Tag Archives: Urban History

Departing Stores and Place Vandalism

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Leigh Sparks

“Loss of local identity is a powerful factor that can influence the social and economic wellbeing of a town. By preserving the fabric of distinctive historic buildings, particularly those as prominent as former department stores, residents can recover a sense … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, City Centres, Department Stores, Design, Edinburgh, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, Places, Town Centres, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ghostsigns: A London Story

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

Anyone who follows me on twitter will have seen my fascination with ghostsigns and especially retail ones.  They have also featured at various points in this blog (for example Scotland, Montana, Dublin, London).  Most notably (for I am undoubtedly in … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Books, Buildings, Crowdfunding, Design, Ghost Signs, Heritage, High Streets, History, London, Retail History, Signage, Streetscapes, Town Centres | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Small Shops: Brian Lomas

Posted on July 12, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

I have just been alerted (thanks to @LeighVBird) to a book recently published by the modernist on the topic of Small Shops. It consists of 45 black and white photographs of small shops from North Manchester, taken in the early … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Community, Consumer Change, Food Retailing, Historic Shops, History, Independents, Local Retailers, Manchester, Neighbourhood, Retail Change, Retailing, Small Shops, Social Change, Urban, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perth – Past, Present, Future

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Leigh Sparks

Last week I ventured north to the ‘Fair City’ of Perth for a presentation at a Scottish Civic Trust and Perth Civic Trust evening event on the theme of Perth: Past, Present and Future.  I had been given the task … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Closure, Consumer Change, Consumers, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Independents, Online Retailing, Perth, Places, Public Realm, Reinvention, Retail Planning, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Store Closures, Streets, Streetscapes, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Lost Broch of Stirling

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Leigh Sparks

I am not sure what it says about me, but I have been seduced into some small crowdfunding projects over the last few years.  The subjects have been food, drink, rugby and history, so maybe I do know how and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Brochs, Buildings, Crowdfunding, Experiential, Heritage, History, Incredible Edible, Retail Change, Sexism, Social media, Stirling, University of Stirling, Urban, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hail The Town! The Scottish Town in the Age of the Enlightenment

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Leigh Sparks

One of the perks of running this blog is that I can occasionally hand it over to others for contributions and get to learn something about their interests and viewpoints. Readers of previous guest blogs will thus have seen Anne … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Enlightenment, Heritage, History, Improvement, Public Realm, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Towns, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Painting the Town: Scottish Urban History in Art

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Leigh Sparks

One of the joys of working at a University is that (on the whole!) colleagues are interesting and interested and you can have conversations that take very different turns. One recently with my frequent co-author Anne Findlay ended with “oh … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Art, Heritage, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Town Centres, Towns, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment