An Urban wander from Dalston in East London to Barnsbury North London

 On the same day as I undertook my short urban wander from Greenwich to New Cross, via a couple of record shops, I then headed over the river to Dalston, where I started the next part of my drift. I'd been curious about the Dalston Eastern Curve garden for a while so headed for this as my first port of call. It's one acre of green space built on a former railway track, to be precise the line which once connected Dalston Junction station with the old North London Railway. No remains of the railway in sight, but an interesting open space with a café too. I'm not sure my pictures quite do it justice, and although open all year I imagine it would look even better later in the year.

Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, Dalston, East London

Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, Dalston, East London

Leaving the gardens behind, I headed west along Balls Pond Road and came across a former pub, The Anchor, which seems to have closed as a pub many years ago, and is now (possibly) a wine bar. Fortunately the old pub signage can still be seen on the gable, otherwise I would have missed it completely.

Former pub, The Anchor, Balls Pond Road, Islington, North London

Next up we have a very feint ghostsign on King Henry's Walk. I can't find any information about this one, and frustratingly I can only make out the words TURNING OF on the bottom line

Ghostsign on King Henry's Walk, Islington, London N1

Continuing my trek through Islington I came across the former premises of PLAYBOARD PUPPETS on Ockendon Road, a puppet company created by Ian Allen and John Thirtle in 1971, famous for the Button Moon stage and TV show. The signage is still clearly legible above the threshold.

Ghostsign on the former premises of Playboard Puppets, Ockendon Road, Islington, London N1 

Further along the Essex Road is the former premises of JAY, which was a silversmith, goldsmith and watch maker. Pretty much all that's left as a clue to the origin of this building is the lettering in one of the shop doorways.  

Doorway to the former JAY watch maker's, Essex Road, Islington, London N1

After a quick stop for a further vinyl fix  at Flashback Records in Islington, I continued on my meander. Not much further along the Essex Road is the wonderful art deco style Gracepoint building, formerly the Carlton Cinema, designed by architect George Coles.

Gracepoint building, Essex Road, Islington, North London N1

Essex Road really does seem to be the road that keeps on giving, and not far from the previous find, we have the former premises of R.Gunner, a small chain of provisions merchants, whose initials can be seen both in the doorway mosaic and the tiled wall.

Doorway mosaic and tiling for R.Gunner, Essex Road, Islington, London N1

Moving along Essex Road a bit further we come across a rather wonderful old sign on the corner of Popham Street for 

X-ZALIA

NIGHT CURE FOR

CATARRH

COLDS IN THE HEAD

INFANTS INFLUENZA

SIMPLE & INEXPENSIVE

Old sign for X-Zalia catarrh treatment, Essex Road, Islington, North London, N1

Moving away from Essex Road now, I ventured westwards and came across this former pub, the Old Parr's Head, on the corner of Cross Street and Upper Street. The building still has much of its old pub tiling, including some wonderful signs (see below) but is now a branch of Monsoon, so I imagine they will no longer be serving LUNCHEONS DAILY as the sign suggests.

Tiling on the Old Parr's Head pub, Islington, North London, N1

Tiling on the Old Parr's Head pub, Islington, North London, N1

Yet another former pub as I made my way to Barnsbury. This is the Rainbow, on the corner of Liverpool Road and Barnsbury Street, built in 1879 but not serving pints for quite a while now I imagine.

Former pub, The Rainbow, Barnsbury, North London, N1

And so on to what is now one of my favourite parts of London, full of history and interesting architecture. Having spent many an hour wandering around the various inner and outer suburbs and districts of London I'm not sure how I would have missed Barnsbury before. One possible reason is that it does not have any record shops as far as I can see, which is usually my main reason for exploring, but there's so much to see here, it's going to deserve another visit, or two.

First up we have another former pub, this time it's the former Whitbread pub, The Prince of Wales, at 71 Barnsbury Street. I've included a few pictures of this one as I was quite taken by it's appearance and wonderful green tiling, along with the Whitbread tankard sign.

Former pub, The Prince of Wales, 71 Barnsbury Street, North London, N1

Former pub, The Prince of Wales, 71 Barnsbury Street, North London, N1

Former pub, The Prince of Wales, 71 Barnsbury Street, North London, N1

My poor old legs were getting tired now but I'm glad I kept going on my wander and found another ghostsign, and what a beauty it is. This is on the corner of Cloudesley Road and Richmond Avenue.

WOOTON'S CASH CHEMIST

DISPENSING

CHEMIST

HOURS OF BUSINESS

9AM TO 6-30PM

THURSDAY TO 1 PM

TOILET &

NURSERY

REQUISITES

PHOTOGRAPHIC

MATERIALS

Ghostsign for Wotton's Cash Chemist, Cloudesley Road, London N1

This next couple of pictures are of the front of the former chemist, on Richmond Avenue. The building on the left would have been the actual chemist, whereas the one on the left is some sort of former off-licence, possibly called The Cork & Bottle, although I cannot make that out from the sign above the threshold,

Former shops, Richmond Avenue, London N1

A close up of the shop window showing presumably some of what they would have sold, Fizz, and the opening hours.

Former shop window, Richmond Avenue, London N1

Just around the corner from Richmond Avenue is the former premises of HENRY LICHT. Unfortunately I was unable to find any further information on this building.

Former premises of Henry Licht, Barnsbury Street, London N1

A slightly zoomed out picture showing even more former shops and studios in Barnsbury Street.

Former shops and studios in Barnsbury Street, North London, N1

I originally thought this next building, on Agar Grove, was a former pub but I can't find any information about it on the Closed Pubs site, so I'm assuming that instead it was most likely a shop in its previous life. I suspect the brick wall above the windows would have held some sort of signage. I zoomed in close on my PC and think I can make out the odd letter but may be imagining it.

