One of the souvenirs I brought back from my Manx holiday has finally been hung on the wall of our living room - a genuine poster for Mooragh Park in Ramsey.
The railway company churned out loads of these sort of posters. The top part is printed, and from "Northern Capital" down is sign written. There are posters for all the major towns on the island. This, including the Road Services, is a relatively late one. I've seen several that are just railway. In fact I've been tempted by a couple in the past at £70+, but always resited.
If you want to see them though, stop at the Sefton Express Hotel, like I did. There are old railway posters everywhere.
My poster came from The Old Bonded Warehouse antique centre in Peel. I grabbed it for less than half the price I'd been asked in the past, partly because there is a dirty mark at the bottom. I can live with that, it shows the poster has had a life, and isn't a reproduction.
It wasn't the only temptation on offer in this establishment.
Now, the owner didn't know much about this sign, other than he bought it on the island. On the basis that its five foot by three foot, I can't see someone importing it from elsewhere. I,on the other hand, would have happily exported it if the thing would fit in my car, and I had anywhere to display it.
While the condition isn't great, the £150 price would be negotiable. So, if you fancy a nice tramway sign, you know where to go!
1 comment:
Old IoM posters, love it! For anyone wanting a reproduction poster, there’s a number available, in different formats, from Manx National Heritage museum collection: https://www.magnoliabox.com/collections/manx-national-heritage-heritage-posters
My favourite is the IoMSPCo “Our Big Five” poster from the 1930s that parodies the Cunard “Big Three” poster from the same era. Think of the LNER parody of the Southern Railway poster. Maybe not everyone knows that the IoMSPCo is rather older than Cunard and that, in its early days, one of the directors looked out of the Cunard Building and saw one of the SPCo boats in the Mersey. He liked the paint-scheme so much that Cunard copied it!
Chris the Groudle guard.
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