I don't like to disappoint people but that sign is not 100 years old...I don't think its more than 40 years...or just slightly over...the original sign along with the original buildings were knocked down years ago....the buildings which are now be demos lied were built in the late 50's early 60s...I can remember the houses that stood in Tower Road and Upper Thomas Street were the HP building stands....I would say that the HP building was built between 1960 and 1966...while I was at school at UTS....,
I cannot see the point of saving a sign...(well I can)...but how many other companies have gone over the decades were the sign was as important to the area has much as the HP sign was....Norton, Ansells, Dunlop, Lucas, Atkinsons, Sun Cycles, Hercules, Cylo-Gear, GEC, IMI..etc...and if you reach out futher, Austin, Morris, Wolsey, Lancaster, Metro Cammell, all vehicle makers...the list could be endless....
If you want if you want a keepsake...do what I did...look for something around the building which you can take and keep at home...my example is the blue pavement bricks outside my old school (Upper Thomas Street)...some months ago I was able to find one loose were the school once stood....a few weeks ago I took another trip there dug up a few more (5), took at a slab from the patio, and replaced it with my blue bricks.....a part of Aston that will now always be there for me to see, plus I have a school fire bell from Burlington St school hanging in my study....