Clover Signs Blog

We are proud to announce that Clover Signs has now made over 3,000 signs since our opening in December 2006.  The Clover Signs team would like to thank all our customers for their business which has enabled us to reach this milestone.   Special thanks to those customers that have come back repeatedly to order additional signs for their business or property.

So who bought our 3,000th sign?  It went to the Greenbank Bed and Breakfast which is beautifully situated in the village of Bowerchalke.  The village lies within a conservation area designated as an area of “outstanding natural beauty”.  I’ve never been there but having looked at their website, www.greenbank101.com, I’m sure it would prove to be very rewarding.

Here is the sign already installed!

Greenbank B & B – new sign

And here is the sign it replaced! Yes it’s there, in the bottom right hand corner.

Old Sign

We would love to have you become one of our valued customers.  Visit our website to place a custom wooden sign design request and see more of our House Signs,  Free Standing Signs, or Hanging Signs.   We also have a dedicated Bed and Breakfast Signs page.

Our hanging signs and free standing signs are becoming more and more popular, as our customers realize the benefit of sourcing custom metal work from the same supplier as their hand crafted signage.   These signs are ideal for the end of long driveways, providing a quality welcome statement to your property.   As you can see in the photo below they can also be ordered with mountings for a hanging flower basket to give it that added touch.

Post Sign with Flower Basket

Free Standing Entrance Sign

To see more examples of our property signs or house signs visit us at www.cloversigns.co.uk.

Here is another business sign we did recently.  We don’t usually do installations but since this one was just down the road and  in the heart of downtown London we decided to do it ourselves to be sure it was done right.  At first glance the sign might not look that big.  In fact is is 2.85 meters long and 66 cm wide.  A little bigger than your normal house sign!  You might just be able to see that it has two joints inside the A’s at both ends but that sure does not distract from the effect of the sign.  Here are some before and after shots, unfortunately it was raining so the photos are not the best.

Previous Sign

New Sign

New Hanging Sign

If you are ever in the area you might be interested in a meal at the Anokha Indian Bar & Restaurant.  If you are here because of your interest in signs visit our website to place an inquiry and see more of our restaurant signs, House Signs, Hanging Signs or Bed and Breakfast Signs.

For most people the present economic crisis spells bad times but with the Bed and Breakfast trade that does not seem to be the case.   With the recent credit crunch more and more people are finding that going abroad is beyond their means and they are looking at the cheaper alternative of going on holiday closer to home.  This means more business for Bed and Breakfasts and more and more people are looking at the option of starting a B&B to make a little extra money.  At  Clover Signs we are glad for the increase in enquiries into  Bed and Breakfast Signs.  They are simpler than most business signs because often they hang outside a private residence and serve as a house sign as well.  The example below demonstrates this.

The sub sign is attached using quick links and can be removed during the winter months or when you no longer  wish advertise your B&B to passers by. Also perfect for hotel signs.

Unlike our standardised house signs, business signs are usually accompanied by a whole range of complexities. However, when the Women’s Wellness Centre, across from the  Chelsea and Westmisnster Hospital, approached us to make them a sign, the design seemed fairly straightforward. With our trademark hand carved letters on a striking white background, and the colours customed mixed to exactly match their logo, the end result was more than satisfactory. The one challenge of the job was to have the sign stick out perpendicularly from the wall, in the fashion of the other shops on this busy stetch of the Fulham road in Chelsea.

Wall mounted double-sided business sign.

The Women's Wellness Centre on Fulham Road in Chelsea

Traditionally, a house sign maker, Clover Signs has recently branched out into making School Signs. One such sign we did completely gratis for a primary school in Rwanda. An acquaintance of mine and his wife had travelled there earlier this year and had seen the school under construction. The school is now completed, and, with the help of Oxfam, they have received their new sign from Clover Signs.

Mitayayo Primary School Sign

This photo of the sign was actually taken before it was sent off to Africa where the children are eager to learn and knowledge really is light.

If you would like to relax, unwind and sip champagne in Shropshire … read on! Back in September 2006, Gilly and Brian Bachelor purchased The Walkmill, and now the renovations are finally complete and they are open for business. Not the least of the improvements was the purchase of a new sign from Clover Signs.

The Walkmill comprises three cottages – Stone Cottage, Walkmill House and Walkmill Lodge all set in four acres of beautiful Shropshire countryside within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with views of the Long Mynd and The Stiperstones.

They have secured a tie-up with www.champagneuk.com so arrivals will be welcomed by a bottle of champagne on ice.

In the past, we have run articles about the history of house names, but after reading a recent article in The Guardian about the demise of pubs, I thought to give this ‘catastophic loss’ some much needed attention:

The painted pub sign, one of the oldest popular visual arts traditions in Britain, is locked in decline. That is the fear of conservationists who hope to alert pub chains and breweries to a ‘catastrophic’ loss of the traditional skills involved and a failure to preserve a heritage that dates back to Roman times.

The first signs outside inns appeared after the Roman invasion when most people were unable to read. A wreath of vine leaves on a pole was the recognised symbol for a hostelry, and this led to images of shrubbery and pub names such as The Bush or The Bunch of Grapes.

The growing corporate ownership of public houses across the British Isles has led to the standardisation of what is on offer, both inside and outside the bar. The situation has worsened in the past five years because of the increasing number of pub closures.

We have made signs for both brewers and pubs, and below are a few examples.

Clover signs is proud to announce that we have now made over 2000 signs in our short history. It was just under two years ago that founder and former manager Bernard Hibbs and his wife Rachel travelled to the United States to learn from sign makers there. Among other things, they were introduced to a new material – High Density Urethane (HDU)- which has been used extensively, not only in the USA, but also in Canada, Germany, and Australia. Currently, all of our signs are made of this tough synthetic wood which can be carved and machined much like wood, but will last much longer on your house.

When we reached the last milestone of 1500 signs, all the employees at Clover Signs made a prediction of when we would top 2000. August proved to be an unusually successful month with many people buying their house signs in between vacations. As the month drew to a close we all held our breath and on the last day we hit the mark, fulfilling the prediction of one of our most senior employees. The customer received a generous discount and if you are ever vacationing in Shropshire, you may just stay in one of these Luxury Holiday Cottages.

Clover Signs would like to announce that we are no longer making slate house signs. The simple reason is this: Our carved signs and house signs have become so popular that we cannot concentrate on 2 things at once.

Slate and stone is still a great choice for a house sign, so we would like to recommend Rustic Stone. Rustic Stone make all manner of slate house signs and signs on boulders, ideal for setting next to driveways.

However, if you were dead set on getting that beautiful custom painting, and simply had to have it on slate, Your Signs, based on the Isle of Wight is the place to go. From simple house number plates to superb custom painted house plaques, their dedicated team of house sign makers and house sign artists combine traditional arts & crafts  techniques together with contemporary  resin & reflective lettering technologies  to produce elegant, quality, long lasting house signs that will  enhance the look of your home in daytime and also help  make your home address easier to find during hours of darkness.