A bright blue new mural in the centre of Brixham has got people talking in the fishing port which is fighting the recession by transforming empty spaces and scruffy walls in a wave of ‘micro regeneration’.
The colourful wall above the Rowcroft Hospice shop and tattoo parlour in Fore Street is the latest wall mural to decorate the town.
Some are being painted by independent traders and some are part of the Brixham Futures campaign.
The Rowcroft shop manager Frances Casey said: “I love it! We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback with people coming up from the car park who see it straight away.”
Diane Ballard said: “Love this, it brightens our lovely town up,need to a few more to add to the collection.”
Kim Hodder added: ” Love it the shops that have all had artwork done look fabulous and bring some brightness to our high Street.”
Sharon Lovett Stroud said: “It looks brilliant and interesting give visitors something different to look at on their visits. Very talented men.”
The team at Shoalstone Sea Water Pool gave it a double thumbs up and said: “It looks fabulous.”
Brixham Future CIC chairman John Brennan said: “We don’t want to see shops closing down and derelict and no one else has tried micro regeneration and it is the way forward. The town council hasn’t got any money and the government hasn’t got any money.
“We have been doing murals for some time. We need quality rather than graffiti. By the time we get to 15 or 20 it will be saturation. Brixham Futures is doing small scale, quick win, low cost, micro-regeneration.
“There is nothing wrong with Brixham. Brixham is Brixham and it will go on attracting people for generations to come – we don’t need big investment. We need paint and plants and cleaning. You can do an awful lot with paint.
“I think people are quite pleased with the little things we’ve done to improve our high street.”
A shadows project (below) marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war and it was decorated with 216 poppies, one for person lost in the town during the 1914-18 war.
The end flank wall of Dobles the Jewellers (below) in Fore Street has been decorated with a treasure map of Brixham in 1615.
Lauren Ransom, the manager at Dobles, said: “It looks fantastic. The amount of people who stop and take photos is really, really nice.
“I think the murals brighten the street up and make the town look better. If every shop had one it might be too much.”
The beautiful mural (below) is above over the former Pirate Experience which has closed and been replaced with a hairdressers.
Mr Brennan said: “It’s very clever. At night when the light is on in the window it lights up the lantern.”
And on the end wall of The Strand Art Gallery (below) sailing ships have been painted in the style of the artist David Deakins in tribute to the Brixham harbour artists.
Original story by Colleen Smith on Devon Live
Reproduced by kind permission of author/publisher
Photos by Andy Styles