For a long time, I thought that this wall on New Cross road ought to have a ghost sign under the cream paint. At last, it has started to emerge.
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However, it may be a while longer before the wording can be properly deciphered. My best guess is 'Funerals, Cremations'; I hope that's not a morbid mistake!
4 comments:
Here is a distant shot of the wall in April 1970, before it was overpainted:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50780708@N02/5169375154/
It confirms that the first two lines are 'Funerals / Cremations', but sadly the third line is obscured.
I had been hoping to decipher it as the name of a branch of the undertakers W. Uden & Sons at 109 New Cross Road, a firm established in 1881, but your picture, which makes it look as if the third line is .EN..., with no room for UD, won't support this.
Thank you - what a brilliant find!
The letters at the beginning are so faint, it does look as if there's an N but I can't see an E. I wonder if it's actually a W? That would be consistent with W Uden.
Google Street View shows that this building is 141 New Cross Road at the corner of Billington Road, a stone's throw from W. Uden at 109. There's sign about Uden on the church railings near where 109 should be, a bit to the west on the same side of the road -- it seems that the place is not on the street front.
I forgot to give a proper link to the old photograph. It's here. It may be wishful thinking, but the third line here could be ..EN & SONS, which would fit in with your reading of a W on your own photograph.
Great sleuthing. This will be the slow reveal, unless the owners decide to accelerate it, or perhaps halt it entirely with a repaint. It'll be interesting to see which way they swing...
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