![\"Ken](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_unnamed-52.jpg\")
Ken at his studio in Make CIC on Regent Street(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool ECHO )<\/p>\nKen Bullock and Harry Mytton are just two of the city’s artists keeping Liverpool’s history alive through hand painted signs<\/p>\n
11:36, 24 May 2025Updated 16:06, 24 May 2025<\/p>\n
Ken at his studio in Make CIC on Regent Street(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool ECHO )<\/p>\n
On Slater Street, in the heart of the city centre, R Jackson & Sons has been supplying materials to some of Liverpool’s finest artists since 1866.<\/p>\n
Its 150 year history has seen customers from The Beatles’ original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe<\/a> to Welsh painter Augustus John.<\/p>\n But if you take a moment to look up, you might find that some of R Jackson\u2019s most interesting history can be found before you even enter its doors.<\/p>\n The bold block lettering on the front of the store is technically new but its spirit and style has remained unaltered. The sign is just one of many in Liverpool holding decades worth of trade history <\/a>and craftsmanship.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was fading beautifully,\u201d says sign writer Harry Mytton. He was entrusted to paint the latest iteration of the sign which he says is only the fourth in the shop\u2019s century and half long existence.<\/p>\n Harry based his design heavily on previous signs, the letters of which have been left under the new paint as a layer of history, but with his own \u201ctwist\u201d.<\/p>\n More than just a romantic reminder of the history of Liverpool\u2019s traders, for Harry, old shop <\/a>fronts form an important part of social history.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThere\u2019s so much history in the signs and they mean so much to people.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can just imagine this being the shop where someone\u2019s grandad might have bought their first brushes.”<\/p>\n The 36-year-old isn\u2019t the only one to recognise the beauty in hand painted signs, and he tells the ECHO that the craft is increasingly sought after in the city particularly among pub owners.<\/p>\n His work has included signs for the Queen of Hope Street, The White Hart, St Peters Tavern, Black Cat bar and Pogue Mahone.<\/p>\n “People will recognise my signs because of the E. They\u2019ll go \u2018there\u2019s another of Harry\u2019s’.”<\/p>\n Harry started sign writing nearly 10 years ago and is mostly self taught except for short courses in Slough.<\/p>\n Harry added: “Back in the day painters and decorators would know how to do a bit of sign writing.<\/p>\n “When you meet the old boys a lot of them used to do a bit of sign writing too. In the ’80s and ’90s computer generated signs kind of killed off that generation and now it’s a more specialist skill.”<\/p>\n Despite the nichification of the craft, a community of sign writers exists in the city and Harry works closely alongside colleague Chrissy Conlin.<\/p>\n Fellow sign writer and friend, Ken Bullock, 72, has been in the trade since he left school aged 15.<\/p>\n Officially retired, Ken still works from his studio on Regent Street and his career has seen signs for venues from the Camp and Furnace to Liverpool’s oldest building, The Bluecoat and even the original Home (and) Bargains signs.<\/p>\n “I\u2019ve done everything,” says Ken. “If I had to write it all down it would be on a toilet roll.”<\/p>\n “I\u2019ve painted galleons, racing cars and narrow boats but never trains.”<\/p>\n Despite having no formal art education, Ken adopted a love of painting and a skill for repurposing materials from his Dad and fondly recalls his painting him a \u201cpicture of a galleon on the back on a Bird\u2019s Eye box\u201d.<\/p>\n The 72-year-old added: “If you cut me through the middle like a rock, I\u2019m a sign writer. It\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever known.”<\/p>\n![\"R.](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_IMG_20230606_120042.jpg\")
R. Jackson & Sons sells oils, water colours, inks, acrylics, pastels, print-making materials, gilding materials, papers and canvases(Image: Harry Mytton )<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_PXL_20241107_123814106.jpg\")
One of Harry’s signs at St Peter’s Tavern on Seel Street(Image: Harry Mytton )<\/p>\n![\"Camp](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_JS145214601.jpg\")
Camp And Furnace on Greenland Street(Image: Andrew Teebay\/Liverpool ECHO )<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_ken-bullock.jpg\")
Ken Bullock has been sign writing since 1968 and has worked on some of Liverpool’s most recognisable venues(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool ECHO)<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_PXL_20240930_172213718jpgG.jpg\")
Gold lettering work by Harry (Image: Harry Mytton )<\/p>\n