The "restoration" of an Art Deco era Burton's store

Montague Burton, the tailor of taste. But, imho, not so tasteful these days on Long Eaton High Street.

I have just been alerted to the "restoration" of a Burton's store in Derbyshire. I know this isn't in London, but I fear this type of thing is likely to happen on similar sites here in the capital. Ugh – paint it black strikes again!

I'm here stealing/copying the pics from the link above to show the before and after, though the first pic looks to be from Google streetview anyway:

Hmmm... me no likey – Burton’s 1930's façade had survived, complete with the Burton logo at the top, for almost 100 years. Yet, rather than remove a layer of stone-coloured paint (see close-up below) and give it the Portland stonework a gentle clean, they've instead sloshed black and white paint all over it. I am not sure where the £10,000 has been spent. I notice that their second pic is captioned 'Burtons building revamped' which better describes what's happened here. 

OK, so they’ve installed some [fake?] windows, but it would never have looked like this back in the 1920s – hence, this is not a ‘restoration’.

They say that the building looked messy before – I say this was exacerbated by the mix of shops at street level, two of which had with ugly modern signage which, we can see, haven't been upgraded since the renovation. 

This next pic is Google streetview from 2022:

It shows that the building at that time retained a reduced but empty Burton store with serif letters on a red panel. Look closely to see that there's also a ghostly repeat of the 1920's logo within the black fascia above the phone shop, echoing the carved company logo at the very top of the building which would have been red. Here's a close up which also shows peeling paint and boarded windows, now revealed (or rendered?):

An alternative view shows that some lovely architectural details were also in place 2022, specifically, a branded metal ventilation grille at the curved end...

...and a foundation stone at the left corner showing that Stanley Howard Burton was one of the family present at the opening ceremony in 1935:

Burton made sure that family members personally attended the opening of each new store. Three more foundation stones can be found at this site – one at centre front next to the door to the phone shop showing Arnold James Burton was also in attendance and two more round the side flanking the entrance to Chalkie's snooker hall – one shows Lady Montague Burton, but the parked car obscures the one on the left side of the door and, possibly, another metal ventilation grille. 

I’m interested to see how much of the old Burton’s store is still in place today – perhaps, some tiles, mosaics or terrazzo are also to be found.

Back to the black – I’m befuddled how/why the decision was made to paint the building such a stark shade – it surely now stands out like a funereal eyesore rather than an elegant reminder of a bygone age…?

More about Burtons here. 

Some lovely tiled panels in Hornsey High Street have been lost to us

Here we go again. As I am often to be heard saying, nobody demolishes or changes something with the intent to upset us – they really do believe they are improving things. Bless em. 

But once it's gone, it's gone. I'm not asking that we keep everything, that would be daft, but when lovely hints of history that have hung on for over 100 years are suddenly removed and replaced with unsympathetic and often cheap products that surely themselves will not last 100 years, I get a little despondent.

In the last few months I have seen the demise of many lovely old shops fronts that have been stripped of their heritage and replaced with modern flat glass or plastic panels. I hate to point fingers, but I am going to, and not in an accusatory way. Having spoken to many of the owners of these buildings whether during or post-renovation I have often discovered that these people are in the most part from other countries, mainly Turkish, and they truly think that they are doing us a favour by removing what they consider to be dirty, old or as one man said "too much historical". They are not trying to upset us. They want spaces that are clean, modern, boxy and shiny, preferably in white, grey or black, perhaps with a bit of gold lettering added.

Last week I delivered one of my Janes London prints to a house in Hornsey, London N8, and I used the opportunity to investigate the local high street, remembering that when I'd gone through there on a bus one late dark evening earlier this year, I was convinced that I'd noticed some changes to an old shop front.

Yep. Sad to report that the only shop that retained its original floor-to-ceiling tiled walls has had a make-over – the two facing panels, either side of what was a recessed window, have been obliterated. On the day I visited there were too many parked cars in the way to take decent photos so these next pics are screengrabs from Google streetview – top 2022, middle 2023 and bottom 2024 (how it appears today):

Boo hoo. I loved those tiles. They were wonderfully mad, evoking OTT Victorian gin palaces and luxurious hotel lobbies. Much of 1890's North London is beautifully littered with entranceways that resemble tile shop catalogues, showing a variety of patterns that to the modern eye look like they don't belong in the same space – but the chaos works. 

Here's a selection of my own pics to show how the shop in question used to look:

Back in 2012 I wrote a specific blog post about the lovely tiles in this part London. Let's hope that they managed to chip off and sell the tiles and they weren't simply smashed and skipped.

