Felixstowe
Here we are opposite 150 Hamilton Road, Felixstowe,
Suffolk,
travelling towards
the
seafront and just past the old railway station. The enlargement above
gives
a hint of the lettered walls ahead with the slanting word 'GARAGE'. (Scarborough has similar very
oblique Garage
sign.) The
star of the show is visible in the distance ...
... but before that we look back at the obverse wall to
the 'Garage'
lettering
above:
'HASTE
& SONS.
GARAGE'
where the name curves and fits
nicely
over the company's role. Facing it is one of the finest painted
lettering
advertisements in Suffolk on the side wall of 136 Hamilton Road.
'E.F. ANDREWS,
DECORATOR,
PLUMBER & SANITARY ENGINEER,
BUILDING & GENERAL REPAIRS.
RATHBONE FURNISHING STORES.'
Compare the use of the comma to the
full stop after
'Haste
& Sons' (above). The firm's name curves over in a beautiful arc to
fill the
shouldered
wall. Below it in descending order of size, importance - yet increasing
complexity - are the services offered with the
last line enclosed by
chequerboard
rules created by painting alternate bricks in the wall, the rather fine
large and
small
caps:
'RATHBONE FURNISHING STORES'
Unfortunately,
since we first photographed this wall intrusive ventilation outlets
and cabling now interfere with the lettering. All the above photographs
but the last were taken in November 2011. See the enhanced image,
the last in the sequence, which shows the 'before' state. Incidentally,
curious about the meaning of this last feature of E.F. Andrews'
business, an internet search (November 2011) reveals that there
is a Rathbone Furniture shop in Barking Road, London Borough of Newham,
although it's not clear if it related to the Felixstowe premises in the
past.
So, copious punctuation for a busy company, but how did
the signwriters do it? The
flat roofs of the shops next door, if they existed, must have
helped with erection of
scaffolding,
but presumably a foolscap paper layout was transferred to the large
vertical
wall by drawing it out on the brick surface. Imagine trying to draw the
circle at the top, let alone evenly space out the characters which sit
on
it. One can only admire the craftsmanship. All the above firms have
long
since ceased trading, but their lettering remains. In terms of
preservation and quality, this wall compares favourably with the 'W.B. Kerridge - Tailor' sign in Ipswich.
The large 'BANK' lettering at 33 Hamilton
Road.
Meanwhile, down on the seafront, some remedial work to
97 Undercliff
Road
West in Spring 2001 revealed the former use of this building.
'H.T.ABLETT'
flanked by the words
'Wine' and 'Stores'
show this small
shop
to have been an off-licence in years gone by. An interesting site for
such
retail premises; one wonders how much trade was garnered from the
passing
holidaymakers ...
The Fludyers (usually prounced "Fludgers") Arms
lettering further up Felixstowe undercliff.
Here
is an extract from their website (listed on our Links
page):
"The Fludyer name comes from Sir Samuel Fludyer -
grandson of the
presumably more famous Sir Samuel Fludyer (1705-1768) - who was
Lord Mayor of London in 1760. The grandson died in 1833 and is buried
with his wife locally.
The original Fludyer (or Fludyers ?) Arms is a wooden building dating
from at least 1884. The current brick building was built in 1903 and
both brick and timber buildings obviously co-existed alongside each
other for a time.
A stable block, which is now part of the hotel as a
garage / storage area was built behind the wooden structure." This has
a similar glazed extension to the pub and is
now signed: 'Cotman Hall... Mrs Simpson's... Tea Rooms'.
A paperback book published in 1969, called "Inns of
the Suffolk Coast" by Leonard P Thompson contains the following extract:
The Fludyer Hotel, Felixstowe. There was a small, wooden building on
the beach known as Smith's after the name of the proprietor, William
Smith. It was the original Fludyer's Arms and also Felixstowe's Post
Office. Gradually the sea encroached and for several years it stood
within a few feet of high tide. The Hotel of today was built in 1903.
[Source: Suffolk CAMRA; see Links.]
Further away from the town centre, we eventually come to Old
Felixstowe, its shoreline, marina and ferry over the Deben to
Bawdsey (with its curious
manor and curiouser history). The Ferry Boat Inn is one of two
pubs in Old Felixstowe (the Victoria had closed down when these
photographs were taken in April 2011).
Here's another surviving example of the "Tolly Cobbold capitals" found
on The Emperor in Norwich Road, the Rampant Horse in Needham Market and on Off licences in Ipswich. The two
'FERRY BOAT INN' signs are picked out in red, perhaps to match the
lifebelt mounted on the gable end, while the 'TOLLY COBBOLD' letters
above the awning are painted white. This is quite common where the
relief lettering still survives on buildings, reflecting the fact that
the Ipswich brewery company has not owned tied houses for decades.
'A report in the Ipswich Journal on 9 July, 1842 states that a capital
brewery in Ipswich with residence & inn attached and several well
accustomed public houses to be sold at auction by Robert Garrod
including the Bawdsey Ferry inn, in Felixstowe with cottages adjoining.
In 1879 and 1888 listed at Bawdsey, Felixstowe. Bawdsey Ferry Inn is an
earlier name for Felixstowe Ferry.' It is said that that this inn dates
back to the 15th century. (Information from the Suffolk CAMRA website;
see Links.)
Home
Return to Historic Lettering from outside
Ipswich
Please email any comments and contributions by clicking here.
©2004 Copyright
throughout Ipswich
Historic Lettering
website: Borin Van Loon
No reproduction of text or images without express
written permission