Seceurop Group, Southwark: pan-European
"Seceurop Group" burglar alarm, Southwark • Nice monogram logo, which suggests a chain. The name suggests some major pan-European security corporation, but this is the only one of these I've ever found. • Spotted: Short Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old SouthwarkAlert Security, Islington: mini-monogram
"Alert Security" burglar alarm, Islington • There's a mini-monogram on this faded oldster if you look closely – an A in a shield up at the top. To my mind (ie the sad mind of a graphic designer), it makes a rather attractive composition with its background of semi-painted wall (see below). • Spotted: Camden Passage, Islington, London, N1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Islington South and Finsbury
Chubb, Bristol: triangularity
"Chubb" burglar alarm, Bristol • And here we have the ultimate in burglar alarm triangularity, the Chubb. I'm talking vintage Chubbs here, the kind with a sharp-edged metal box. and even a mini-triangle strobe on the top. It's a superb-looking design, but sadly they tend to go a bit rusty... • Spotted: St Nicholas Street, Bristol, Avon, BS1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bristol WestChoice, Hackney: essay
"Choice" burglar alarm, Hackney • Another triangle-circle combo, this time channelling the ever-popular pizza-cum-Pacman furrow. This one's more Pacman than pizza, and they've practically written an essay on it, in really tiny type. • Spotted: Charlotte Road, Hackney, London, EC2, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Hackney South and ShoreditchAudible Security, Birmingham: flowery
"Audible Security" burglar alarm, Birmingham • Blimey, well I'd hope it would be audible, it's pretty useless otherwise. Though it'll have to be pretty loud to pierce through the tsunami of flowers cascading from the window box above it (see below). • Spotted: Water Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B3, England, 2013 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Birmingham Ladywood
Safeway Security, York: triangles
"Safeway Security" burglar alarm, York • Starting today: some examples of the very popular burglar alarm trope of triangles, often allied with monograms. This one's not to be confused with a certain supermarket. • Spotted: Burton Stone Lane, York, Yorkshire, YO3, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of York CentralAstrotech, Islington: astronauts
"Astrotech Security" burglar alarm, Islington • A highly-wrought computer game-style design attempting to conjure up technology so advanced it's used by astronauts. Or something. • Spotted: Whistler Street, Islington, London, N5, England, 2005 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Islington NorthCity Security Holdings, Bristol: wrinkled
"City Security Holdings" burglar alarm, Bristol • I always thought this logo was a crescent moon, but have just realised it may also be half an eye and also a C monogram – multilayered! Sadly the labels on these City alarms haven't worn well, they all seem to end up wrinkled like this one. • Spotted: Broad Street, Bristol, Avon, BS1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bristol WestDragon, Cardiff: Welsh
"Dragon" burglar alarm, Cardiff • The Welsh never get tired of their dragons, do they? And neither do I. • Spotted: St Mary Street, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, CF10, Wales, 2012 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Cardiff CentralWormald Security, Islington: Dickensian
"Wormald Security" burglar alarm, Islington • And when you're fishing, you need a worm. Or a Wormald. What a wonderful Dickensian name! And a great 1970s-style modernist monogram, as well. • Spotted: Central Street, Islington, London, EC1, England, 2013 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Islington South and FinsburyCommunicate, Tower Hamlets: musical
"Communicate Security & Communications" burglar alarm, Tower Hamlets • The term telecoms is beginning to sound a bit old-fashioned: these days we communicate by many online means (though not via burglar alarm, to my knowledge). This musical mauve C looks more like a logo for a caring, sharing PR company, though. • Spotted: Redchurch Street, Tower Hamlets, London, E2, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Bethnal Green and BowTriton Electronics, Edinburgh: dangerous
"Triton Electronics" burglar alarm, Edinburgh • Triton was the Greek messenger god of the seas. Not sure what that's got to do with electronics – it sounds like a dangerous mix. • Spotted: Moray Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH3, 2012 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Edinburgh North and Leith“Alarms 4 Scaffolding”, Camden: unlucky for some
"Alarms 4 Scaffolding" burglar alarm, Camden • Can security firms only count up to four? This is the third to feature the number – which is considered extremely unlucky in China, where it signifies death. And it's the death of this numbers theme, because there's a new one tomorrow. • Spotted: Coptic Street, Camden, London, WC1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Holborn and St Pancras“Smiths Security”, Oxford: stripey blazer
"Smiths Security Est 1850" burglar alarm, Oxford • In the US this wouldn't be considered a monogram, as it's only one letter – even though the origin of the word monogram is "monogrammos", Greek for "consisting of a single letter". And generally, I am focusing on two or more letters for my monogram theme. However this triangular letter "S", which takes up as much space as humanly possible on the sounder, is so superb it has to feature. Not only does it resemble a stripey Edwardian blazer, and look like the kind of burglar alarm you'd find Patrick McGoohan tampering with in The Prisoner's creepy Village - it says "Est. 1850"! Can't argue with than. Sadly, Smiths Security now have a far less idiosyncratic design. • Spotted: High Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Oxford East“Delta”, Hackney: creek
