Keep an eye out and you never know what you’ll spot on a street in London, with signs dating back to the Second World war - or even longer. The oldest street marker is ‘Yorke Street 1636’ in what is now Tavistock Street, Covent Garden.
Commit No Nuisance
A lovely turn of phrase in a quaint, Dickensian street in Southwark.
Doyce Street SE1
Tube: Borough
Stick No BIlls
Almost impossible to see in the gloom under the railway arches of London Bridge.
Weston Street SE1
Tube: London Bridge
Shelter
Dating to 1940, this is one of the last survivors of a common sight during WWII.
Smith Square SW1
Tube: Westminster
Cowley Street
Bearing the date 1722, this is one of the oldest street name markers in London.
Cowley Street SW1
Tube: Westminster
Smith’s Square
The date is 1726, the year Isaac Newton developed his theory of gravity.
Smith Square SW1
Tube: Westminster
Bankside
You’ll have to go onto the beach under the Millennium Bridge to see this. Exciting.
Bankside SE1
Tube: Blackfriars
Jonathan’s Coffee House
The original site of the London Stock Exchange is hidden away in a dark alley.
Change Alley EC3
Tube: Bank
This Wall
‘THIS WALL the Property of
T CHANCELLOR Built 1824.’ So don’t try stealing it...
Ansdell Street W8
Tube: High Street Kensington
Any comments - or a suggestion? Please e-mail me.
In Case Of Fire...
Apply For The Key Of The Engine Shed... Hopefully, the fire was going to wait for you.
Christ Church E1
Tube: Aldgate East
Lavender Soap
The whole gable wall here was an advert - now covered by a modern billboard.
Birkbeck Road W3
Rail: Acton Central
Bluecoat School
How do you advertise your school, when your potential customers can’t read?
Hatton Garden EC1
Tube: Hatton Garden
Signage
Bovril
Bovril was invented by a Scotsman to feed Napoleon’s troops in Russia.
Brixton Oval
Tube: Brixton
Banksy’s Rat
Graffiti artist Banksy has left four rats around here, near Smithfields Market.
Hayne Street EC1
Tube: Barbican
Jack The Ripper
Down a dark alleyway, near where Jack claimed his last victims, is this sinister stencil.
Parliament Close E1
Tube: Liverpool Street
Walk Your Horse
A low archway - and all drivers of vehicles are directed to walk their horses.
Cheyne Walk SW3
Tube: Sloane Square
Yorke Street 1636
I walked this street many times looking for this sign before I eventually spotted it.
34 Tavistock Street SW1
Tube: Covent Garden