When this terrace was constructed there were tiled pilasters between each shop at street shop – more of my own pics: 

Today, of the few tiled pilasters that remain, they covered in stickers or filth, obliterated by downpipes, or overpainted, whether fully or in half vertically – this is my side! 

The green plaque on the wall above the hairdressers is for David Grieg (1865-1952), grocer and local benefactor. I stood and wondered what he'd make of how this terrace looks today, indeed the whole street. 

Let's look at some other things... I backtracked to No.20 to take pics of the lower half of the gate which bears the name VIVA. I have no idea what sort of company this was, but I always like a bit of bespoke metalwork.

It seems to me that the high street here has changed very quickly in the past decade or so. There's been a change in the type of shops. I used to love going in the auction rooms (they were between the Tesco and the Three Compasses pub, ditto a couple of little antiques and bric-a-brac stores on the opposite side of the street. Many of the shops are today either empty or being revamped, complete with UPVC plate glass fronts. 

However, it's ice to see that, the ghostsign for J.Salmon the grocer is still clinging on, as is the little upholstery shop in the terrace adjacent to The Great Northern Railway Hotel 

An old sign for the Smithfield Refrigerator Works still hangs above the lane at the side of the pub, giving a glimpse towards The New River and a bygone world. Nice to end on an evocative image.

More on lost shop fronts here.

The shops around The Royal Exchange – Searle & Co, cigars and stale pastries

Wandering around The Royal Exchange in The City of London on a quiet Sunday afternoon I happened to notice what might be the tiniest light well I have ever seen. I'd say its approx 40cm x 30cm. It is one of many interesting details around this island of commerce... 

But before I show you some nice things, let's consider the window display next door at No.31 where unsold pies and pastries were festering and going stale in the window. Ugh. 

I have often mused what happens to all the unsold produce of this kind. How do companies calculate how many units they should make so as not be left with so many unsold? It's clear by this demonstration that they clearly have their sums wrong. Bad calculations like this mean the fresh unit price is often too high being. I personally think it's outrageous to charge over £3 for one of these little snacks. I've since seen another branch of Chango also displaying produce that's past its use-by date. For the life of me I cannot understand why they think this is a good idea. It looks lazy and ugly. They should bake less pies, give the unsold ones to the homeless and display photos in the window when the shops are closed. 

Now I've got that off my chest, let's look at the old hand-painted door numbers around The Royal Exchange at shoulder level, some dating from at least 100 years ago:

Number 33, is today another bun shop (but with no unsold produce in the window) at it still sports the signage and fittings from when this used to be Botterill's cigar shop. The company had been trading from here and at 70 Cheapside since at least 1852 under the name of G. Botterill. I think fair to assume that H is the son. This small shop interior has many authentic fittings:

It was still a cigar shop until October 2016 as shown here when it was J. Redford & Co. 

Around the corner, in Cornhill, there are two lovely hand-painted number nines:  

Then, on the East side of the block, Mount Blanc and Aspinal site within shops that retain some nice windows and fittings, but no numbers:

But my favourite shop here is Searle & Co at No.1, on the Cornhill side, where a host of fabulous fittings are still in place – punched metal, polished brass, buffed granite, carved wood, parquet flooring, bronze window frames, and more. Much of this probably dates back to at least the 1880s when this was owned by James Murray & Co, a watch and clock maker. By 1910, Frederick Clarke, also a watchmaker, was here before Searle & Co who arrived took on the shop in 1933. 

Walter Henry Searle and family had been trading in the City of London since 1893. Sadly, the company closed in 2021 and the stock was sold at auction. Since then the shop has remained empty, as shown in my photos – more info here on Fellows site which includes some interestng history and stories about Searles. Peering inside the shop it's possible to see some of the display cabinets mentioned in that link and an elegantly-designed safe made by Milners: 

Let's see what evolves. As with the cigar store, this company has long been a fixture at this site, so it's sad to see them go. It'll probably be turned into another pastries shop.

Another tiled shop front has gone – Express Dairies, 300 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill

There seems to be a tile removal epidemic... as if it's not bad enough painting over tiles as per here and here and here, at least the paint can one day be removed to reveal the fired ceramics beneath. 

But in many places I am seeing lovely old tiles on old butcher shops, bakeries and dairies completely removed and replaced, as here in Notting Hill where a lovely shop front for a branch of Express Dairies that used to look like this....

