Tiled Columns

Well that's a rubbish title for a start - not very descriptive at all. What I am really interested in are the walls between old shops that are often decorated with sometimes very ornate tile-work. Quite often these days they are painted over and hardly noticeable but on occasion they have come through unscathed and (for those covered in paint) every now and then some enterprising shopkeeper scrapes off the concealing layers to discover the wonders below. Here's a mix of gems I've come across over the last few months (including some that I've posted before - Well why not bring them all together?)
Mitcham High Street
These two examples were the only tile-work I could find in Mitcham. Although there are loads of old houses and buildings there doesn't seem to be many examples of old shop-fronts around. They are nice though and a bit of an oasis in a tile-free desert!

Kingston Road, Wimbledon SW19
Slim, neat and tidyGarret Lane, Wandsworth
I found a few nice examples of tile-work at the Tooting end of Garrett Lane. Really attractive stuff.
I wasn't sure if this one had been created recently as the duck-shooting tiles seemed a little unusual, but whether it was or wasn't it's still an important part of this tasteful shop facade.
A nice floral pattern on this one that seems to have been saved from the paint-brushVery stylish!Colliers Wood High Street
This was the one that really drew my attention to this sort of tile-work. A real beacon amongst some dowdy shop-fronts.
Upper Richmond Road, Putney SW15
Near the crossroads with Putney Bridge/Putney High Street this one is well worth two photos. The columns seem to be made of iron from the rust showing through at the bottom, and the pattern is a mosaic more than set of tiles. I couldn't tell what they were made from but it looked as though it might be coloured glass but the gold was really eye-catching. What is interesting is that this has been uncovered in the last few years and there are a whole row of these covered with paint and neglected. Well done whoever took the time to clean this one up!

Tooting Broadway
Whoa! A bit lary but compare that to the modern brick pillar next to it. Pah! No contest. Give me the tiles every time.

Lacy Road, Putney SW15
Geometric and very aesthetically pleasing. I wonder if the neighboring shops still have theirs under their facings

Wimbledon Village SW19
Wimbledon Village is quite gentrified these days so anything Victorian and tasteful tends to be tidied up nicely, like this nice example

A Tour Around Mitcham

A map of the area can be found here

Mitcham is a strange place. A modern shopping precinct, flats, trading estates and light industrial units have washed over a Surrey village famed for its lavender fields that could have rivalled Dulwich for attractiveness. Most of the glory of Mitcham lies in the remaining houses that are sprinkled around the twin centres of the village pond and the Cricket Green. The development seems to have been mainly post war and there's not too many old Victorian terraces or shops around but there are still a few interesting bits and pieces.

Eagle House, Holburne Road/London Road
One of two eagles guarding the entrance to a marvellous French Chateau of a building.
Figge's Marsh
Right on the corner is this high-visibility clock, which is sadly not working...
Upper Green East
The Estate Agent has long gone and it's now a bookmakers.
London Road, Mitcham
There was very little evidence of Victorian decoration, but I did come across these two nice sections of tile-work almost next to each other.

Cricket Green, Mitcham.
Another clock, this one on the old cricket club house. Apparently it's the oldest cricket green in England and Nelson used to stop by to watch a few overs.
Cricket Green, Mitcham
Down the side of the clubhouse is this interesting old bell that doesn't look as though it gets much use these days. I wonder if it originally used to signal tea-breaks?London Road/Cricket Green
A nice horse trough, but the really interesting inscription is on the other side. Apparently commissioned for Queen Victoria's jubilee, any attempt to photograph it would have been decidedly dangerous!
Vestry Hall, London Road
Another clock, this one on the attractive Vestry Hall building. An excellent example of local civic pride and ambition
Vestry Hall, London Road
I assume that this small plate is a Fire point and would have indicated the presence of a water main in Feet and Inches. Looks as though that has been erased though.
Lower Green West, Mitcham
Easily overlooked by virtue of being on the edge busy one-way section of road the old Village School is a really impressive building with its own bell and clock-tower
The inscription shows it was founded in 1788 but developed in 1812. The tower was added later, but it's a very interesting building all round.

