A routine repair at a Dunoon high street shop has uncovered a surprising glimpse into the town’s past.
Andrew Leech, owner of Purdies in the town centre, was forced to remove the front of the shop’s sign after it was damaged during Storm David earlier this year.
He explained: During Storm David the front of our sign for the shop fell down—it was all rotten—so we had to take the rest of the sign down.
But what lay beneath caught him off guard.
Andrew continued: When we took them down you could see the images of two original signs.
One is in gold letters and the other is painted on top of that, which has some pink in it. When you look at it you can work out the word the shoe shop.
The discovery ties in with historic images of the building, with the Castle House Museum providing Andrew with a glimpse into the shop’s past with an image believed to be from 1950.
Further layers of the shop’s history have also come to light, including evidence of a business known as Marshalls in the 1950s and what is believed to have been a grocer named Bell.
Within the signs there was a hidden gem, with pencil scribblings on the older sign.
Andrew said: The Marshalls sign—behind on the plywood—you can make out the names of four people who probably put that sign up.
It was interesting that you could make out the names of the people on the sign.
The names—Joe, Alex, Billy and Iain—offered a rare and personal connection to those who once worked on the building.
Andrew said it is unclear whether the names date from when the Marshalls sign was installed or from later alterations when Purdies moved into the premises, believed to be around 1969.
And the reason he believes Purdies moved in around then is due to a quirky find when he last altered his shop interior.
He said: We were doing some work and found a newspaper dated from then, I think the guys finished reading his paper, put it in the hole needing filled and plastered over it.
Despite the fascinating discovery, replacing the sign has proved challenging for Purdies. Andrew hopes to have a new one in place by mid-May, but says costs and regulations are complicating matters.
He explained: Because we’re a conservation scheme on the street, we’ve got to be careful what we do and we have to talk to the council.
They like to have stand-off letters and they like them hand-painted—they don’t like vinyl or plastic. Letters have got to be 30cm otherwise you need permission. If you want to change colour you need permission—there’s a whole load of rules.
Funding is also an issue, with no current support available for shopfront improvements until after the upcoming election. Andrew noted that such assistance has been available in the past.
The timing adds further pressure for the long-established business, with mounting costs putting the squeeze on.
Andrew said: This is the worst time, as we’re just through winter and the street’s quiet.
We’re a high street business. We came here 20 years ago and when we came the place was absolutely jumping and buzzing.
The internet’s a big problem. We have a lot of people coming in who’ve bought stuff online and want to know how to use it. We used to have people come in, take photos of stock and go and buy it on the internet.
So it’s hard—the high street is definitely a hard place to do business.
For now, the signage served as a reminder of the building’s long and varied history.
