Road, and they later expanded into No.164 – see Google Streetview 2008. Today they're only at No 164 and if you look closely patches of paint there make it evident that the whole building was once covered with a painted advertisement. A modern banner affixed to the side shows the company today is 'Dunphy and Hayes'. I checked their website for more info... if you scroll down to the bottom here and read the small white text under the company logo, you'll see that they offer 'efficiant' and 'propfessional' services with 'qaulity' assurance. Oh dear! I wonder what Herbert would have made of that?!

Heading eastwards towards Shepherds Bush, there's another ghostsign, this time on the end of Goldolphin Road, on the side of No.152 Goldhawk Road. This, in the 1930s, was a colour merchant's shop, with Shaw Motors on the garden at the rear. Indeed, Dolphin Cars still trade out of that space. Try as I might, I really cannot fathom the lettering on the sign. There looks to have been at least two over-paintings, though I am sure I see 'THE' centred at the very top and 'LONDON' along the bottom edge. Ideas welcome. 

Note some gorgeous old shops on the opposite side of Godhawk Rd at 155-161, three of which retain curved window frames etc.   

And so back to Uxbridge Rd... 

Opposite the Player's cigarette ad, there is a tantalising glimpse of an ad under laters of white paint on an east-facing wall that has later been partly obscured by a building next door. With so little to go on, it's hard to ascertain whether this was a sign for a business at that location or a managed rental site. I haven't managed to decipher anything here as yet, except that there looks to be '...ES' about a third of the way down on the right edge. I wonder if this might have been an old Nestlé ad? 

As ever, any help or further info is always welcome. Please either use the comments facility or contact me at jane@janeslondon.com

Players Cigarettes Ghostsign near Shepherd's Bush Green

Isn't it strange how you can walk or drive up and down a road for decades, even go on many hunts for old signage and the like, yet never notice a something as big as this? Made worse when looking at retrospective Google streetview and finding out that this has always been visible. Doh! 

Perhaps it was always a dull day when I was sleuthing there in the past. I dunno. However, in this case, I do think the painted advertisement above Winkworths, has become a bit clearer of late, perhaps due to layers of grime having been gradually eroded by rain. Or, as I suspect by the evidence of recent repointing on this east-facing wall, perhaps it was given a clean before the application of new cement.

The advert is for packets of Player's Navy Cut Cigarettes 'Medium' created in 1945 and available until 1989. Local residents could have bought this brand of cigs at the tobacconist shop at the other end of this terrace where it meets Godolphin Road and then purchased throat lozenges from the chemist shop below the sign!

I've enhanced one of my images using Photoshop (above) and it helps us to understand how the sign might have looked when it was first painted, echoing the colours on the packets. Two sizes of packs are advertised: 10 for 6d (sixpence) and/or 20 for 11d, as shown top left and bottom right respectively. In the early days they also made packs of five!

This is the second time I have found something impressive, yet previously unnoticed, in Uxbridge Road recently (see here for a sign in Acton Vale). I've also found some others in the area which need some sleuthing so I will share those soon. 

Jane's Advent Calendar – 6th December

Dingley Road, London EC1
Ten fags for sixpence!!
This sign must have been very vibrant 70 years ago.
At the bottom right the signwriter has left his mark: "HARRIS the Sign King"! 

Black Cat Cigarettes were made nearby at The Carerras factory on Mornington Crescent where Craven 'A' cigarettes were also manufactured. These too featured the company's iconic black cat logo.

Black Cat Cabaret revisted

Last year I reported that I'd had a fabulous evening at one of the Black Cat Cabaret evenings at The Café de Paris on Leicester Square.
Well, I am glad to report that the Black Cat has spread its wings and can now be found at two more venues.
I went along to the Camden Centre last Friday and had another great evening – it was the best night out I'd had in a long time.
The show is fabulous, fascinating, frisky, faux-french and fun. After the main show there's dancing to some truly great sounds all put together by a clever DJ who mixes all sorts of genres. I found it almost impossible to leave the floor. I only paused to watch the other balancing and acrobatic acts that came on intermittently throughout the DJ set.
Find out more about Black Cat Cabaret evenings here.
I'm going again soon.... hope to see you there.

Above is a collection of my London images featuring dancers, acrobats and black cats, including two boot scrapers, Dick's Whittington's cat and Dr Johnson's cat, plus an old pained wall ad for Black Cat Cigarettes (top right) and two pics of the the actual Carreras cigarette factory at Mornington Crescent (bottom left x2).