Croydon 'Ghost Sign'

I haven't yet made the tram trip into Croydon, but I have high hopes that I might come across a few interesting ghost signs when I do. This example was sent to me by a work colleague and is a really nice, colourful example. Notice the spelling of Millets is different on the sign and the shop. Which one was correct at the time I wonder - did the sign writer have a Homer Simpson 'Doh!' moment as he slapped his hand to his brow? Who knows - nice sign though so many thanks to John Butler for passing it on.

Croydon - Junction of Surrey Street with the High Street

Figures and Figurines

I thought I might do a generic collection of human figures that sometimes appear on buildings. Not statues of the 'Good and Great', but interesting three-dimensional decoration that sometimes pop up. I struck a rich vein in Putney High Street, but I'm sure there are more out there and I'll add them as I come across them.

Putney High Street
This striking lady can be seen above ground level holding up part of a grand public house near the river. She's not alone though but has a couple of companions in equal states of undress.
Putney Bridge Road & Lower Richmond Road
A cast iron cherub holds up part of a doorway. This property is an old auction house and is currently being gutted to provide a new restaurant. The whole of this shop-front is cast iron and I can only keep my fingers crossed that it will form part of the intended decor.

New Malden High Street
I'm not sure if this is a game of Ring o' Roses or some good friends sharing a hot tub, but whatever it is it's stuck on the front of a small department store in New Malden
Durnsford Road, Wimbledon SW19
This suave fellow gazes down serenely from the top of the Woodman pub. As a bonus you get his faithful hound as well!
The Olde Spotted Horse, Putney High Street
This Putney pub is covered in gargoyles and grotesques, as well as a fine shire horse standing proudly above the door. It's not very clear exactly what this little devil is up to or why he's squatting over a frog. Answers on a postcard...
London Road, Mitcham
This face gazes out from the side of a BT building that I think must have been a telephone exchange. I've a feeling it may be a representation of Mercury, the winged messenger. Very thirties in design and execution but you do have to crane your neck up to get a good look.

Ghost Signs in Sutton

I had spotted a 'Ghost' sign whilst being driven into Sutton from Carshalton so when I found myself in the area with a daughter who had a small camera, I knew just where to drag her.

Langley Park Road. This striking example is in the road behind the B&Q car park and remains in surprisingly good condition. Wouldn't bother ringing them though...

Sutton High Street Daughters reward for the use of her camera was an hour in Sutton High Street shopping. Never mind though, I spotted this peeping down near the shopping centre. Sadly unreadable but looks a bit like 'Gordon'.
Sutton High Street Then further down the road there was a near-invisible sign down a small side road. Although you can make out a few letters at the bottom I believe it originally went up at least to the top of the 1st floor window.

Ghost Signs - West Hill, Wandsworth

One good, one not so good. The good one first. As soon as I saw this one I remember seeing it from the top of a 37 bus on the way home from school. The intervening 30 years has seen it fade a little, but it's still quite striking

1. West Hill - Nestle Milk 2. The Triangle, West Hill - Unknown Sign
The second sign is more of a tantalising glimpse really. It's just off on a side road by the Triangle and I could only just about make out a word or two at the very top. Not very exciting but it does look as though something might be hidden by the modern advertising sign. A close up view of the words reads something like "Start It **** Your Friend" but I doubt you can make it out on the picture.

Coalhole covers - Putney Bridge Road

A recent stroll down Putney Bridge Road into Wandsworth had lots of interesting features on show, not least of all a large number of coalhole covers. I'm starting to get very fond of these items - I think the styles and decoration start to remind me in some strange way of Greek, Japanese or even Celtic shield bosses and it's always a bonus if you can read who the manufacturers were. As I tend not to creep into peoples front gardens here are a few that a little easier to access...

1. Hayward Brothers - Union Street, Borough, London


2. W. H. Stevens - ?3 Brixton Road SW Rusted a bit and doesn't seem to have the same look of quality about it as the rest of them do.

3. Improved Safety Plate

4. Unknown Maker or Model - Quite an attractive design though

5. Unknown Maker or Model - I was wondering how they managed to lift them to get the coal in. Presumably they had to be released from underneath as they seem to fit pretty flush

6. Unknown Maker or Model - I think some of these could look quite nice framed and up on the wall. Not everyone's cup of tea but not a bad example of industrial chic...

