Centaur: The World's Best.

Although this is a Ghost Sign Blip, I have added a second photo from my early morning walk alongside a misty, even slightly ghostly,  River Cam in strange but rather attractive light (to my eye at least)

My blip on Cambridge Ghost Signs the other week led to quite a lot of interest and some illuminating debate on what should be done with them. I thought that another look at a couple of others might be of interest although I don't intend to make this a regular feature!

On King Street, Cambridge there is a large ghost sign for Centaur Cycles - 'the best the world produces'. A closer look and some careful deciphering reveals the words 'famous since 1876' and, on the bottom line (I think), 'prices being within the reach of all'.

Centaur had indeed been founded in Coventry in 1876. It was in 1890 that they developed their lightweight bicycle, the 'King of Scorchers' . The company went out of business in 1915 so this ghost sign must be at least 100 years old. It is fading gracefully. This particular sign is on the side of a private house in a part of the City where house prices are especially high. It is very large and, of course, the original owner would have been paid for 'hosting' the sign. If I owned the house now, I do wonder if I would want to have it restored and I'm a great admirer of them!  It is interesting to note that where the signs have been restored in the City, they have been on commercial premises.

The upper sign for Stoakely & Son in Green Street was restored relatively recently and has been rather controversial. For the purists it is an over-restoration and inaccurate. If you would like to read more then please have a look here:

https://www.ghostsigns.co.uk/2014/07/ghostsigns-restorations-in-cambridge/