Willenhall mural artists hit the road

Today, the volunteer mural artists from Willenhall met up with other groups who had also worked with Kate Turner on similar projects around Coventry. At around 10 am a coach rolled up at the Hagard, bringing the people from Mossdale and Bell Green, plus community artist Kate Turner and baby Harry.




Kate (and Harry) telling the story of Willenhall's history


 After showing the visitors our murals and a quick morning coffee, we piled into the coach and set off for the Four Closes in Ernesford Grange. The artwork here is mounted on the wall of Gordon's shop in George Robertson Close, tracing the history of the area in a series of exquisitely coloured circular boards.




This section of the Four Closes project represents Binley's mining history

Arrival at Mossdale

We picked up a few more passengers, then it was time to cross the city to the Mossdale estate in Radford, an area which many of us had never visited before. In the past few years the community has worked very hard to improve the environment, creating a most attractive enclave with colourful flowerbeds and cut-and-come-again herbs for all to use. Here, the artwork represents Radford's rural past, although a First World War plane in the sky reminds us of the presence of the aerodrome, now engulfed in the bricks and mortar of nearby Jubilee Crescent.



Country scene with canal at Mossdale

 Our final destination was Riley Square, Bell Green. In the Community Centre, we had a chance to look at  photographs documenting the various projects as they unfolded. At 12.30 we went out into the square itself for the grand opening of the Riley Square murals: Kate gave a brief talk about the history of the Bell Green area, then Councillor Ed Ruane cut the ribbon. We were very impressed with these two large and very detailed murals,particularly the illustrated map and the section on William Riley who gave the square its name. The event concluded with a delicious lunch, and we left Bell Green having made many new friends from the other groups, with whom we will definitely keep in touch.