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East London makers<br />
Picture: Christine Preisig<br />
Christine Preisig meets the leading lights of the<br />
Walthamstow arts scene at Gods Own Junkyard<br />
Hidden inside an unremarkable industrial<br />
building in Walthamstow is one of the largest<br />
neon collections in the world. It’s called<br />
Gods Own Junkyard, a family firm that’s been<br />
supplying neon signs to Londoners and the<br />
rest of the world for decades.<br />
Entering the space packed with light sculptures,<br />
movie props and original fairground<br />
and circus lights is like walking into a warm<br />
sea of glowing light. It’s a candy land for the<br />
eyes, a mini Las Vegas.<br />
From the classic “Girls, Girls, Girls” to enormous<br />
light-bulb typography, the place<br />
echoes a bygone era - one filled with the<br />
American dream, tattoo culture, sex, glamour<br />
but most of all, with a whole lot of fun.<br />
Gods Own Junkyard is the life’s work of its<br />
founder, Chris Bracey, who passed away in<br />
2014. He learnt the trade at an early age<br />
from his father who made lights for fairgrounds<br />
and circuses. What started as a simple<br />
sign-maker business quickly grew into<br />
the go-to place for original, new and vintage<br />
light art and signage of all kinds.<br />
The business took off for Chris in the '70s<br />
and '80s, when he moved into making neon<br />
signage for the notorious Soho strip joints.<br />
Besides that, he started salvaging light signs<br />
and other objects which he refashioned, repaired<br />
and resurrected.<br />
Following a chance encounter with a film<br />
director he began making neon props for<br />
movie sets. His work can be seen in films<br />
such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,<br />
Eyes Wide Shut and Batman.<br />
Two to three days a week, the space is<br />
10 LOVEEAST
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