Disclaimer This blog is about the graphic design of burglar alarms and has no connection with the companies featured. Most photos show vintage sounders and are not the latest products of the firms under discussion. For up-to-date info on any company, please visit their official website.
Burglar Alarm Britain
Where vigilante culture meets vernacular design
Tag Archives: SE1
Premia Security, Southwark: Dickensian
Posted by on May 21, 2013
“Premia Security” burglar alarm, Southwark • Another rooftop-mountain-pyramid -triangle thing. Notable for being found in Wild’s Rents, one of London’s most Dickensian-sounding roads. • Spotted: Wild’s Rents, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Wimpey Security, Southwark: reflected
Posted by on May 12, 2013
“Wimpey Security Systems Monitored Alarm” burglar alarm, Southwark • Another arrow-house, this time reflected into an angular crenellated shield. • Spotted: Glasshill Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Home Security Services, Southwark: arrow-house
Posted by on May 11, 2013
“Home Security Services” burglar alarm, Southwark • Cross between a giant arrow and a house, and pretty old and faded. • Spotted: Riley Road, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Securaplace, Southwark: lockdown
Posted by on May 9, 2013
“Securaplace” burglar alarm, Southwark • Fabulous old sounder with a lock and a house. • Spotted: Borough High Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
MCSS, Southwark: stencilled
Posted by on May 1, 2013
“MCSS” burglar alarm, Southwark • Randomly stencilled, army-style – that’s hard core old-school. • Spotted: Bermondsey Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
E, Southwark: big E
Posted by on April 4, 2013
“E” burglar alarm, Southwark • A big E. I mean, what can you say? Aceeeeiiid!!!!! • Spotted: Snowsfields, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Sector Guard”, Southwark: targeting
Posted by on December 19, 2012
“Sector Guard Fire & Security Systems” burglar alarm, Southwark • A successor to yesterday’s Sector Alarm, this still targets felons with crosshairs, albeit a smaller radar sweep. Inclusion of that ever-poular burglar alarm word, “Guard”, is another nod in the direction of the military. • Spotted: Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Shipman”, Southwark: hello sailor
Posted by on December 12, 2012
“Shipman Security Systems Limited” burglar alarm, Southwark • On a river you require a ship (or at least a boat). An to run it, a salty shipman – not a made-up word to justify including this alarm in the “rivers” theme, but a medieval term for a sailor. Proof: one of Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” is called “The Shipman’s Tale“, aka “The Sailor’s Tale”. So it must be a real word. And having scraped the bottom of the seabed to connect this particular alarm to rivers, tomorrow I shall move on to another theme. • Spotted: Dolben Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Above: some salty shipmen
“A1 Alarms”, Southwark: straight
Posted by on November 26, 2012
“A1 Alarms” burglar alarm, Southwark • The A1, running from London to York and Edinburgh largely following a straight ancient Roman route, is famously the UK’s longest numbered road. This company probably meant their name in the sense of “very good”, but seeing as I’ve found examples of their sounders in both London and York, perhaps they did have the highway in mind too. • Spotted: Bermondsey Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Above: part of the very long A1
“Westec”, Southwark: global
Posted by on November 14, 2012
“Westec” burglar alarm, Southwark • Today I start a “global” theme, quite popular on burglar alarms. Kicking things off is Westec, an ex-company of Mike Hardesty, one of this blog’s regular and very knowledgeable commenters – you can find his (and other contributors’) musings on Westec here. • Spotted: Pages Walk, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Ghost under “3D”, Lambeth: usurped
Posted by on November 3, 2012
Ghost under “3D Security Systems” burglar alarm, Lambeth • This faint ghost-shadow is pentagonal, which means it’s either an occult symbol, or the final traces of a Shorrock. As for the usurping brand 3D, its initials are clearly meant to suggest three dimensions, but also have the less marketing-friendly meaning of “third”. • Spotted: Lower Marsh, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2007 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall
“TRB”, Southwark: right-on
Posted by on September 26, 2012
“TRB” burglar alarm, Southwark • I rather like this logo, which looks like an American football logo off a 1980s bomber jacket. Unfortunately it also shares an acronym with smug post-punk rocksters The Tom Robinson Band, also known as TRB. Remember them? They were known for singalong right-on-athons such as “2-4-6-8 Motorway” and “Glad To Be Gay” (which Tom Robinson presumably wasn’t, as he eventually married a woman). I always hated them, and even now just thinking about their stupid nursery rhyme anthems annoys me. Bah. • Spotted: Farnham Place, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
TRB aka the incredibly annoying Tom Robinson Band
“SOS Security Group”, Lambeth: 1970s disco
Posted by on September 25, 2012
“SOS Security Group” burglar alarm, Lambeth • Although I have a category called “1970s disco“, that’s for 1970s-looking typography. Whereas this old sounder shares a name with an actual 1970s disco group, The SOS Band – famed mainly for the classic “Just Be good to Me” (which is actually from the early 1980s). • Spotted: Lower Marsh, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2007 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall
SOS Band. That’s an SOS for the hair police.
