So for this year’s celebration of Halloween, I thought I’d feature a few ghosts on the blog! Not real ghosts – ummm, not that I believe ghosts are real!! – but ghost signs! I’ve covered some of these in some very early blogposts, and I contributed quite a number to the Historic England ghost signs project back in 2023.
Of course, the usual definition of a ghost sign is that it is a painted sign on the side of a building, that has been left after the business or service it was advertising has gone. In my earlier posts, I extended this to cover other kinds of signs that remained on a building after the business associated with it had gone, so for example, the Messenger offices on Cumberland Road where the embossed terractotta name can still be seen; the former names of pubs like the current Organ Grinder (the Packe Horse), the Black Lion (the Tap and Clapper), and the Corporation Hotel (the Carpenters Arms); or even sandstone plaques on a building indicating the business that used to take place on the premises, like Parks Millwrights, or monograms of previous owners, for example PJM in Market Place.
Some of the ghost signs from those early blogposts are now gone, and some which weren’t really ghost signs at the time have now become such, like Putts.
So, in the
last couple of weeks we have lost two of our iconic ghost signs, both of which
were a long part of Loughborough’s history. The first is the sign on the
Shepshed Lace Manufacturing, which was on the former factory on Great Central
Road, the sign on the side facing onto the railway track. Loughborough has a
long history of hosiery and lacemaking, but there are few buildings left in
which this trade was worked. Shepshed Lace began in 1906, in the Bullring in
Shepshed, moved to Sullington Road in 1909, opened a mill in Duffield in 1917,
and eventually moved the warehouse and the manufacturing to Loughborough in
1927.
The Herbert Morris factory on Empress Road that we have seen today until very recently, was but a shadow of the former factory, which also had premises close to the Midland railway. The company were in the business of lifting gear, but in addition to the products they made, the factory on Empress Road was also known as a site which suffered from the dropping of a Zeppelin bomb on 31st January 1916. The frontage onto Empress Road was for some time a car repair garage, but lately, the original Herbert Morris sign has been revealed, and can still be seen.
Some new
signs which I didn’t cover in those early blogposts include one on Biggin
Street, which is on the side of the building which is now the LOROS shop. This
one reads “Harry Grayson complete house furnishers”. The property looks to have
been built around 1900, so I’m assuming that Harry Grayson was based there
before C. E. Goodliffe, who, in the 1960s, when they moved to Church Gate
(where the picture framers is now, not the restaurant), then passed the
building to Pickworths. I have yet to discover if Goodliffe is related to Gascoyne
and Goodliffe who were hosiery makers on Mill Street (possibly in the old Heathcoat
Building).
Another new sign for this post is the one between the old India Association building and Topic hairdressers. Actually, there’s two ghost signs – or three if you count the gate!! One can be seen if heading in the direction of Tylers, the other if heading in the direction of Swancar. The first of these is a sign advertising ‘Studio 13’ which was a ladies hair salon at the back of Topic. The other sign is much older, but is in a pretty poor state, which makes it difficult to read. It even almost looks as though it’s two signs, one painted over the other. So, if the numbering on Swan Street hasn’t changed, these are the occupants of no.13 over time (although the 1901 census return seems to record 13 as 13A, and 13A as 13):
1877 – Joseph
Cooper, hatter and Samuel Marsh, hatter
1881 –
Charles D. Marriott, tinner and brazier and metal work master
1892 – Mrs Mary
Marriott, tinner and brazier
1901 – Walter
Caldwell, house furnisher, while 13A was Arthur Marriott, locksmith
1908 – Thomas
C. Towell, confectioner
1911 – William
Chadbourne, confectioner (sweets etc.), while 13A was John Caldwell, furniture
dealer
1939 –
Florence Chadbourne, confectioner (master)
1952 – still the
Chadbourne family of confectioners
1962 – John Sarson and son, wine and spirit merchants. Also listed as 13, John Caldwell second-hand furniture dealer
So, my
opinion is that the final line on this advert says “Made to order” and the line
above that mentions “Stove”. Above that is “…ping”, and the top line seems to
say “…runks”. Maybe, “Trunks”, “Piping”, “Stove …”, “Made to order” – so either
associated with Charles D. Marriott, the tinner, brazier, and metal work
master, or possibly Arthur Marriott the locksmith.
The final ghost sign I’d like to share is the one on Wood Gate, close to Bedford Square. Now, I do seem to remember that there might have been an Indian takeaway shop there at one time – or am I imagining that? So would the ghost sign really be saying “Balti”?
And here I must leave Halloween as the night is drawing in and ghostly happenings are beginning to, ummm, happen!!
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Here are some of my earlier posts about ghost signs:
Ghost signs of Loughborough Part 1 https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2014/03/ghost-signs-of-loughborough.html
Ghost signs of Loughborough Part 2 https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2014/03/ghost-signs-of-loughborough-part-2.html
Loughborough building demolished – about the ghost sign on the old labour exchange on Cradock Street https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/04/loughborough-building-demolished.html
Ever-changing Loughborough – Shepshed Lace https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/10/ever-changing-loughborough.html
The Old Art College and The Generator https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-old-art-college-and-generator.html
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