A new tile mural at Olympic Way, Wembley Park

Guest Post by local historian Philip Grant 

 

Back in March, I shared the news with you that tile mural scenes on the walls of Olympic Way (part of the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals, celebrating Wembley’s sports and entertainment heritage) would be back on permanent public display by August (which they were).

 

The letter from Quintain’s Chief Executive Officer, agreeing not to seek an extension of the advertisement consent, which had seen these murals covered in vinyl advertising sheets since 2013, included a promise to replace a missing section of tiles on the wall beside the “drummer”. The drummer was the only surviving part of an original mural scene celebrating pop music concerts at Wembley Stadium, particularly the 1985 “Live Aid” concert.

 

The ”Live Aid” mural, before it was destroyed c.2006.

 

Quintain’s CEO said that they were ‘keen to reflect aspects of the original design, where possible’, and that they would ‘like to engage with you and the Wembley History Society to find the best solution for that area of the walls.’ In my March 2022 blog, I threw it open to the local community to suggest ideas for a design which would reflect the “Live Aid” or Wembley Stadium pop concerts theme.

 

The west wall area, beside the “drummer”, in need of new tiles, March 2022.

 

The “canvas” for the design was a difficult one, as TfL had taken a large section of the original mural away when they built steps down from the bus stop (now moved!) on the bridge in 2006. Instead of a rectangle, the blank space (after the poor replacement tiles had to be taken off in 2016, before they fell off) sloped down to nothing, in stages. 

 

I’m pleased to say that I did get some responses to the request for input on the replacement. One local resident suggested two possible artists, at least one of whom had designed murals for a local history community project at Cricklewood Station. A lady suggested a different piece of local cultural history for the design. And Gary, from Wembley, submitted his own draft idea, working from the photo of the original mural scene above.

 

Gary’s design idea for a replacement section of the “Live Aid” mural. (Courtesy of Gary!)

 

I passed all of the suggestions and ideas on to Wembley Park’s Cultural Director. As Quintain / Wembley Park would be commissioning and paying for the replacement mural, they had the final say, although they said they would let me see what they had in mind before going ahead with any design. In the end, they did not take up any of the offers I had put their way, and last summer I was sent a copy of a design from the artist Paul Marks, who they’d commissioned for the job. 

 

The Paul Marks design for the new tile mural beside the “drummer”.
(Courtesy of Quintain / Wembley Park)

 

I was told that I was being shown the design “in confidence”, and could not share the image until the new mural was finished. It was explained that the abstract design represents 'the sound wave (graphic equaliser) referencing the beat of the music'. My initial reaction was that this did not reflect the history of concerts at Wembley Stadium, such as “Live Aid”, and I suggested adapting Paul’s design to include some of the musicians from the original scene (Mark Knopfler and Freddie Mercury in this possible version).

 

One of the possible adapted designs I submitted.

 

The answer came back that this would not be possible, for a variety of reasons. The new mural would go ahead, as designed by Paul Marks, and by early November the wall was being prepared ready to receive the new coloured tiles.

 

Preparing the wall for the tiles. (This and top photos courtesy of Martin Francis)

 

Now the new tile mural is in place. It may no longer be a mural scene celebrating “Live Aid”, but it can be seen as the drummer sending out the beats of a rock anthem towards Wembley Stadium, where both the old and new versions of this famous venue have hosted some historic concerts. And it is certainly a much better sight than a bare concrete wall, or the “patched up” TfL version that I include a picture of in my March 2022 blog!

 

Philip Grant.