Sheba Alarms”, Southwark: non-rottweiller
Posted by on September 2, 2012
“Sheba Alarms” burglar alarm, Southwark • I used to live in a really tough part of London where everyone had rottweilers, and they were all – depending on if they were boys or girls – called Tyson or Sheba. The dogs, that is. However this is a lion, and Sheba was a biblical land (probably Yemen), so either this is a lion of the desert, or the designer thought it was a mutt. • Spotted: Dolben Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Krypto Security”, Lambeth: Dracula’s castle
Posted by on July 19, 2012
“Krypto Security” burglar alarm, Lambeth • Yet another Krypto – I love Krypto sounders. Especially this nicely-drawn design, which sports a proper turreted castle (unlike yesterday’s prisony thing) and spooky gothic lettering, complete with dripping mould. It looks more like an advert for Dracula than a sounder. Oh, and it was found in a road with Marsh in its name, like yesterday’s – boggy ground is obviously a popular location for Krypto’s creepy castles. • Spotted: Lower Marsh, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2007 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall
“Allied Security”, Southwark: faded fortress
Posted by on July 14, 2012
“Allied Security” burglar alarm, Southwark • Like Safeguard Alarms, another shield / fortress / portcullis combo, with a name that earns it honorary inclusion in the WWII category too. I guess this is a pretty old sounder, as it looks really faded, but Allied Security is still going strong. • Spotted: Bermondsey Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Britannia”, Southwark: patriotic lion
Posted by on July 2, 2012
“Britannia” burglar alarm, Southwark • I end the Roman Britain theme as I began, with Britannia – I never tire of their swinging sixties-style logo, which wouldn’t look out of place in a Paul Smith boutique. This old box has a bulb on top, which thanks to the comment here I now know is considered somewhat insecure, as a passing ne’er-do-well could use it to lever the alarm off. • Spotted: Morocco Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Citadel”, Southwark: ghostly guardian
Posted by on June 27, 2012
“Citadel Security Systems” burglar alarm, Southwark • The ghostly guardian on this is so worn out he looks like a marauding mummy or a giant robot (reproduced small), but the name Citadel suggests it’s a Roman soldier. And the sounder’s nearly as ancient as its source matter. • Spotted: Southwark Bridge Road, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Knight Security Systems”, Southwark: patriotic jouster
Posted by on June 15, 2012
“Knight Security Systems” burglar alarm, Southwark • Yet another patriotically jousting horseman, this time with the exact same name as the vintage box featured here – so maybe it’s the same company. • Spotted: Belvedere Buildings, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Swift Security Systems”, Southwark: 1970s band
Posted by on May 18, 2012
“Swift Security Systems” burglar alarm, Southwark • This looks like the logo for a 1970s band, as doodled on the back of a schoolbook. It’s positively leaning forward with swiftness, and the enclosing “S” is keeping everything safe. I can’t find an extant firm called specifically Swift Security Systems, however, so its provenance remains a mystery. • Spotted: Borough High Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Kwick Alarms”, Lambeth: kwick kwick slow
Posted by on May 12, 2012
“Kwick Alarms Ltd” burglar alarm, Lambeth • I love it when people replace “Qu” with “Kw” (cf Kwik Save, Kwik Fit, etc etc) – it just sounds, erm, kwicker (and cheaper). The logo, font fans, is in Belwe Bold – designed in the 1920s but very popular in the 1970s. 01 equals pre-1990, so this must be a pretty slow alarm by now. • Spotted: Windmill Walk, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall
“Holt Security Systems”, Lambeth: hand-house
Posted by on May 4, 2012
“Holt Security Systems” burglar alarm, Lambeth • This striking stylised hand looks like it’s had the fingers chopped off in a nasty door-trapping incident, though it also recalls the shape of a house, and (coincidentally) the cute “grabber” icon that moves things around on Mac computers. The firm is presumably the long-established West Sussex family business whose website is here, though there’s no matching logo on the site. I think we can safely assume it’s not run by reggae legend John Holt, who sang my favourite anti-work song of all time, “Mr Big Boss” – you can hear it here. Totally off burglar alarm topic, but on my more usual subject of art, Holt also sang the sublime “Riding for a Fall“, with which Tracey Emin soundtracked the eponymous film of herself trotting defiantly around Margate beach at sunset on a donkey. Sounds stupid, but the quavering fairground classic lent it considerable poignancy. So as well as having a messy bed, Emin’s got great taste in music, despite including “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” in her Desert Island Discs. • Spotted: Secker Street, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall
Scenes from Tracey Emin's "Riding for a Fall", 1998 – basically the artist trotting around on Margate beach to the strains of John Holt's eponymous classic. Sadly there's not a copy of the video to be found on the internet, as artists are very hot on copyright.