"Delta Security" burglar alarm, Hackney • According to useless Yahoo Answers, there are no river deltas in Britain, because there's not a vast enough area of flat land. But I've found one: the Wandle Delta. Admittedly it's just an forgotten little industrial creek off the Thames, but hey – we can't all be the Mississippi. In fact there are plans to smarten it up with posh housing, but I rather like how it looks now – must go and explore it before it's too late. Amazing the things you learn researching burglar alarms! • Spotted: Chatsworth Road, Hackney, London, E5, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Above: a great pic of the Wandle Delta by Tom Bolton – see more on Flickr here“Camguard”, Aylesbury: Granta
"Camguard" burglar alarm, Aylesbury • This C in a sea claims to be guarding the River Cam, which as its name suggests runs through Cambridge, where it's also known as the Granta. The sounder however was found in unlovely Aylesbury, which is 60 miles away and on the River Thame. • Spotted: Canal Side Terrace, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP21, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Conservative constituency of Aylesbury
Above: the River Cam at Clare Bridge, Cambridge. Punters ahoy!“Smiths Security Services”, Oxford: miserablist
"Smiths Security Services" burglar alarm, Oxford • I love the idea of The Smiths running a security firm – it's pure Stella Street. Imagine calling up the engineer about a faulty alarm, only to find floppy-haired poetry-spouting miserablist Morrissey turning up on your doorstep, clad in a giant blouse and waving a bunch of droopy gladioli. Well, it amuses me, anyway. • Spotted: Mansfield Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Oxford East
Miserablist burglar alarm engineers The Smiths“Metropolitan Alarms”, Islington: synth-pop
"Metropolitan Alarms" burglar alarm, Islington • OK, a slight cheat – the firm's called Metropolitan, but their logo's a giant M, synonymous with groovy new wave synth-popsters M, whose "Pop Muzic" was a massive cross-pond hit in 1979. By dint of its full name, the sounder gets filed under "Religion" too, as a Metropolitan is a type of bishop, especially important in Slavic and Greek Orthodox churches. • Spotted: Whitecross Street, Islington, London, EC1, England, 2008 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Islington South and Finsbury
M of Pop Muzik fame“Britannia”, Southwark: patriotic lion
"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“Knight Security”, Newquay: psychedelic crash
"Knight Security" burglar alarm, Newquay • Unlike yesterday's un-knightly seaside monogram, this one at least has a shield and some heraldic-looking "black letter" script. That's an illustration of a psychedelic VW camper van bumping into it, by the way – an unlikely crash caused by its location on a surf shop fascia in the not-very-paradisical surfie hub of Newquay. • Spotted: Bank Street, Newquay, Cornwall, TR7, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of St. Austell and Newquay
“Sprint”, Camden: city speeding
"Sprint Security Systems" burglar alarm, Camden • If your burglar alarm goes off you need help fast, so it's not surprising that swiftness is a popular security theme. This superb vintage Sprint, which undoubtedly rang rather than beeping like a reversing lorry on steroids, is very similar to the Arlescourt sounder here. It's ideally placed above a matching shop selling some vintage sprinters of a different type, namely Italian scooters (see below). And even the logo looks like it's speeding. • Spotted: Clerkenwell Road, Camden, London, EC1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Holborn and St Pancras
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A vintage Sprint alarm above some classic sprinters[/caption]“Chubb”, Sheffield: rusty equilateral triangle
"Chubb" burglar alarm, Sheffield • After yesterday's unusual pentagonal Chubb, here's the classic equilateral triangle version. Not an uncommon design per se as there are lots of Chubbs around, but it's a one-firm shape, and the sharp-cornererd metal vintage ones like this are starting to rust into oblivion, normally from the bottom edge up – maybe the design causes rainwater to collect there. • Spotted: Bank Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Sheffield Central“Chubb”, Camden: pentagonal imposter
"Chubb" burglar alarm, Camden • A pentagonal rather than triangular Chubb – unusual! You normally only see this shape on Initial and Shorrock alarms, so I'm guessing that when Chubb took them over they retained a few legacy sounders. The screw in the C totally ruins the effect, unfortunately. • Spotted: Charlotte Street, Camden, London, W1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Holborn and St Pancras“Nu-Tron”, Camden: on the old-tron Scala Cinema
"Nu-Tron Security Ltd" burglar alarm, Camden • Like yesterday's rare round-topped Nu-Tron (aka Old-Tron) sounder, this newer version again has an unusual box shape, though one that's much more commonly seen as it's popular with many other companies too. I know nothing of it inner workings, but in superficial design terms it's a good choice: the rounded grey N matches the rounded grey sounder nicely. I found it on the old Scala cinema at Kings Cross, which is now a pool hall; and it looks like someone's scraped a circular sticker off the centre of it, suggesting it's been maintained. • Spotted: Kings Cross Bridge, Camden, London, WC1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Holborn and St Pancras