Briggs Stores ghost sign

Briggs Stores ghost sign, on the side of a house in Heaton Norris, Stockport, on the corner of Belmont Street and Clement Street. This photo was taken a few years ago. When we lived in Heaton Norris in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Belmont Street boasted some fabulous ghost signs, including a smart green and gold Hovis sign, and a chip shop with an interior straight out of the 1950s. It's all smartened up now, of course.

Wild thing

Here's a pretty tiled entrance sign in Stockport's lovely old market place. I believe Wild was a shoe shop - the building is now part of the excellent Stockport Story museum. It's in an interesting part of town: the beautiful Victorian covered market has a great vintage fair once a month. The atmospheric Staircase House museum is next door. And once you've done all that you can treat yourself to a fantastic Art Deco afternoon tea in the Plaza. All this just seven miles out of Manchester. If you're coming from that direction, why not treat yourself to a trip on the fabled 192 bus route too?

Have a coffee and get over it

Made me smile. Nook, our local coffee bar, is getting the edge with its signs.

Take cover

Rather a chilling sight on a sunny afternoon in Stockport: a sign directing you to shops, taxis - and the air raid shelter.

No, it's not a bleak peak into a seemingly inevitable future, but an invitation to step into the past and see the second world war air raid shelters cut into the sandstone cliffs. They're still there, and they're worth a visit. Check out my previous post for more information. 

Old Virginia

I love the mills in Stockport - this sign is in Higher Hillgate. Virginia Mills is listed in the 1862 Official Catalogue of the Industrial Department (the directory of the International Exhibition) as a tobacco and cigar manufacturer.

With thanks to Mrs J Pogson

Signs bearing the names of Mrs J Pogson, Mrs S Shore, Mrs Joseph Warburton and others decorate the Bethesda Primitive Methodist Chapel in Heaton Norris, Stockport. A handsome building, the Chapel was founded in 1890 and is now dedicated to commercial use. I'm not sure whether Mrs J Pogson would have approved. Apparently the primitive Methodists were successful in evangelising industrial communities in the late 19th century - and Stockport was famous for its textile mills and hatmaking.

Please don't teleport at Stockport station

Another good sign from Virgin Trains. Am only slightly disappointed about the teleporting - I'm sure there will be an app for that soon.

When is a sign not a sign?

When it's a piece of public art.

In an unassuming alley in Stockport, you can get a glimpse of five great murals on the side of the BHS shop. When the store was built, it was agreed that the wall in Deanery Way wouldn’t be left blank, but instead would show something of local interest, and these mosaic and concrete murals were commissioned.

They were designed in 1978 by Henry Collins (1910-1994) and Joyce Pallot (1912-2004). There are five murals, four showing the history of Stockport, and the one shown above, advertising British Home Stores.

It’s easy to rush past with your head down and miss them, but I love their bright colours and careful detail. Seek them out if you’re in Stockport.

Ring my bell

Beautiful bell, just urging you to press that button. On the Ash Hotel in Stockport - the building dates from 1901 and is now a food shop and tea room.

Plough on

This handsome stained glass window advertises the Plough on Heaton Moor Road in Stockport. Heaton Moor is now a thriving suburb, but it was largely farmland until the mid -19^th century. The railway station, just up the road from the Plough, was built in 1852, and shops and houses developed along the road to service the needs of the new commuters. The Plough was built in the 1880s, and reminds us of the area’s rural roots: over its door is a lovely sandstone picture of a ploughing scene.

Atmospheric orphanage

This crumbling sign for the Sir Ralph Pendlebury Orphanage can be seen on the busy Lancashire Hill in Stockport. The deserted steps and gothic gateway are easy to miss in the tumble of traffic on the way to the town centre.

Sir Ralph Pendlebury (1790–1861) was mayor of Stockport, and he created a charity with an endowment of £100,000. The orphanage named after him was opened in 1881. The charity gave relief, such as clothing, education or finding employment, to orphans of parents who had lived in the Stockport district for not less than two years. The building, on Dodge Hill, was designed by Scottish architect J. W. Beaumont, and it had room for about 250 boys and girls. It was later used by the Red Cross Society and became a hospital for wounded soldiers from 1914-1919. It still exists today: it is grade II listed and, fittingly, is now a care home.

This old entrance is no longer used, so it sits there doing duty as a memorial to the past. Crumbling, covered in overgrowing greenery, dark and dank, it’s pretty creepy. So it’s no surprise that rumours of ghosts abound: Pendlebury Hall claims a one-armed soldier, a white lady and singing children among its hauntings.

Confection of delights

This sign, on the corner of Shaw Road and Heaton Moor Road in Heaton Moor, Stockport, looked so great against the blue sky that I had to take a picture.

When the nearby railway station at Heaton Chapel was built in 1852, shops and houses sprang up around Heaton Moor road to meet the needs of the new commuters. This building was originally George Hallmark’s Bakers and Flour Dealers, and when it was converted to the Kro Bar they kindly kept the old signs.

If you’re interested, there’s a great photo of the shop in 1905 in the somewhat mesmerising book “The Four Heatons through time”, by Ian Littlechilds and Phil Page. For ideal results, read it in the Kro Bar. 

Stockport station - so good they named it twice

A man walked into Stockport Station recently and asked the guard if he was in the right place – he was due to pick up his friend from the London train arriving that evening at Edgeley Station.  The guard laughed and said he was in the right place, but he was about 40 years too late. In answer to the man’s puzzled face, the guard explained that the station was called Stockport station, but it had once been known as Stockport Edgeley station, to avoid confusion with the nearby Stockport Tiviot Dale station - which had closed in 1967.

And it is confusing. The modern front of the station is called Stockport, but at the back of the station (where the short stay car park is), this wonderful mosaic sign remains - to the confusion of some visitors. 

Local hero

Nelstrops Albion Mills in Stockport.

I’ve gone past this mill countless times, and have always admired the white wash of flour up the side of the building. It was only when I saw Nelstrops flour for sale in a local shop that I was prompted to look into its history.

It turns out that Nelstrops is the only independent family miller in the North West. The company was founded in 1820 by an enterprising 19 year old, William Nelstrop, who later became Mayor of Stockport. According to the company’s website, he was offered a knighthood by Queen Victoria for his role in defusing the anti-corn law riots, but refused the honour – partly because he sympathised with the poor who could not afford bread, and partly because the lower wheat prices would benefit his business.

The business is still run by his descendants, and the Albion Mills on Lancashire Hill have survived fires and blitz. The sign on the top says the building was erected in 1820 and rebuilt in 1894.

Read more on the company's website