Urban Wandering: an afternoon in Salisbury, Wiltshire

With a forecast for rather mixed weather over the weekend, we decided to go somewhere not too far from home, and also somewhere where we could seek shelter if it did start chucking it down with rain again. Our town of choice was Salisbury, Wiltshire. I used to visit Salisbury quite regularly as a young child as my grand parents has a house overlooking the railway station and yard, where my grand father used to work. Despite only visiting there until I was about 5 or 6, I can still remember where their house was, although it's barely recognisable today.

Anyway, on to the urban wander itself. Our first stop was to get some lunch but I managed to get side-tracked by this ghost sign. It's quite hard to make out but it's between the two rows of windows and reads

BENNETT WHOLESALE WAREHOUSE ...

Ghost sign in Salisbury, Wiltshire

Although not strictly a ghost sign, I did particularly like this one, which reads

STEAM PRINTING WORKS

WILTS COUNTY MIRROR

SOUTH WILTS EXPRESS 

Old sign in Salisbury, Wiltshire

And again this one is also not a proper ghost sign, but is most definitely a sign of the past

MENS WEAR

 As we moved away from the main town centre and headed out to where my grand parents used to live near the station, I spent a few minutes wandering around what I thought was an old goods yard, most of which is now a car park. However, a bit of research though has shown that in fact these platforms were probably part of the old Salisbury GWR station.

Goods Yard at Salisbury Station, Wiltshire

 

Platforms from the former Salisbury GWR Station, Wiltshire

Platforms from the former Salisbury GWR Station, Wiltshir

Platforms from the former Salisbury GWR Station, Wiltshire

As we wandered back into the city centre, I came across this ghost sign, well in fact it's two adjacent ghost signs, or even three ghost signs as the one on the right looks like it may be one sign written on top of an earlier one. It's situated high up on the side of a building next to the railway bridge. This was the closest I could get, but the gap between the building and the bridge was so small, that I doubt a better photo opportunity is available. Initially I thought this was a curious place to display and advert but then it dawned upon me that it was probably intended to be seen by passengers on the trains which crossed the railway bridge. Unfortunately I'm a bit lost to even suggest what these two signs might say.

 Ghost sign in Salisbury, Wiltshire

And as we finished our wander for the day, we came across this impressive old shop facade. It's now the home of Foxtrot Vintage Clothing, but was formerly

Knight & Company Poultry & Fish Game Market

I particularly liked the green, ceramic tiles and can almost imagine the various wares that were displayed in the windows.

 

Knight & Company Poultry & Fish Game Market

Oh yes, and there's a huge cathedral in Salisbury too ... but I'm guessing you all knew that.