Clover Signs Blog

We actually started on this project quite a while ago, but we have only now gotten around to taking some quality photos of the sign in situ.

February of last year we were approached by the management of the Royal Herbert Pavilions, a luxury development of apartments in Woolwich created through the restoration of the Royal Herbert Hospital.

The building has a unique and interesting history, not least because it was the first specially built military hospital in the country and the first, military or civilian, to utilise the pavilion design.

They wanted a sign that would reflect the unique nature of this block of flats and turned to Clover Signs for expert advice.  We payed them a visit before even starting on the sign in order to get a feel of the surroundings so the sign would be sure to fit in.

Here is the finished result, complete with an image of the clock tower, intricately carved and gilded, and a complimentary 10 MPH sign underneath, as the exisiting cheap acrylic sign was completely out of context:

Royal Herbert Pavilions Sign

The Royal Herbert Pavilions

Both 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

With the housing market in the worst slump in decades, and people pinching pennies accross the board, we are having to rack our brains about how to continue selling signs. Government funded nurseries seem to still have some money hanging about so we decided to at least test the waters of this new market. Here is our first nursery sign with hopefully many to follow:

Our first of (hopefully) many nursery signs.

It’s another blue plaque, but surely not from English Heritage.

Futuristic Blue Plaque

Possibly the most humorous sign we have made, “The Dead Ostrich” is to hang in a private study, (not on a pub).  The background depicts a pub building on a hill top in the Karoo region of South Africa, hense the Afrikaans translation on the reverse of the sign. It was given as a 70th birthday present to a much loved uncle, and  I trust he is enjoying it on his wall as much as we enjoyed designing and crafting it.

The Dead Ostrich

Throughout the course of the year, we here at Clover Signs can’t help but notice the tendency of people to request a house sign design that is in keeping with that particular time of year. For instance, many crocuses and daffodils are requested in Spring, and we seem to paint a lot of blackberries and apples in the Autumn and poppies in November. This seems quite logical except when you stop to think that your house sign will be up year round. Nevertheless, we are still receiving orders for and making numerous Holly House signs like this one.

Holly Cottage

Tempted? It’s not too late for that last minute Christmas present. However, orders must be placed by the 10th of December in order to deliver by Christmas. Just remember, a house sign will last many years and will be on your house throughout all the seasons, so don’t limit yourself to the present moment.

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.

Generally, when people are ordering some new sinage, whether it is for their recently rennovated house or they are opening a home B & B, they want the complete package to be delivered from one company. As of the beginning of 2008, Clover Signs has made both hanging signs and wrought iron hanging brackets. There is nothing special about it but The Cart Lodge has become easily our most-referred-to sign; ie. “I want a sign just like The Cart Lodge”.

Popular hanging sign with wrought iron bracket.

To request your own customised sign (double sided or otherwise) visit our Hanging Signs page on our business website.