The Shop Sign

I’m sure I am correct in saying that our shop sign is pretty much unique and has been in situ since the beginning of the business, see the photos from the 1890s. It remains one of the oldest shop frontages in Clitheroe, unchanged through the decades and a link to the town’s Victorian history.

We are often asked how it is painted. The answer to that being, pretty carefully!

Though not in any way fragile, despite its age, occasionally repairs need to be undertaken, which meant that in 2012 a specialist team were brought in to replace both the flashing and timber above the frontage.

The shop is usually then painted by a local exterior decorator.

For many years we have hired the services of an experienced narrow boat decorator to do our sign-writing.

Due to the gradient of King Street, we hire a cherry-picker for the decorator to work from. According to the whim of the writer the typeface changes subtly from year to year.
In the 1960s, before Andrew and Philip, or their father, were partners in the business, the sign read simply ‘D. Byrne’. By the 1970s the ‘& Co’ was added.

Now we are in 2022 and the sign needs a facelift, what might it look like this time?