... now looks like this (1st August 2024):

I discovered this latest bit of blandification yesterday whilst leading my Notting Hill Ghostsigns guided walk, this shop being one of the places I talk about along the route. It has for the past year it so been standing empty, waiting for a new occupant. Its intact exterior was unusual as I have not seen the like elsewhere in London, so I was stunned to see that so much of the shop's century-old façade hade been revamped. 

I say 'revamped' because, if you look closely, you'll see that they (whoever they is/are) have removed all the original features, excluding the tiles on the wall to the right, and replaced them with modern versions of the same proportion. I cannot believe that these alterations have been achieved by anyone who lives locally or has a link to the area, especially as there are other restored shops and businesses in this are such as the green tiles at Mary’s Living and Giving and the Electric Cinema. 

The bizarre fakery installed here echoes the shape and size of the window frames and the door, and includes panels of blue tiles which I assume have been affixed directly on top of the old ones. Compare and contrast 2022 with 2024 here:

I mean, what's the point?! It's not even a decent pastiche! Perhaps this is all down to Health and Safety – I have been told in the past, when other shops of a similar style have been gutted or over-panelled, that cracked tiles are unhygienic. If so, this tells us that this will be a food outlet of some kind. But this is the exterior, not the interior.  

These next pics contrast the depth, colour and variation within the old artisan/hand-made deep blue tiles on the left, with the flat blue panels installed in 2024, right:

These pics better highlight how the shape and style of the original front door has been echoed in its modern replacement. It's a wonder that they didn't also include a little plastic 'beware of the dog' badge as per the old one. I am hoping that the terrazzo threshold still remains under that sheet of cardboard. 

But, if like-for-like was the brief or intention here, why not use modern products that better resemble the 1920's originals? There are many companies today making very good brushed aluminium frames, and joiners who can produce good quality bespoke wooden doors. Why use such bland products that will not last ten years, let alone a century? Because it's cheaper, but only in the short term.

This next group of pics shows how good the shop looked a few years ago. Note the mechanism for the retractable sun blind/awning which ran across the whole front of the shop (also removed as part of the revamp), the ED logo in white and gold within glass panels and the Jazz Age geometrics of the ventilation grille at low level.

This, to me, is such a great loss as I am unaware of any other Express Dairy shops that still retain their original logos and tiles – please do let me know if you have any further information.

Chemists, Chymists, Pharmacists and Druggists – three in one week

Last week, on Monday 17th June, I was in North West London presenting a talk for the Northwood Hills U3A group. Afterwards I went to Wembley to check on a couple of ghostsigns – this one for a Daimler dealer and this one for a butcher's shop. I am glad to report that both are still intact. 

As I made my way towards the station, a bus came along headed for Ealing Broadway and so I got on that instead. I do like a mystery tour, and sitting on the top deck of a bus is a wonderful way to see places I barely know. The route went through Alperton (all new to me) and ended at bus stop 'A' at the northern end of The Broadway here.

As I disembarked, I noticed a marvellous old chemist shop at No.36 – much of D.Lewis's Art Nouveau shop fittings are intact both inside and out. Coloured glass, curved windows, bronze fittings, marble plinths and more. The interior looks to have much of the wooden shelving, display cases and drawers. For some reason I didn't go inside. Instead, I just took a couple of snaps making a mental note to return and properly investigate the whole parade another day when I had more time.

Two days later I was in Woodford, waiting for a friend and admiring the parade of shops that is also called The Broadway. I noticed at number 12 a carved and gilded sign for Chrystall, chemist and druggist. The shop also boasts lovely window displays which include metal frames, and curved and red glass etched with the services available. 

When my friend arrived, we went inside to investigate the shop's interior and found that the whole left side still retains it's wooden displays and shelving. I took just one photo, of the exterior, shown above right (the one on the left is a google screen grab from here). We walked along the street to see what other similar delights might be on offer and found that most of this parade still has elements of the original shops. As we walked past number 12 (four doors from the chemist, consecutive numbering, and now Euronics) I happened to notice that there were words at low level around the glass windows advertising confectionary [sic] and chocolates. 

