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Wednesday 30 November 2011

Dragon


Not many people know that there's a fire-breathing dragon hiding under the road bridge over the Leeds- Liverpool Canal in Shipley ... I don't know how long this mural has been there.  It's a bit faded and marked and has seen better days.  I don't know its history either, whether it was commissioned or is simply 'graffiti'.  I'm quite fond of it though; it's a friendly-looking creature and it certainly brightens up what would otherwise be a very boring stretch of grey concrete.

17 comments:

  1. Wonderful! Whoever made it it also seems that it has been left alone from other kinds of graffiti sabotage. I think we need more of that kind of art in those kinds of places.

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  2. I think we need more dragons everywhere - but I would. Dragons are friendly you know. We just get a bad press sometimes.

    I like your dragon painting. It's very lifelike.

    Love Eldritch xx

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  3. I wish more graffiti was like that!

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  4. Looks an inaccessible place for a graffiti artist but you never know.

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  5. A kind one, I see a blond princess sitting with him.Much more beautyful than usual graffiti!

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  6. Very talented! I wish someone (with talent) would do that on some underpasses over here.

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  7. Lovely colourings Jenny and it brightens up what would other-wise be a very mundane area. I like it!

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  8. I seem to remember this particular piece of art-work being commisioned as part of a "Yoof" activities scheme a good few years ago now. Access to the wall was from a barge which was moored up there with all the paint and artist(s)? on board . . . As to how long ago . .I guess five or six years . . . so therefore nearer ten given how quickley times does fly nowadays . . . .

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  9. There used to be a bridge a bit further up the canal near Skipton which, back in the 1960s, used to be covered with so much graffiti that it was always known as protestation bridge by the few boaters who used the canal back then.

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  10. It sure does make the underpass more attractive. I believe these sort of murals are supposed to prevent graffiti as the artists don't like to damage other artists work.

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  11. And pray tell, Ms Jenny, what were YOU doing under the road bridge over the Leeds- Liverpool Canal in Shipley? :-D You know how I feel about graffiti, but it behooves me not to be black 'n white about it. This dragon fairy tale mural is indeed fun and appealing.

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  12. He definitely has personality and I can see how he would brighten up a lonely stretch of concrete. ~Lili

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  13. Five of us got together after artist Tom Cousins got permission from the Waterways people. We applied for a grant but a local councillor said no and branded our plans as blasphemous because it reminded him of The Last Supper. Shipley Paint, however, kindly gave us the paint/brushes/etc for free.

    So in Feb 1993 we braved the freezing winds and painted this mural in a fortnight. This was no yoot project or anything like that, just five people that wanted to inject a bit of colour into the environment. To get down we had to tie a ladder to some railings and climb down which is why the mural has remained largely free of tagging.

    We invited the local rag to do an article but they took the side of the councillor and, on the front page of the paper, touted us as brush toting yobs that wanted to upset the gentle folk of Shipley with our scandalous mural. Needless to say this generated quite a bit of interest and most visitors agreed it was a lovely mural and congratulated us for our efforts

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