More signs from the coast.

Seaside Signs. British seaside towns are suffering the blight of ugly computer signage just as much as the high street. However, if you look carefully there are usually some surviving hand-painted items to catch the eye. Here are some examples I came across at "sunny" Seaton Carew near Hartlepool. I like the way someone has added a swastika to the Traffic Warden sign. The figure reminded me of Blakey from On the Buses...

Hand Painted Sign site. TypArchive is an image library with a simple mission-statement which Bagnall's Retreat can heartily endorse: "Amidst a landscape of vapid malls and sterile (computer) signage, hand-painted lettering retains an aesthetic to be treasured..."

You can also contribute your own photos of the fading art of hand lettering. Take a look here...

Dilapidated Shop Sign. While strolling the back streets of Hartlepool today I came across this obviously long shut and boarded up shop. Its hand-painted sign is flaking to reveal a more interesting two colour piece of signage with drop-shadow.

Painted Signs blog. I'm always on the look-out for people who share my love of old signwriting and faded advertising from another age. This blog I discovered today records some great 'ghost signs' and commercial mosaics from Southern England and France. See example above. The black and white ghost sign is one I spotted and photographed in Edinburgh this April.