In central Brixton, near the library and facing the Town Hall, there is a huge ghostsign advertising Bovril*, a beef extract product that is still available today.
Bovril was created by John Lawston Johnson in 1897 – its popularity and success enabled him move into and adapt a house that can be found a few stops along the railway line from Brixton, at Kingswood House, Sydenham Hill. Indeed the house is better known as Bovril Castle and is today home to an Kingswood Arts centre. I went there recently as part of an organised guided tour ...
