London: Welsh miner's neon signs still illuminating Soho

Richard Bracey founded what would become God's Own Junkyard, one of Europe's largest neon sign makers

To this day, the streets of London are illuminated by a Welsh miner who decided he'd had enough of the dark.

Richard Bracey, from Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, worked down the Tredegar mines in the 1940s.

After "hating" the work, he travelled to London by horse and cart and his neon signs soon became a fixture of Soho's notoriously seedy nightlife.

Now owned by his grandson, the company Richard started 70 years ago ships signs to all corners of the world.

"Pretty much we are a neon sign specialists, it's our bread and butter," said Matthew Bracey, who runs God's Own Junkyard.

"My grandad Richard - grandad Dick we called him - he pretty much hated working in the mines, which I think everyone did.

"[He] wanted to work with light - he wanted to go from dark to light."

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After Richard moved to London towards the end of World War Two, he joined the Royal Navy and served on an aircraft carrier.

He then started work at a neon sign company, the now-defunct Power Neon, where he began to learn the trade and just how difficult working on neon signs can be.

Richard Bracey (right), pictured here with his grandson Matthew, died in 2012, aged 87

"It's quite a gruelling, difficult job. In the summer it gets really hot because they're using burners, Bunsen burners… bombarders which kick out 100,000 volts of electricity," said Matthew.

Having learned the trade for a few years, Richard then left to set up his own company in the 1950s, which has since been passed down and grown into God's Own Junkyard.

After establishing himself, Richard's signs began to light up the streets of Soho, with many still glowing to this day and still maintained by the company that was founded 70 years ago.

Richard's son, Chris, who worked with his father from the 1970s, claimed he was responsible for the signs of "99% of every sex establishment in Soho"

Richard was commissioned to create a sign for Soho's Raymond Revuebar, a theatre and strip club opened in 1958 by the "King of Soho" Paul Raymond.

"We look after that even to this day, was only there last week maintaining it, which is an amazing neon sign. That's the biggest one," said Matthew.

Richard also worked on the large neon sign at former dog racing venue Walthamstow Stadium.

"That's the only listed neon sign in the country and - we still maintain that - which is beautiful at night," added Matthew.

Despite the stadium's demolition, the Walthamstow Stadium sign, created in part by Richard, still stands and is Grade II listed

From the 1970s, Richard worked alongside his son Chris, who became known at the "neon man" and created signs for Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, four Batman films and many other features.

Chris, who died in 2014 aged 59, previously told the BBC: "I did 99% of every sex establishment in Soho for 20 years. For me, it was an artistic endeavour."

Matthew added: "All the red sort of striptease and peep show signs was pretty much done by my dad and he came up with a slogan 'girls, girls, girls' back in the day."

He said the company had grown from a workshop in the family garage, producing one sign every week, to one of the world's "big players" in the neon sign industry.

"I was born in 1976 and I can remember it as a very young child my dad building that garage. I remember being in there helping make the signs."

Matt Bracey runs God's Own Junkyard, which he said is one of "the biggest players in Europe" for neon signs

The God's Own Junkyard warehouse in Walthamstow, north-east London, is now home to the largest collections of neon signs and sculpture outside the US.

"It's grown and grown and grown and everyone that we have working here - some of the guys have been here over 25 years," said Matthew.

"I send neon signs to America. I sent a sign to Las Vegas last week, Dubai, I've got one to go to Australia.

"So from my grandad in a garage... to where we are now, the biggest players, probably in Europe."

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