Oh for the South Seas

This is one of my favourite plates. I love it for the sign alone. It’s gloriously joyful and brings a little bit of sunshine into the 1950s.

James Meakin set up his Staffordshire pottery in 1845 and his sons, J&G (James and George) took over in 1851. By the 1950s, it was producing new American-inspired shapes, and this Studio Ware style was in production from 1957-69. 

For once, my shaky hand isn’t to blame for the blurry photo – the mark is actually like that on the plate. The colour is hard to reproduce -  it’s really a sharp, fresh, bright lime green, which means not all food looks appetising on it. But it’s more fun to turn it upside down and enjoy its palm tree mark. 

Lost gardens of Manchester

We stumbled upon a floral oasis in central Manchester today. The art gallery and the National Trust have teamed up to tell the story of Manchester's lost public gardens, and to give us a new one (complete with bird soundscape and mock vintage signs). Wonderful!

Bargain!

Another tradesmen's entrance

I've pounded the streets of London looking for a gate with a sign saying "Servants". I've failed, so if you know the location of one I could photograph, please say. As consolation, I thought I'd share with you this very smart Tradesmen's entrance (no sniggering please) in Princelet Street, Spitalfields. It's a great area for ghost signs and Georgian architecture, so a walk is rewarding for sign hunters.

Romance in Reykjavik

You need your gloves in Iceland: it's cold. I spotted this sign, with its artistic display of lost gloves, in the centre of Reykjavik.

It seems to capture the underplayed, knowing humour and phlegmatic stoicism of the Icelanders.

Put a spring in your step

This pretty London mosaic door step sign always cheers me up. The White Hall Hotel, somewhat confusingly, is nowhere near Whitehall. It’s a Georgian townhouse hotel in Montague Street, Bloomsbury, and a very good place to stay.

North Euston (plus a secret in a shed)

Users of London Euston station might be surprised to hear that there is a North Euston too – 250 miles away.

North Euston is in Fleetwood, Lancashire. A friendly place with an interesting story, Fleetwood was the first Victorian planned town. It was designed by Decimus Burton (so named because he was the 10^th child) for Peter Hesketh, an MP and estate owner with big ideas.

Hesketh saw that Fleetwood could make a successful port and a holiday resort for working families, and set about making his vision a reality. At the time, there was no rail link between London and Scotland, so he put his energies into creating a rail link to Fleetwood from Preston, enabling passengers to make the final leg of the journey by sea from Fleetwood. Fleetwood’s first buildings were started in 1836, along with its railway, and the North Euston Hotel, facing the waterfront, was built in 1841.

Queen Victoria used the rail link in 1847. To welcome her, the council lit all the gas lamps, but they ran out of gas before the Queen arrived. Hesketh’s dreams of commercial success were ruined a few years later when the rail link from London to Scotland was built over Shap Fell (an engineering feat that had been considered impossible), making Fleetwood’s role of transport terminus redundant.

The oldest building in town is the Fleetwood Museum, which has also been a custom house, town hall and hotel. With lovely staff, great cake and a secret in a shed (I’m not spoiling it for you – you need to go and discover it for yourself), the museum is worth a visit; follow it up with a gusty walk on Fleetwood’s seafront and remember the pioneering Victorian with the big idea.