Graffiti dating back to the 1920s has been discovered hidden in the woodwork of an Elgin bike shop.
Though Highland Bikes may look like a regular storefront, behind false walls and up narrow staircases, tucked away behind the tills is a treasure trove of local history.
Upon opening the store’s Elgin branch back in May, owner Steve Thomson noticed thousands of names and dates scribbled on the building’s woodwork.
The graffiti spreads through the building, with dates going back more than a century and names claiming to belong to people from as far as Singapore.
Keen to find out more, Mr Thomson took to social media to ask Elgin’s amateur historians if they knew anything about the building’s past.
Tearoom? Butchers?
70 High Street was a Game store before it was Highland Bikes and some have said they think it could have been a tearoom in years gone by.
“In the front of the shop, behind the false walls that have been put in there, are really pretty green ceramic tiles and some people suggested it was maybe a tearoom,” said Mr Thomson.
“There are definitely bits through the back that look like they were for hanging meat, so I think it must have been a butchers at one point.”
The oldest mention of the building that has been found so far is in a flyer from a newspaper dating back to the late 1800s.
One of the signatures in the building’s top attic room has the date 1920 written beside it and sits near a drawing of a car with a spoked wheel.
There are also newer drawings and dates, which Mr Thomson believes might only have been added in the last decade.
He said: “There are scribblings everywhere, some of them are very amusing. A lot of them are pop culture, I can totally get the kind of person who must have been working there, a lot of Star Wars and more modern stuff like that.
“There’s quite a contrast with things from the 40s, 50s and 60s then things from the last 10 years.”
The people behind the scribbles
Mr Thomson said he is a “bit geeky” about local history and that going through to the back of the shop is like “stepping back in time”.
He added that it’s a shame the graffiti is tucked away where no one can see it.
Locals have spotted the names of relatives in photos of the graffiti on social media, including Mr Thomson’s wife who believes one of them belongs to her late father.
Names are spread throughout the building, but there are hotspots including a door “that looks as if every time someone walked through it they’d leave a scribble.”
Mr Thomson is keen to learn more about the people who left their mark on the building.
“I guess when they wrote it they weren’t thinking it would still be here in 100 years’ time,” he said.
“You wouldn’t think someone would be looking at it oohing and ahhing and wondering who that person was.”
Do you recognise any of the names on the Highland Bikes woodwork or know anything about the building’s history? Let us know in the comments!
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