Looking into the shop, I noticed that they had an old carved and gilded sign on the side wall at the rear of the shop, and it looked practically the same as the one at the chemist's. We went inside and chatted to the staff, who were lovely. Whilst they didn't know much about the sign or the Hermann family, they were clearly proud to have this impressive chunk of local history on their wall:

 

This sign for Hermann Brothers, Pastry cooks and confectioners (correctly spelled!) is very impressive and unlike any I have seen before. Rather than a plain black background, this has a marble green and black effect which I am sure would have been top-of-the-range expensive, hinting at the quality of products the Hermann Bros would have made and the kind of well-to-do people that would have lived in this area before the tube line arrived. The bottom right corner of the sign shows that the sign was made by Brilliant Signs* of Grays Inn Road, though I'd be surprised if they installed the sloppily applied/wonky later addition of 'Limited' as a stuck on patch (under Bros). It's interesting that 'confectioner' is spelled with an 'e' on the sign board but with an 'a' within the etched glass. 

And then, on Friday 21st June, I was wandering through Tyburnia, Connaught Village and the Hyde Park Estate, following a route specified in an old 1960's guidebook about old pubs and taverns to see if what was written about then was still in place today. I then crossed over Edgware Road and headed along Crawford Street, a street that also contains remnants of Victorian shops. It includes the marvelllous signage and multicoloured lantern of Meacher, Higgins & Thomas, chemists:

Again, I only took a few quick snaps, although this time I did go inside to chat to the owners. They are really proud about the history of their shop. I said I was embarrassed that although I had known about the shop for decades, since I worked round the corner in the late 1980s, yet I hade never stepped inside until now. 

Well, it turns out there's more old signage in there, plus glass jars and some of the orignal fittings in the form of wooden drawers and shelving. The exterior gilded sign is another one made by Brilliant Signs (see under 1814), a company name that appears on many of the best signs of this era*. 

There are, of course, many other lovely old chemist shops across London, but the three that immediately spring to mind are these – Walden, 65 Elizabeth Street, Belgravia, Allchin, 28 Englands Lane (but, since 2014, the lovely gilded script has been covered by dullness) and K.King at 35 Amwell Street, Islington:

Finally, a couple of ghostsigns featuring chemist's shops. There are many I could include here, but I suspect the two that people will recognise the most are these two – Boots facing Camden Town tube station and Dean's on Clapham Pavement on the north side of the common.

*I have built up quite a collection of signs made by this company and I really ought to pull together a blog post to showcase them.

Remembering Andreas Michli & Son

I was out and about wandering* along and through the back streets of Harringay/Haringey recently. After delivering a framed print to an address in the Hornsey Vale area (which, incidentally, offers amazing views of Ally Pally) I was intending to head straight back home to Holloway but on venturing slightly off-piste I rediscovered the lovely old library near the junction of Quernmore Rd which beckoned me inside and, after half an hour of book browsing, I then got distracted and delighted by the shops that form the old station parade there and, oh gawd, here we go again... I was out for hours. I'm not complaining though. 

Emerging into Wightman Road, I first investigated some of the streets that form the lower rungs of 'the ladder' including the parallel worlds of the New River and the Harringay Passage, a footpath that links Turnpike Lane to Umfreville Rd but stops short of the railway land, today converted into a marvellous bug-tastic and diverse eco-park. 

I wandered up and down Green Lane's Grand Parade looking at the adapted facades on the buildings (ooh, I feel a montage coming on soon) and after a yummy lunch in a Turkish restaurant I made my way into the streets on the eastern side of the road, with the idea to follow the railway line as best as as possible, eastward to South Tottenham station. I found some more little green spaces abutting the line and made my way into and around the old St Ann's Hospital site, coming out almost opposite the recreation ground and Black Boy Lane renamed La Rose Lane earlier this year.

I then recalled that I had recently noticed from the top of a passing bus that the grocery shop at the corner of St Ann's Road (where it meets Salisbury Rd a sharp point) hadn't yet re-opened. I had assumed it had closed due to coronavirus but that did seem odd. And, even if that was the case, why would it still be closed now? So I instead of heading towards Seven Sisters I made my way back towards Green Lanes to investigate.

I had often thought that if I lived in the vicinity I would definitely frequent Michli's with its marvellous selection of fruit and veg and so much more – see this retrospective streetview for how the shop looked twelve years ago. But I've missed out. Because now it's closed for ever. It's empty. And there's a very sad reason for this. 

A type-written sheet on the glass door near the corner tells the story. It seems the shop has been closed for over four and a half years now. Andreas passed away in August 2018.

I peered inside and saw the remains of a once-thriving business. Wood-panelled walls, a delivery tricycle, empty shelves, pots and pans and pictures, racks and rubbish and, bizarrely/ironically, one of those Oriental perpetually waving cats, still waving. Other windows contain healthy houseplants. 

