Catch it before it goes ….. Manchester’s past in pictures

Now here is an exciting project which has been launched to record all those heaps of street art which pop up and vanish almost as suddenly as they appear.

New Wakefield Street, 2002

They range from the thoughtful and artistic to the scrawl of someone who has just discovered a spray can or a paint by numbers box set.

Spear Street, 2016

You can find them on the sides of buildings, bridges and even pavements.

Most have short lives, either because they are painted over, or removed.  Worse still some linger on neglected and as the paint peels and the image fades, they become a ghostly and forlorn reminder of their former self.

Over the years some of those I count as favourites have gone, like the one on New Wakefield Street I photographed back in 2002.

Or the one of the reclining lady on Spear Street.  She appeared in all her glory in 2016 and was obliterated two years later by a series of sprayed tags which can claim no artistic skill and say little about the artist other than a narcistic need to paint their name.

Salmon Street, 2023

And they deserve to be remembered, partly because many make a statement of what was going on in the city at the time, and because some are humorous and well executed.

Radium Street, 2023

All of which is a lead into the project which is seeking funding and will rely on volunteers to record the pictures with a date, location and description of the condition of the image.

The eventual aim will be to display the collection at a suitable venue, possibly in the Northern Quarter or in the restored Town Hall.

The original idea came from a group of art students and Manchester historians who saw the importance of the project and the potential for a series of “historic walks”.

The scheme has now been endorsed by "Manchester 69" which has a long track record of sponsoring similar projects 

It was established as a centre for the contemporary arts in the late 1960s and mounted campaigns to save some of our 19th century buildings from demolition. 

More recently it has engaged with the London born photographer Richard Bux on a history of tripe shops in the city.

Roman fort, 2002

The launch of this new street art project will be at 10 am today in its studio on Sugar Lane off Withy Grove.

The centre piece will be a collection of recovered graffiti found on the wall of the Roman fort at Castlefield and include a series of comments on the Roman Governor and Emperor along with the enigmatic Latin tag "Aprilis stultus es fuerat".

So it should be a good morning.

Location; Manchester

Pictures, New Wakefield Street, 2002, Spear Street, 2016, Salmon Street, 2023, Radium Street, 2023, and the Roman fort at Castlefield, 2002, from the collection of Andrew Simpson