Penarth ghost sign: Windsor Nursery

Back in 2021, during renovation work, an old shop sign was uncovered on the front of number 86 Windsor Road, Penarth. It read ‘Windsor Nursery’. 

I’ve tried, during the intervening years, to get good photographs of the sign and its building but that has always proved tricky. For much of that time, a large campervan has been parked on the street in front of the building, limiting the possibilities for front-on shots. Also, for a long time, the exterior of the building was covered in scaffolding, though little building work seemed to take place. More recently, the front of the site has become overgrown with foliage. 

Though the word ‘Windsor’ is an obvious nod to the street name, I wondered, initially, about the name ‘Nursery’ – a child-care business, or something horticultural perhaps. Then, I found a post about the building on Twitter; this dates from March 2021 and was posted on the LovesTheDiff account:

An old shopfront sign was recently uncovered at 86 Windsor Road, Penarth. Windsor Nursery was a kind of convenience store of its time. Graham Hicks saw it and dug out this old photo belonging to his aunt. It shows the shop as it was more than 100 years ago.

I no longer use Twitter, and, for copyright reasons, cannot include the photo here but have added a link to the account name for those of you who can access it. I did, however, manage to find a couple of advertisements for goods being sold by the shop, published in the Evening Express, on 22 November 1909 and 31 December 1910 respectively. A sow and her piglets, a ladder, hot water pipes and a garden roller – it’s an intriguing combination of offerings. 

In a reply to the Twitter post referenced above, someone had added another old photograph with the comment: ‘And this is 86 Windsor Rd in 1920s/30s after the Price family took it on. Ernest Price pictured (my great grandad). My mum grew up there.’ Once again, I cannot show you that image, for copyright reasons, but here I had a piece of luck. 

I bumped in to a friend who was walking his dog in a local park and who lives near 86 Windsor Road. Somehow our conversation turned to the building and, by sheer coincidence, he told me he had an old photograph from the time when E.W. Price was the shopkeeper, which he was happy to send to me. The image quality is not great but I am still extremely grateful to my friend for letting me use this photo. 

The old photograph also showed how much the building has been altered in the intervening century; I’ve included a side-by-side comparison to show those changes. The most noticeable difference is the removal of the wonderful oriel window and its replacement with a modern rectangular window, which leaves the building devoid of its former character. I hope the ghost sign can in some way be retained and protected, as a piece of local history, but I somehow doubt that will happen. The building was recently put up for auction, though it appears there were no bids for it, so only time will tell what the future holds for the former ‘Windsor Nursery’.