We are a group of over 200 Walthamstow children from nursery age to year 6 who have repainted four graffiti covered Network Rail bridges. The map shows where these are found in relation to our school site. The bridges are located on (1) Pretoria Ave, (2) Stoneydown Ave, (3) Richings Ave and (4) Suffolk Park Road. The children are led by a parent and artist called Linda Hughes.
The picture (left) shows the Pretoria Ave east bridge panels in their original depressing vandalised state. These bridges are sited in an otherwise pleasant residential area that has been blighted by the year on year build up of this graffiti.
The probation service and the LBWF Payback team have assisted with the preparation phase of each bridge because this work is unsuitable for young children. The specialist primer paint was purchased from T & R Williamsons of Ripon. Offenders ordered by the courts to do public work as an alternative to a custodial sentence have done this task - and done it very well. They also returned to apply an anti-graffiti coating after the artwork had been completed. The anti-graffiti protective coating called 'easy-on' and the related graffiti removal product 'easy-off' were supplied by Urban Hygiene Ltd of Doncaster. This picture shows the Ritchings Ave eastern panels after being primed by the Payback workers.
This picture shows Linda Hughes with some year 4 children painting the Suffolk Park Road bridge panels. There were many Health & Safety issues to be addressed when working with young children. The barriers were kindly lent to the school by the LBWF Highways Engineering department.
This panel on the west side of the Pretoria Ave bridge was painted by year 6 students based on William Morris designs. The older children are able to apply far more complicated designs as seen here.
Artwork for the younger children has been very carefully planned by the lead artist and class teachers so that even the very youngest are able to contribute their own individual work whilst maintaining an overall high quality in the whole final delivery.
The end result of work by year 2 children on the Ritchings Ave eastern panels who painted a mural of life under the ocean. The scale of the artwork is really quite breathtaking when viewed from a distance. The streetscape of the area has been vastly improved by the removal of the grim and peeling Network Rail paint plus many years worth of graffiti. The wonderful colours used to apply the children's designs were bought from Bristol Paints in Watford.