Miscellaneous Wimbledon Ghosts

Well these are really scraping the barrel but they should go in for the sake of completeness. Not so much ghost signs as signs that have died and turned to dust! I think the only way I could find out what they originally said was to look through some archive photographs, but keep you eyes open for them next time you're in Wimbledon.

Hartfield Road, Wimbledon
Not the best quality picture sadly but I snapped this one whilst waiting in traffic. Although it seems to have a later 'To Let' sign painted on it, closer inspection shows it to be originally refering to Cars, Trucks and Services, amongst others. It was a tiny yard though, so presumably not a big business.

The Broadway A close look at this one (click on the image) shows that the lettering on the top has an -ish near the end and 5? Broadway between the windows.Whatever was advertised either side of the windows cost 2/-. As it is in such a prominent position I have hopes of eventually finding a photograph to show exactly what was being advertised on this one.

The Broadway This particular sign is the most obscure and difficult to photograph of all so far. As you can see it is well above the street and hidden by the roofs of lower buildings. It's just opposite the Centre Court Shopping Centre and above and to the right of the first sign. It seems to read 'Boots' but whether that's the chemist or a shoe shop I couldn't say. I'd like to get up there for a closer look though...

Behind the Broadway This was painted on the side of a small workshop and must have been the original company that owned it. All I can make out is the Co. at the end!

A Tour Along Haydons, Durnsford and Merton Road

Merton Road
Although I went looking for ghost signs (see below) there were quite a few odds and ends that caught my eye on the way, including this Art Deco-ish wall sign at the back of a garage. The photo doesn't do it full justice as the gold on green was very iridescent and quite catching. I wonder who the United Service Transport Co. Ltd were and what happened to them?

Merton Road - Southfields
As you can see this building was obviously created for some business - Hotel maybe or an insurance business or something?
Merton Road
I thought this office building looked quite ornate so I wasn't too suprised to see this on the roof. Obviously a pub in an earlier life.
Round the corner was an attractive couple of capitals with some intriguing faces.
Merton Road - Southfields
There's an interesting parade of shops at Southfields that had a range of intriguing features. This one has a half oil-container stuck on the wall which was (I believe, but I'll have to check) the traditional shop-sign of oil merchants. I'd seen another like this near Waterloo the other day, so was pleased to spot this one.
Another of the shops had these elaborate thistle capitals. I recall a high street grocers called David Grieg's from the '60's whose emblem was a thistle, usually displayed as a mosaic on the floor. Could this originally have been one of their shops?
This shop front wasn't in the best state of repair but it had revealed the original gold-painted sign for Hammett's. As the gold spread over the inlay area I was wondering if it was then fronted with a mirror or something to tidy it up
Then on the same parade yet another shop fronted with oil containers. Obviously some cut-throat High street competition for the Southfields oil market going on here!

Merton Road - Side Street
Just tucked down a side street by a couple of other interesting deco buildings was this superb (no other word for it) tile fronted factory. Now exclusive flats of course I would hazard a guesss that this might have been a flour mill, breakfast cereal or biscuit factory. The Drainpipe's ha a 'FF' monogram so this might give a clue
"Nourish & Flourish!" is a great motto and I wonder if the Flour-ish might be a pun if it was a flour mill.
The towers at each end were quite attractive too - reminded me of the old Wembley Stadium for some reason. Are the metal toppings the old company symbol or do they have any other significance I wonder?
Here's a view of the site in its (almost) entirety. Does anyone have any knowledge about this building? If you do please leave a comment as I'd be intrigued to know more. (See the comment posted below for details about the history of this interesting building)
Durnsford Road
Just a little bit of mosaic that caught my eye. mainly because the colours were obviously to tie in with the shop next door...
...which was obviously a butchers, although now long since closed. Peering though the curtains I could see that the whole shop was covered in attractive light blue tiles.
Haydons Road
Another ex-pub, but with an impressive crest, despite loosing some of the ornamentation.