A ghost sign in Stalybridge and hints of something more

Sidney Shaw, House of Furniture, 2014

Now here’s a ghost sign I will have seen many times.

But it was before I discovered these old hand painted adverts and I will have not even given it a second glance which is a shame because they are part of our history.

This one was spotted by Angie who “found it today.  But when I say today I actually pass it several times a week and only 'saw' it today. 

It’s on the corner of Market Street and the bus station in Stalybridge.  
Sydney Shaw was a house furnisher and was a maker of bedroom and Chesterfield.”

Market Street and bus station, circa 1960s

And that is the thing about them.

Because they have always been there we just ignore them as Angie says “you notice them without noticing them if you know what I mean.”

Now I wish I knew more about the history of the building on Market Street and Sidney Shaw, but in the fullness of time I will.

A visit to the local studies centre will give me access to the street directories which in turn should give an address and a date.

Tantalizingly there is a Sidney Shaw in the 1911 census aged 12 living at 50 Blandford Street in Ashton who may be our man.

A ghost sign and ghost wall, 2014

What also interests me about our sign is the ghost image of the building which is also revealed on the gable end.

And here I confess to being at the edge of my knowledge.

This is clearly the outline of a building which stood beside what is now the Co-op chemist and sets me off on all sorts of new enquiries.

Or it might have been incorporated into our building.

None of which I can answer at present.  But there will be someone who can and so I await their response.

There are some general views in the Tameside digital collection of pictures of this corner with just a hint of the shadow building, and an earlier one from 1910 which might be what was once there.

Maket Street in the 1990s

On the other hand I wonder if the present building was constructed incorporating the wall of that earlier one.

The OS for 1894 shows a different set of buildings with a different footprint on the site so much hangs on when the block was built.

In the meantime I can at least offer an explanation for how Mr Shaw’s sign has survived.

Back in the 1960s it was obscured by an advertising hoarding, below which is a poster for Kenyon the Chemist.

So plenty there for people to ponder on and a thank you to Angie who along with Neil and Andy has been enrolled in the Chorltonblog ghost sign roll of honour.

Pictures; from the collection of Angie Thomas, and Market Street in the 1960s t00306,& in the 1990s, t00304, courtesy of Tameside Image Archive, http://www.tameside.gov.uk/history/archive.php3