Garage ghost sign

Two lovely ghost signs in Kelvin Grove, Liverpool. They're in the Welsh Streets area, the subject of controversial plans for demolition and development for over 10 years. I visited on a peaceful summer day. The rows of empty terraced houses stood proudly erect in a salute to past lives, and the signs were a gentle reminder of the everyday business once conducted there. Oh, and if you're a Peaky Blinders fan, there's a treat of a street there for you.

Builder undertaker decorator plumber

Ghost sign in South Brent, Devon. Well, if you live in a village, you've all got to muck in, haven't you? Let's hope the trades didn't get muddled ....

Need a whip maker?

There's never a whip maker around when you need one. But James Smith & Sons has been around since 1830, as the sign on its handsome shop front will tell you.

Known simply as the umbrella shop, it's in New Oxford Street in London, and remains pretty much unaltered since Victorian times. Its gorgeous shop front boasts of tropical sunshades and golf umbrellas, and a rather more interesting range of life preservers.

Why not pick up a dagger or swordstick while you're there?

A good night out in Manchester

Great neon sign for the Picturehouse bar in the Band On the Wall, in Manchester's trendy Northern Quarter. A music venue since the early 20th century, it was originally the George and Dragon pub - so small that bands played on a stage halfway up the back wall, giving the venue its name. A grungy room way back when I was a student, it's now extended and poshed up. It's a great live music spot, run as a charity. Check out its website and archive videos.

You can sit down next to me

A Poem for Manchester, by Mike Duff, appears on mirrored art signs studded like beautiful blue jewels into a wall in Piccadilly Place, not far from Piccadilly station.

The poem was chosen from 4,000 entries as winner of a BBC National Poetry Day competition. Its message of solidarity, equality and acceptance seems particularly fitting following the dreadful Manchester Arena attack this week.

This way please

Pretty gate and smart manicule sign on Manchester's fine town hall.

Sporting sign

Fantastic smart sign in Southwark, London - you don't mess with this one. The original Ring Boxing Club was housed in a former chapel. It had 12 sides, and no 90 degree angles - the architect said that meant there was no corner for the Devil to hide in. The building was sadly a victim of the blitz - the Ring today is close to the original site. There's a great history section on their website.