Bringing back the high street's ghost signs

This former sweet shop has two ghost signs on the side of the building

Hand-painted advertising signs from the early 20th Century, called ghost signs, are being brought back to life by artists on brick buildings in Gloucester.

Local artist Tash Frootko chose to repaint two ghost signs on Dynevor Street and one opposite Carmarthen Street.

She found family members who used to own one of the shops and still had the original sign.

Dawn Evans, who is working on the project, said: “The first sign was quite unique as there was nothing left on the wall but Tash has this really clear photo of how it used to look."

The original ghost sign on Dynevor Street, Tredworth was displayed from around 1915

Ms Frootko told BBC Radio Gloucestershire: “I wanted to find the best images of the ghost signs so went onto a local Facebook group.

“Within 10 minutes I was contacted by a guy saying ‘my wife’s grandparents used to own that shop and we have the original ghost sign’.”

Sally Pobjoy, great-granddaughter of Edward Henry Pobjoy, who owned the former sweet shop on Dynevor Street, said: “It’s lovely because we’ve got the Pobjoy name [back on the High Street]."

Derek Lawrence, Sally’s husband, added: “I was quite interested in the history of the Pobjoy family name. To see [the signs] in painting again, it’s brilliant.”

Gloucester City Council is happy for the signs to be repainted as part of the restoration work for the High Street Tredworth Transformation Project.

The ghost sign work is expected to be completed in the next few months.

A ghost sign on a current betting shop will also be repainted