“Trencherwood New Homes”, Southwark: old oak
Posted by on April 17, 2012
“Trencherwood New Homes” burglar alarm, Southwark • Inexplicably, the house I found this on was “new” in around 1800, which was before even Berkshire-based property firm Trencherwood New Homes’ era, though they’re part of history too, now. There’s a picture on Flickr of a bronze ram statue Trencherwood commissioned in 1989 (seriously), which has a comment saying they sold up in 1996 and were eventually acquired by Barratt Developments PLC in 2007. Their heyday seems to have been the 1980s, which would be commensurate with this Eurobell – note the famed “off centre” screw, as recently discussed here. It’s decorated with a sprig of gently decaying oak leaves and acorns, strengthening my suspicion that all sounders with acorns on are for defunct firms. • Spotted: Bermondsey Square, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Liberal constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Thorn”, Lambeth: white spike
Posted by on April 9, 2012
“Thorn” burglar alarm, Lambeth • Speaking of thorns, as I was yesterday, here’s the real thing – a red rose of a sounder sporting the modernist white spike of Thorn electronics. It’s one of several variations on the red drum that have existed over the years, in this case notable for not mentioning either Minerva or EMI – see the comment here for the most comprehensive round-up so far. • Spotted: Hatfields, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Wheelers”, Southwark: Zulu warrior
Posted by on April 1, 2012
“Wheelers Security Systems” burglar alarm, Southwark • If yesterday’s arrow-decorated shield was the sort a knight would use, this is more like a Zulu warrior’s. As well as an arrow and club crossed behind it, there’s a double-headed knotted arrow inside it. What the connection between African arrow overkill and an old-fashioned English name like Wheelers is, I don’t know – I always thought it was a posh fish restaurant. Hmm, maybe it’s a fish, not a shield… • Spotted: Tanner Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Access”, Lambeth: for Latin speakers only
Posted by on March 21, 2012
“Access Intruder Alarms Ltd” burglar alarm, Lambeth • Another swirly arrow, not as sophisticated as yesterday’s, and with a design verging on the basic. Via Google I found a Southampton firm with the same phone number and a similar name and logo, but when I went to their website I found this:
About Access Intruder Systems. Content Coming Soon. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam non tortor purus, in ornare lacus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Morbi a nisl ipsum (etc etc in cod-Latin for quite some time). Call us today to arrange your FREE Survey.
So either they’ve not finished their website, they provide a bespoke service for Latin speakers, or they’re not around any more. • Spotted: Lower Marsh, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2007 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall
Above: Access Intruder Systems' Latin-speaking website
“ESS”, Southwark: identifying arrows
Posted by on March 20, 2012
“ESS” burglar alarm, Southwark • Blimey, there are a lot of security firms called ESS. There’s the long-established Essex Security Services, who I’ve featured four times now. Then there’s ESS (Electronic & Security Services) in Northern Ireland, and ESS-Security Ltd of Leeds. But the swirly arrows in this logo point to Electronic Security Solutions of County Durham, albeit a long way from their Darlington base. Which proves the value of logos: without those identifying arrows, and the fact that ESS also picture them on their website, I’d have had no way of knowing which of the four firms was behind this sounder. • Spotted: Bermondsey Square, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Westronics Ltd”, Lambeth: space-age creature
Posted by on March 14, 2012
“Westronics Ltd” burglar alarm, Lambeth • Finally, another un-nameable shape, which is a bit like the body of a sea creature, or less imaginatively a razor. Maybe the ascendancy of these rounded, amorphous shapes over the chunky, straight-edged forms of yore is due to the advent of computer-aided 3D modelling, something achievable on a laptop today but requiring NASA-like processing power not so long ago. The Berkshire family firm behind this box has appropriately space-age roots, having been founded in 1969, year of the first moon landing. That era is reflected in their logo, which I think is a condensed version of Blippo, a font from 1969 based on Bauhaus supremo Herbert Bayer’s influential “Universal Typeface” of the 1920s. I note that Westronics no longer uses this design of sounder, as demonstrated by the up-to-date deltas on their official website here. However it remains the only example of this shape I’ve come across, and I end with it because it also pictures the next theme, a weapon popular with ancient villains and security forces alike – the arrow. • Spotted: Lower Marsh, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2007 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall
“GD Security”, Southwark: un-describable wedgie
Posted by on March 12, 2012
“GD Security” burglar alarm, Southwark • Another wedgie sounder with an un-describable shape, from the prolific GD Security, whose bulldog I’ve already featured here in the dogs category. While their guard mutt never changes, GD use a wide variety of box designs, usually in silver. This however is in blue and white, which I always think of as subliminal “police” colours. • Spotted: Morocco Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Banham Security”, Southwark”: silver-grilled
Posted by on March 8, 2012
“Banham Security” burglar alarm, Southwark • Before Banham developed their shield-shaped sounder they used all sorts of box styles, but this is the only shiny silver-grilled one I’ve found, and in fact the only example of this type of box I’ve ever seen. It’s on an attractive old building in Bermondsey Street called the Time and Talents Settlement, home to a charity founded by local women in 1887 and still going strong today, offering locals “volunteering opportunities and numerous groups and projects to participate in”. Maybe I’ll go round and volunteer to run a burglar alarm-spotting course. • Spotted: Bermondsey Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Recent comments