'It's been hidden for 40 years and we won't be taking it down'

R&H Fine Wines has opened on Allerton Road.(Pic Andrew Teebay).
-Credit:Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo


A popular Liverpool shop has uncovered a fascinating piece of the city's past that they "won't be taking down." In a city with so much history and many thriving businesses, so much of Liverpool's past can still be found from time to time, offering us a glimpse into how things used to be.

Through the years, a number of "ghost signs" - old advertising or business signs which have been preserved on a building for years - have been rediscovered across Liverpool, often while building work or refurbishments are underway. And if you've headed down Allerton Road in recent days, you may have spotted another.

Now home to Roberts and Henry Fine Wines, also known as R & H Fine Wines, one old sign, believed to date back to the 1950s, has been uncovered after decades. Still in great condition, 'E. McDonnell gents and boys outfitter & tailor' is now the name above the shop.

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Manager Ste Williams told the ECHO that a number of customers have been stopping to take photos and videos, as well as share their memories. Ste, 48, said: "We've been told it was put up in 1954 and it was there until it closed in 1985.

"Oddbins then moved in there, the wine merchants, up until November 2023 when we moved in. We took our sign down because we were going to put a new one up and we removed the Oddbins sign which had been up since 1985.

A ghost sign has been rediscovered under Roberts and Henry Fine Wines (R & H Fine Wines) on Allerton Road, Liverpool.
A ghost sign has been rediscovered under Roberts and Henry Fine Wines (R & H Fine Wines) on Allerton Road, Liverpool. -Credit:Liverpool ECHO staff

"Then found under that plastic sign E. McDonnell gents and boys outfitter & tailor. The 'E' stands for Eric and we’ve been told that it was a men and boys shop and sold school uniforms and stuff like that.

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"It’s a ceramic sign and worth a few quid, but we’re not taking it down. We’re going to put a wooden sign over it to protect it so we don’t damage it and then we’re going to paint our sign on top of the wood."

Over a decade ago, Devin Stewart, originally from Canada, opened independent wine merchant Roberts and Henry Fine Wines in Queen Avenue in Liverpool city centre - just yards from the Oddbins he used to work in. The business in 12 Queen Avenue has shelves full of handmade wines with a "gentle lean towards the old world, organic and biodynamic" and in November 2023 opened another site on Allerton Road.

Ste said customers have been sharing their memories of former staff at E McDonnell, including a former manager which is still said to live nearby. He said: "It’s lovely isn’t it.

"It's back in time, taking a walk back into the past. That’s why we decided not to take it down, so it can still be here for the next people after us so they can be part of it and keep it going." To find out more about R & H Fine Wines, click here.