The Bulldog Pub's Bulldog, New Ferry - by Paul Curtis
This grumpy old Bulldog stands watch on the Bulldog Pub in New Ferry, keeping the regulars in check. The owners of the pub love bulldogs, hence the name of the pub, and obviously chose a bulldog for the exterior street art. Bulldogs are not famed for their spritefulness, so we decided to paint this fella in typical proud, steadfast, Winston Churchill stance!
Painted in March 2021 as part of the New Ferry Street Art Project (see below). The building used to be a bank, but it was shut down (as is the fashion for big banks these days) just before the Covid pandemic. The Bulldog Pub has had a staggered opening, due to the gradual wind-down of the UK lockdowns.
The New Ferry Project was an idea that was mooted in 2018. New Ferry had suffered a change in fortunes for several years and the area had seen a slow decline. Then in 2017, there was a large explosion at a warehouse which ripped through the centre of the town, causing devastation to the nearby buildings and the community in general. In many ways, given the slow decline of the area, this explosion represented the lowest point. Since then, there has been a task force tasked with the recovery and rebuilding.
The mural project was an idea put to the task force. Initially, there was some scepticism that the street art would be the right thing to do. It was only thanks to the perseverance of Simon Crabtree and Mark Craig, who continually lobbied for the project, that phase 1 was finally given the go ahead in 2020. Phase 1 included a row five shops which all agreed to having their upper walls painted. Designs were based on the shop owners’ requests. Although anything could be requested, most owners asked for something that reflected the product sold. The only restrictions were no text and no advertising.
And so in the summer of 2020, five weeks was spent transforming these initial 5 shops. Thankfully, local residents and business owners universally approved of the work. The work also appeared on news reports on BBC and ITV and several newspapers. This media attention put New Ferry in a good light and the recovery task force were keen to extend the project.
Thus, in the spring of 2021, a second phase was approved. The second phase was much larger than phase one, comprising 12 new artworks. This time, there was a long list of shops requesting work. There was a lot of managing of designs, permits, admin and scheduling to account for. Phase 2 lasted 10 weeks in total. It was pretty exhausting and very eventful, but thankfully all the murals were delivered on time. It was another resounding success and the feedback was largely focused on how the spirit of the area was lifted by the splash of colour brought into town.
For more info, please visit:
https://www.paulcurtisartwork.com/the...
To buy prints of this mural:
https://www.paulcurtisartwork.com/pro...
www.paulcurtisartwork.com