Wexford Walk

Small town Irish shopping streets are not yet dominated by chains and clones - there’s still a place for small locally owned and operated enterprises. Design decisions are idiosyncratic and provide much employment for local painters and decorators and specialists in hand-lettering. Bright and intense colours are widely favoured along with strong contrasts - often extending to the upper floors of the building. More contemporary stylings can be seen but they’re outnumbered by traditionalists, content to select their fonts from ancient pattern books. UPVC fascias and vinyl wraps are few and far between and even then, an element of eccentricity is never far away.  These examples were all seen on a short walk around the town centre of Wexford.

 

The Edge of the World

Penzance has the feeling of a town on the edge of Britain. With only the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Great Western Railway’s westward expansion came to an abrupt stop here. A well established local independent bookshop chose its name accordingly. When we visited in March, new shop premises were in preparation and shop-fitters were installing the final section of fascia panelling. Which made for a nice pair of photos and served as an encouraging sign of defying conventional wisdom which holds the days of local high street bookselling are all but over.