Former shop (?), Agar Grove, London N1

This turned out to be quite an epic walk, and as mentioned Barnsbury is definitely and area I'll be returning to as it feels like there's plenty more to see. As usual many thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts.

An Urban Wander from King's Cross to Hackney and Back Again

 Up in London recently for an evening event, I decided to travel up early to make the most of the day. I didn't have any real plans, other than to pay a visit to Atlantis Records in Hackney to fee my vinyl addiction, and to return to the Parcel Yard in King's Cross for my evening event. So, I decided to walk to Hackney from King's Cross and back again, in a loop of some description. The weather was a bit grey to start with but fortunately it brightened up along the wander. Below you can see a few pictures I took along the way.

First up it's one of my favourite subjects, ghostsigns. This ghostsign can be found over what is now a Nando's, on York Way, just to the north of King's Cross station. Pleasing that the old signage has been left intact. I wonder what sort of REFRESHMENTS it would have provided, perhaps Italian given that it was the Celestino Bertolini refreshment Rooms, which operated from 1916 to the 1960's.

Ghostsign for Celestino Bertolini's Refreshment Rooms, York Way, King's Cross, London

Next up, on the Caledonian Road, we have an old shop sign for SIMMONS DINING ROOMS, with some wonderful, green ceramic tiling either side of the shop front. Still going by the same name, but judging by the signage that can be seen just below the Simmons banner, which reads COCKTAILS DISCO OPEN TIL 3 FRIDAY& SATURDAY, I imagine this is no longer a dining room but more of a trendy cocktail bar.

Old sign for Simmonds Dining Rooms, Caledonian Road, King's Cross, London

As I made my way towards Hackney, I came across another old sign, or ghostsign, for the engineering company, C. LINDLEY & CO., LTD on Englefield Road. According to an old advertisement I found they provided bolts, screws, studs, nuts and pins for the aircraft, motor, shipbuilding and general engineering trades.

Old sign for C. Lindley & Co Ltd., Englefield Road, London N1

Just a bit further along the Englefield Road, on the corner with De Beauvoir Road, is another ghost sign for COLLINS & HAYES, which as far as I can tell was a factory for the production of sofas. If it's the same company then it would appear that they still exist but are now in Nottinghamshire.

Ghostsign for Collins & Hayes, De Beauvoir Road, London N1

There's no doubt as to what purpose the next sign would have served. This is the premises of the former pub THE DE BEAUVIOR ARMS on Stamford Road. Closed for business in 2004 it is now used for residential purposes.

Old sign for the former pub, The De Beauvoir Arms, Stamford Road, London N1

My wander now took me to Dalston, not an area I have really spent much time in previously, but come up with this delight. This is the former building of REEVES & SONS LTD, ARTISTS' COLOUR MANUFACTURER. in Ashwin Street, London E8

Old sign for the former Reeves & Sons Ltd building, Dalston, London E8

Old sign for the former Reeves & Sons Ltd building, Dalston, London E8

Old sign for the former Reeves & Sons Ltd building, Dalston, London E8

After a quick look around Atlantis records, and picking up a handful of records, I started to make my way back. Ideally I would have liked to spend more time in Hackney but time was not on my side so I probably on scratched the surface. I was pleased however to have spotted this wonderful ghostsign before I left. I can't quite make out the top line, possibly A.HANWELL, but despite searching through my usual sources of London ghostsigns I cannot find any mention of this one. The rest of the sign though is quite clear.

HOUSE FURNISHER

ESTABLISHED OVER 50 YEARS

LOWEST CASH PRICES

EASY TERMS CAN BE ARRANGED

Ghostsign, Mare Street, Hackney, London

When I came across this next building, I assumed that given the tiling and windows that it was a former pub. However after a bit of research it seems to have been the premises of the City of Dublin Bottling Co Ltd.

Former premises of the City of Dublin Bottling Co Ltd., Croston Street, Hackney, London E8

As my walking time, and my legs, were both now running out, I now headed to the Regents Canal for a more direct route back to King's Cross. I'd walked past the former Hackney /Bethnal Green gasworks plenty of times previously but they never cease to impress me. I'm not sure how much longer they will still be in their current state as there seems to be a new, large development on the horizon. It seems like the external structure may be retained in some form, like the ones at King's Cross (see further down this page). It's a bit of a shame but better I guess than losing them completely. For anyone with a thirst to know more about London's lost power stations and gasworks, check out this excellent book by Ben Pedroche.

The Hackney / Bethnal Green gasholders

Heading further along the canal is part of the 2020 controversial art installation by the architect Jaimie Shorten. Controversial because of apparent lack of planning permission. Originally there were 5 sharks in the installation and they were located in a different place in the canal. It seems this is the only one still on display.

Part of the Shark art installation on the Regent's Canal, by architect Jaimie Shorten

And so, as the light was fading and my feet were aching, I finally made it back to King's Cross. As mentioned above, here is one of the preserved / redeveloped gasholders at King's Cross. Again it's a shame they cannot be seen through, but again this is better than them being demolished.

Repurposed gasholder, King's Cross London

Finally, the last picture, at the very end of my wander, a ghostsign in Coaldrop Yard for the COAL OFFICE. This whole area has been massively redeveloped over the past few years, from once was a huge industrial area consisting mainly of disused and unoccupied buildings, to a thriving cultural, eating and shopping district. The majority of the old buildings have been kept in some form or other, which again is pleasing to see. More about the history and dramatic transformation of the King's Cross area in The King's Cross Story, 200 Years of History in the Railway Lands.

Ghostsign for COAL OFFICE in Coaldrop Yard, King's Cross, London

Once again, many thanks for taking time to read my rambling wanders, always In Search of Space.