Belfast’s black tiled street signs are one of those details you notice properly only when they start to disappear. White letters on glazed black ceramics, bolted into brick — for generations they told you where you were before you even looked up at the gable. Now two north Belfast brothers are trying to bring the craft that made them back from the dead.
Carl and Nathan Hughes, of community group Restore Glandore ATC, have spent years learning the original 28-step method of making the signs by hand. With tile specialist Terry McCartan, and a digital recreation of the historic lettering developed by graphic designer Muir McNeil with the late Professor John McMillan, they have proved the old trade can still be done — and done properly.
Their prototype sits on a short alley off Glandore Avenue that locals call Last Light Lane, so named because it catches the last of a sunny day. The sign cost around £4,000, mostly self-funded, with support from community group 9ft in Common. At scale, the brothers reckon they can get closer to £2,000 a sign — competitive with machine-cut replicas, but made the traditional way.
“We’re trying to look for support and help out there to bring back basically a dead trade; a heritage that is now gone,” Carl Hughes told The Irish News. He wants funding to train people, then run a team that makes the signs and a team that fits them — “and do it in a traditional manner.”
The numbers explain the urgency. Just 23 of Belfast’s recorded original black tiled signs still in place have listed status — less than 10% of what survives. Redevelopment, wear and tear and damage have quietly stripped streets of a detail that used to feel ordinary.
What the council’s FoI reply shows
Reporting by The Irish News, based on a Freedom of Information request to Belfast City Council, found the council does not hold a comprehensive list of black tiled street signs in the district as of 2026. It is, however, progressing a pilot restoration programme, with 248 heritage signs already recorded for that work — roughly 45% in south Belfast, 35% in east, 13% in north and only 8% in the west.
SDLP councillor Gary McKeown, who first brought a restoration proposal to council in 2022, told The Irish News the project is “ready to go live” but needs funding to start. “They’re an iconic symbol of the city, but like much of our built heritage, they’ve been neglected and often removed with little thought for their importance,” he said.
From 1869 to water-jet replicas
The story of the signs runs deep into Belfast’s civic history. In July 1869, Belfast Corporation agreed that the Belfast Charitable Society should erect street nameplates on its land — early examples included Clifton Street, Regent Street and Duncairn Street. Standardised black-and-white tiled signs spread in the early twentieth century as the Corporation took over the tram network in 1905, helping people navigate a rapidly growing city.
According to the Historic Environment Division (HED), the familiar style stayed in use on newly developed streets into the early 1950s, and Belfast Corporation was still advertising tenders for “glazed tile sign letters” as late as 1955. In 2007, the council installed 90 “new” versions made with modern water-jet cutting — related to the originals, but with contemporary alterations that makers and heritage campaigners can spot at a glance.
Carl is clear why the handmade version matters. “They’re iconic to Belfast; you don’t find them anywhere else,” he told The Irish News. “I think anyone that lived in Belfast or grew up in Belfast remembers them. It’s just a memory of the past that is being slowly eroded. People want to retain them.”
Council pilot — restore first, new signs later
Belfast City Council approved a pilot project to protect the signs in February 2026. Listing remains with HED. A pilot list is due before the Strategic Policy & Resources Committee in October; once approved, a contractor will be procured to restore signs on that list. Council has said there are no plans to create new signs at present, but it appreciates the Hughes brothers’ offer to share knowledge of the original method at procurement stage.
For Restore Glandore ATC, that knowledge-sharing is the point. The Last Light Lane prototype is proof of concept: moulds fine-tuned, lettering matched, process documented. Whether the next chapter is private commissions, small charities fundraising street by street, or a larger heritage programme, the brothers want the skill back in Belfast hands — not only the look of the signs on the wall.
If you are mapping a day around the city’s landmarks and streetscape, start with our Belfast bucket list, the free things to do in Belfast guide, or a wander past the waterfront and SS Nomadic — and keep an eye out for the remaining black tiles on the corners.
Discover more from LoveBelfast
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
