Shipley Mural

This mural in Shipley is a bit of a mystery to me. I've no idea who created it, or how long it's been there. This form of public art is relatively unusual in Britain, and it's tucked away from the main roads, off the St Pauls Road Car Park.

I've tweeted about the mural before, but this was the first time that I'd been there since I started the blip blog, so I thought I'd share, although a dull day has left the colours somewhat muted.

It is effectively a collage of local natural and cultural heritage, with Baildon Moor/Hope Hill providing the backdrop, and space for Salts Mill, the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, coal mining and wool bales. Some bits are beyond my decoding, the elephant for instance, but it is a nice, distinctive, locally-based piece of work, and I like it a lot.

coal and canals ~ moorside mills ~ a cultural landscape ~ shaped by the earth ~ picture this

Update: I found an old Telegraph & Argus article that discusses the mural - it was a collaboration with Bradford's twin town Hamm, as part of the European Capital of Culture bid in 2002. It seems it did not go down well with everyone when it was created, but the council allowed it to stay.