Published on: Wednesday, 10 March 2021
Last updated: Wednesday, 10 March 2021
A public competition will be launched later this year to find new artwork telling Great Yarmouth’s railway history to be installed at the town’s railway station, following removal of a series of painted panels which formed a larger mural.
Created in 2012, the original mural consisted of 28 panels painted by local people and featured scenes relating to the railway and other transport in the borough. The finished hoarding ran for some 70metres from opposite the station to the Vauxhall bridge.
Unfortunately, the structure and wooden panels have now become loose and dilapidated, with high winds over the winter damaging the overall structure and making it unsafe.
Train operator Greater Anglia, together with the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership, are currently working to remove the panels and install new fencing to the site. Later this year a public competition will be held to create new images for public display, reflecting the railway history of the town.
The painted boards being removed will be kept on site for a few weeks, allowing anyone that originally contributed a panel to the mural and would like to keep it to arrange collection.
Community Rail Development Officer, Martin Halliday said; "When first installed, the mural was a welcome addition to the local landscape, unfortunately over the past few months the wooden structure has deteriorated rapidly and is therefore being removed and replaced with new fencing.
"The Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership is planning to hold a public competition to create new artwork reflecting Great Yarmouth’s illustrious railway history later this year, with winning entries subsequently displayed around the wider station site."
Greater Anglia’s Area Customer Service Manager, James Reeve, said, "It’s sad to see the mural go but after almost 10 years in situ it had become damaged and insecure, so we needed to take action to ensure it could not become a potential danger to the nearby road.
"It’s important that we keep our stations and their environs in a good state of repair to ensure that they are safe and meet the high standards expected by those who use them."
If you created one of the original panels and wish to keep it, please call in at Yarmouth Station or email [email protected] and arrangements will be made to enable collection.