Passengers using Patricroft Station in Greater Manchester will notice new artwork painted along the fencing thanks to the Friends of Patricroft Station (FROPS) group.
Teaming up with a local artist Adrian Percival, who provided the stencils for the artwork, the FROPS designed the artwork to incorporate local landmarks, such as the Bridgewater Canal, as well as wildlife and other beautiful scenes found close to the station.
Once permission was granted to paint the 120-metre section of fencing across both platform one and two, two of the FROPS volunteers, Ann Taverner and Bob Marshall, set to work creating the artwork.
More designs are currently being worked on, with the aim to paint further artwork over the next few months.
So far, the FROPS plan to add bees, trees, flowers and more ducks and swans. The new artwork is a very creative way of improving the station as well as being informative for visitors.
For more information or to support the Friends of Patricroft Station (FROPS), please visit their website here.
One of the painters and a member of the FROPS, Ann Taverner, said: “FROPS has organised several murals inspired by the heritage of the station on the 1830 Manchester to Liverpool line.
“We commissioned Adrian Percival, a local Eccles artist to design images of flowers, insects and waterfowl inspired by the Bridgewater Canal, which the railway crosses within metres of Patricroft station.
“Today, the canal is a popular local walking and cycle route, leading to the ‘looplines’ from Monton Green along the old Eccles to Bolton rail line.”
Regional Director at Northern Chris Jackson said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to the Friends of Patricroft Station who have created this wonderful piece of art.
“As well as complementing our broader station improvement strategy, this colourful work is welcoming for anyone arriving at the station and is something for everyone in the community to embrace, enjoy and be proud of.”
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Responses
In the 1990s I owned a house that backed onto this station, and I was a commuter, from what was then a dreary vandalised station. So it’s great to see the station has friends and the new artwork is very welcome.
The Queen’s Arms pub is on the same level, maybe the oldest Station bar in the world, the current pub was built in 1828 in anticipation of the railway being completed ( as it was in 1830). The pub retains most of its Victorian interior. In the 1980s the toilets had their victorian fittings and I believe they were fitted when Queen Victoria alighted there in 1851 and traversed the steps down to the canal to take a barge to Worsley. The remains of the steps are still visible.
My father used to point out that Patricroft marked a historical point in the Industrial revolution. The first canal, the Bridgewater is crossed by the first Passenger railway here, and Naysmiths Hammer was developed next to the station, bringing heavy engineering to the world.