Thank you to Wilbrahams of Chorlton for preserving one of our ghost signs

Now as everyone knows I have a fascination for ghost signs which are the names of businesses and products which have long since vanished.

You find them on the walls of buildings and sometimes briefly come to light when an old sign is taken down to reveal the even older one behind.

Those that have survived are often in a poor state and are left to the elements which means that they will in the fullness of time is lost forever.

So I was very pleased to see that the owners of Wilbrahams of Chorlton decided to retain the old signs which are even more interesting given that the name of J D Gannon who ran newsagents was painted over an even earlier one.*

Now I have yet to dig into the street directories but J D Gannon’s are listed at 550b Wilbraham Road in the 1964 telephone directory.

By 1968 they have moved next door to 504 and were still there in 1975.

And given that this is well within living memory I have high hopes that stories of that shop will come flooding back.

In the meantime all credit to the current owners who have kept a little of our history for all too see.

Picture; Wilbrahams of Chorlton and those ghost signs, 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Ghost signs on Wilbraham Road, two for one courtesy of Ted Harris, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ghost-signs-on-wilbraham-road-two-for.html


from the series The Ghost Sign, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Ghost%20Sign