Back in December 2014, what I refer to as the Devonshire Square Mural was unveiled. This artwork was produced by Silent Hobo (Wei Ong) who describes himself as an experienced professional illustrator and mural artist, who specialises in digital artwork, and spray-painted graffiti. I had attended a consultation session earlier in 2014, at the Charnwood Museum, where ideas for what the mural might illustrate were discussed, and some of the history of the town was shared with the artist.
Silent Hobo took the ideas and the history and blended them together to make a 50-meter mural to cover the concrete walls of what had been a multi-storey car park, but which had been partially demolished, leaving only the ground floor, Granby Street car park.
In my first book, 'Loughborough in 50 Buildings' I wrote about the car park and the mural:
"49 Devonshire Square Mural, 2014
On Tuesday 26th
January 1965, Councillor G. J. Humphrey, Mayor of the Borough of Loughborough,
officially opened a two-storey carpark on Granby Street, in the presence of
Aldermen and former Mayors, William P. Stagg, L. W. Hull, and George G. Allen,
and Councillor Mrs M. Bradley. Ald. Stagg pleaded with motorists to make use of
the new car park, instead of ‘cluttering up the streets’.
The new car
park was originally intended to be four-storeys, but at the time of opening it
was a two-deck construction, although sufficiently load-bearing to take the two
extra levels that had been planned. The entrance was on Granby Street, but the
length of the structure faced onto Devonshire Square, and the ground level was
populated by shops.
What the car
park had replaced was Clarke’s Dye Works, a long-established family firm which
was liquidated in 1959, and the building demolished not long after.
The car park
lasted for many years, until about 2012 when the upper levels were removed, and
the ground level rear parking area spruced up. Following the town’s acceptance
as a second-wave Mary Portas Pilot town, a plan for revitalising the Devonshire
Square area was suggested, and Wei Ong, who calls himself Silent Hobo, was
chosen from a group of twenty artists, to create an exciting mural to cover the
railings that remained above the shops. Wei Ong had created much artwork for
other towns, and after consultation with local residents, he planned his Loughborough
mural to showcase some of town’s heritage, its seasonal events and its local
people."
My photos of the mural in December 2014:
On his webpages, Silent Hobo provides a bit of background to the mural, and some stills of the actual work, as well as a couple of videos, one of which shows himself at work on a complementary project, painting Lady Jane Grey, in Loughborough market place. This portrait was hung on the entrance to Market Yard, on the wall of the shoe shop (but wasn't there the last time I looked, a couple of months ago).
During the pandemic, work was undertaken on the improvement of the area of Ward's End and Devonshire Square, which saw, amongst other things, some new heritage plaques inlaid into the new flooring around Devonshire Square.
Sadly, however, the passage of time has not been kind to the mural, and its bright, vibrant colours have faded somewhat down the years. Some of the panels have started to come away from the concrete setting, and some panels have been lost altogether.
However, it has been announced that under the Charnwood borough Council's 'Future Charnwood Investment Plan', proposal number 5 is to cover the concrete wall above the shops in Devonshire Square with a living wall. Apparently, living walls are more than just a green facade (which might simply be ivy-clad walls), and involve vertical-growing plants, grown from containers in either soil, or using hydroponics, and supported by a frame.
As far as I can tell, however, this proposal is one of several, and funding for it has yet to be approved. In the event that it is approved, it will be interesting to see this living wall.
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posted by lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for typos which are all mine!
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