There are always stories …… The Case of the Curious Bride

This is 72 Marsland Road and the shop which today has revealed it’s past.

Andy Robertson tells me that “the last incarnation of the shop was ‘The Case of the Curious Bride’”, but his photographs reveal that in a previous commercial existence it sold cigarettes and tobacco, with at least two different families.

And look carefully and there is a hint of other names that were painted over and lost.

Now I don’t have access to the street and trade directories for Marsland Road, but someone will, and maybe they will be able to offer up more information.

In the meantime, Andy’s three pictures reveal multiple ghost signs which I guess is rare.

Ghost signs remains  a fascinating link to the past.

Most come in faded painted signs on the sides of walls, or above shop windows.

They can be the name of a product or the owner of the shop, and if you are lucky can be in very good condition.

Sadly most are clinging on, as the paint peels and the lettering and names become indistinct.

For some they offer a reminder of products they knew as children and for others the names of the shop keepers will evoke memories of the people behind the counters.

And no sooner was the story posted than Alice Cordelia commented, "John and Irene Eckersley ran this as a newsagent and much loved penny sweet shop in the 80's and 90's. They had a German shepherd dog who used to bark at customers from a hatch behind the counter".

Location; Sale Moor

Pictures; Multiple ghost signs, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson