Ghost signs, a TV programme and the blog that got there first

Bedford, 2012

Now I remain a modest sort of person but I was pleased that the blog has got there before the BBC.*

Tonight at 7.30 they are celebrating ghost signs with an edition of  BBC Inside Out which “discovers the forgotten 'ghost signs' or old advertisement billboards which are found on gable ends across towns and cities in Britain.

Designer Wayne Hemingway is a huge fan and thinks they should be treasured and preserved for future generations.

Presenter Dianne Oxberry met John Rymer who runs a Facebook site and Twitter feed dedicated to the signs which have developed a cult following.

Stockport, 2013

Together they went in search of old 'ghost signs' across towns and cities in northern England including Preston, Leeds and York.

Some enthusiasts believe 'ghost signs' should be restored to their former glory. In Morecambe two artists have been working to bring old signs back to life.”

It should prove a fascinating 30 minutes but I have to say that we got there first.

The first blog ghost story appeared in January 2012 and since then Andy, Ron, Angie and Stephen along with David, Neil, Chrissie and Sally have been contributing photographs of long forgotten traders, companies and products all with a story behind them.

Bedford 2012

One of my favourites is Grey’s Cigarettes, collected on the side of a wall in Bedford by Ron Stubley, which I featured in November of last year and by coincidence is the same sign used to advertise the BBC programme.***

But I could instead have used those found by Angie in Stalybridge Chrissie in Eltham and Sally on Burton Road, not to leave out Neil who came across a whole set of signs for Beecham’s on the railway line from North Wales to Manchester and some hidden ones which Linda Rigby discovered as well as  the one in Chorlton which Ted Harris captured and has now been retained by the new owners.

Staylebridge, 2014

And only last month Barri passed one on from Bristol which only leaves me to talk about those I found in Naples, Sorrento, Rome  and Varese but that would I think count as being boastful.

So I shall book my place on the sofa in front of the fire tonight at 7.30 and wait to see how many we have already collected.

Ghost signs are fast vanishing from our streets and as each one disappears we lose a bit of our history.

Here are the traders, companies and

Manchester, 2013

products which were household names just a few generations ago.

Our parents and grandparents would have been familiar with them and a few will even have appeared in our own homes.

Some like Beechams are still with us but most have long gone.

A few of the trader's and factories can be traced back but many are just faded names on the sides of gable ends.

But programmes like tonights and the odd site on the net will I hope introduce a lot more people to these wonderful bits of our past

Pictures; Bovril and Greys' Cigarettes, Bedford, 2002, from the collection of Ron Stubley, Empsons, Stockport, Sally Dervan 2013, Sidney Shaw, Staylebridge, 2014, Angie Thomas and Hair Cutting, Manchester, 2013, David Easton

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

**Celebrating “ghost sign advertising boards, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30703573

***Tracking down the story behind a ghost sign.http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tracking-down-story-behind-ghost-sign.html