I am delighted to be selected for the exhibition at the gallery at Inch Arts. Inch Arts is my local Arts Centre in Altrincham, and has been at the centre of artistic life in the town for more than a decade. It supports a wide range of creative activity. It has incorporated the activities of the earlier Fab Lab, with a range of equipment available to makers. There are a large number of weekly life classes, painting and drawing classes available to a range of groups. There are also music making facilities and studios on site, with individual studios and co-working spaces available to local artists. The on-site gallery hosts exhibitions throughout the year. It is lovely to find this opportunity close to home, and to learn that many local artists, that I know well, have also been selected.
Chorlton - On - Medlock
I submitted my All Saints pieces for selection. Here is some information about the inspiration behind these pieces.
All Saints Church was built in 1820, in Grosvenor Square, Chorlton-On-Medlock. The square, bordered by Oxford Road, was an affluent area at the time, and home to many wealthy families. However, as the city centre expanded the large residential properties were replaced by retail businesses and entertainment venues, and more modest houses were built in the surrounding streets. The church remained, and was a local landmark on one of the major thoroughfares into the city centre, and a daily sight for commuters.
Shared Local History and Family History
In December 1940, during the Manchester Blitz, the church was bombed and had to be completely demolished, whilst the surrounding graveyard became a public park. Despite this, evidence of the former church’s existence is plain to see today – if you know where to look. The pathways in the park follow the outline of the walls of All Saints Church, and there are fragments of the broken masonry placed in groups around the park, as jagged sculptures and makeshift seats. There is a small sign to explain that the park is consecrated ground, and that 16000 people remain buried there.
On the night of the bombing, my teenage uncle was in the city centre picking up last minute Christmas presents. When the air raid sirens went off, he decided to walk home down Oxford Road through the darkness of the blackout. At Grosvenor square he was stopped by a police officer and told to take shelter in a nearby hotel with other passers-by. He stood in the doorway of the hotel, in sight of All Saints church, and was offered a cigarette by two men who were also sheltering. When he had finished his cigarette, he decided to slip away and continue his journey through the backstreets, against the advice of his companions. The next day he read in the local newspaper that the church and the hotel had both received a direct hit, and two men had died at the hotel.
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