I can't really do this justice being as I never went inside and I never met the evidently much-missed Andreas Michli. But I've read some marvellous reviews of the shop like this one from 2011 explaining Andreas's ethics and how he was proactive in offering locally-grown produce. After his death many heartfelt remembrances have been posted online – I particularly like this one by Shilpah Shah. 

So what's going to happen to the shop? There is an estate agent's board on the building that seems to intimate that the property is already let. However, they have an active listing here (approx £4K a month available for a 15 year lease) which also includes some excellent photos of the interior spaces. 

I really hope whoever takes on the site respects it and doesn't lose all the layers of architectural history here. I'd be more than saddened to see this all replaced wit UPVC. And I am sure Andreas would be saddened too. Fingers crossed. 

Update March 2026 – HURRAH! most of the property has been sympathetically converted into a lovely community hub/cafe called 33's The Old Grocery Store.

See Google streetview here

*wandering. I do a lot of wandering. I set out to go somewhere and, once I have been to the shop or delivered the package, I get easily distracted by backstreets, old signage, intriguing alleyways etc. I follow my nose wherever it takes me until my feet ache or my belly gurgles. I will write about being a Nosey Parker soon.

William Leonard Jordan's department store and Alfie's Antiques

Last Thursday I had an idea to go and see the Julian Opie show at The Lisson Gallery. I peeked in through the window and decided to return later in the afternoon after I'd had a wander around the immediate area. There's lots to see around there. I wanted to check what was happening with the Paddington Green Police Station building. Specifically these clever interconnecting panels, and then I discovered this ToyTown/Deco-esque charging station on Edgware Road. I like it. It's pleasing. It's jolly. Next door there's an Aldi within a distinctly Art Deco pastiche, complete with vertical fins. Also good.

After admiring the brick-built council blocks and hints of manufacturing history I headed down Church Street and made my way to Alfie's Antiques Market where I took a few photos of the exterior and marvelled at the Art Deco inter-war shop fittings that are still visible.

There are Jazz Age patterns etched into the curved glass, sun-ray metal ventilation plates at low level, the old shop's name in lovely script within a terrazzo threshold, and some geometric motifs in the fabric of the building which were subsequently enhanced/elaborated and painted pastel paint shades. 

The Klimt-style ladies and Egyptian queens that can be seen on the building today are also later additions, tho the Byzantine-style cupola that used to be at the corner is today truncated. See the old pic to the right, which I found within a frame on the stairwell at the rear of the market, and compare it with how it looks now. 

I must admit that I haven't as yet delved into William Leonard Jordan's history as I have only so far looked at the 1939 directory to get an idea of what was here when the Art Deco era fittings were in place. But you can bet your big fat bottom that Mr Jordan started as a draper and then expanded left and right until he covered numbers 13–25 (seven shops) either side of Plympton Street. Ooh, Plympton Street, how lovely.

The 1939 directory, left, shows how each of the doors off Church Street, which are still in use today, led to different departments... outfitter, boot and shoe dealer, clothier, house furniture. No doubt there were plenty more things on offer than that. I know for sure that there was a major haberdashery department in there. Interesting that back then, No.11 was an antique furniture dealer.

Jordan's store continued trading here until the early 1970s. I say 'trading' but by then the area was not so nice and Jordan's was struggling to make ends meet. With huge debts, the company went bust. I expect the contents were sold off. There might be an auction advertised in the press of that time. It might have been split into separate shops or completely demolished had it not been for the keen eye of Bennie Gray who recognised its potential as a multi-use selling space. Antiques and bric-a-brac markets were springing up all over London at that time. Alfie's Antiques Market opened in 1976, hot on the heels of Camden Passage in Islington (1968) and later at Dingwall's Camden Lock (1974). 

Today here are over 70 dealers in there with more traders currently moving into the basement having been evicted from their Hampstead shops. I went inside and got pleasantly sidetracked. 

I especially like the central wooden stairwell area where you can still imagine the building as a sort of mini Liberty's, complete with wood block flooring on the landings. 

Floors and floors of tempting loveliness in there, but that's not a problem when my home isn't big enough to accommodate all the things I like. And, as I said to one dealers, if I bought a bigger home, I'd have no money to furnish it...! Oh, and there is a lovely café on the top floor. 

The whole building is a delight to explore. I should go there more often. I left with a late-60s framed print of a beautiful black Madonna and a 1970s square ceramic [ash]tray. 

And I forgot to return to the Lisson Gallery. Whoops. The show finished yesterday. Oh well.