Mural unveiled in Netherfield to celebrate the town’s local history
The mosaic was installed to welcome people to the town centre in a colourful way
By Callum Wright
A new mural has been unveiled at a park in Netherfield to commemorate the Nottinghamshire town’s local history.
The mosaic artwork was installed on Jackie Bells field on Tuesday, March 18. The idea of it is to welcome people into the area in colourful fashion and celebrate the town’s local population, community and long history.
Anna Dixon, designer and creator of the mosaic, said that she made sure plenty of voices were heard before she put the piece together.
“I spoke to as many people as I could in Netherfield about what they would like to see included, and the feeling I got was that there were two stand out things: it’s quite a beautiful place with lots of Victorian buildings, and then the community, everybody said what a lovely community there is here,” she said.
“It’s what I live for, making the world a more beautiful place, it’s a community thing to get people together and give them a chance to do something creative.”
Dixon visited the St George’s Centre and Loco Centre, community centres in the town, during the creation of the mural, where she invited “as many locals as possible” to help with putting it together.
Many of the people included on the mural are also inspired by real people, including members of the ‘knit and natter’ group at St George’s, the local youth centre and Netherfield Primary School where Year 6 students helped work on the letters.
Alison Hunt, a Labour Gedling Borough Councillor for Netherfield, said she’s really proud of the artwork.
“The thoughts behind this was to showcase Netherfield, encourage people to come down to the town centre and show people what a great place this is to live, it’s a proper community with lots of talented and creative people” she said.
“It keeps us connected, young and old alike – art isn’t just for the rich and it’s important that anyone can enjoy it.”
Much of the mural focuses on Netherfield’s history with trains, with the area once being a thriving railway town with the largest freight concentration yard in Europe, which was built in 1875.
Other parts of the mural include the Netherfield Lagoons, a Raleigh chopper bike, a gardener working at an allotment and the clock that can be seen when entering the town centre.
More improvements are set to follow in the area, with new tree planting, new railings and bins intended to encourage more to visit the town centre.
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