Guest post by local historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity
The Olympic Torch tile mural, currently hidden away in the Bobby Moore Bridge subway.
When I sent a New Year request to Quintain’s Chief Executive Officer in 2022, it was two months before I received a full reply. This time, Quintain took just two working days to reply to my 1 January 2023 letter, which suggested that the Olympic Torch tile mural in the Bobby Moore Bridge subway should be put back on public display, in time for the 75th anniversary of the 1948 London Olympic Games at Wembley.
I will ask Martin to attach a copy of Quintain’s letter below, so that you can read it if you wish to. It is almost 500 words long, but it can be summed up in a single word: “No”. I’ll include my reply to that letter at the end of this article.
There are two passages in the letter I received which suggest that Quintain are not inclined to uncover any more of the tile mural scenes in the subway between Wembley Park Station and Olympic Way:
‘… the lighting installation under Bobby Moore Bridge has full planning permission … and is not subject to any time limits.’
‘… we think that the lighting displays are an important part of our cultural offering now and for the future.’
The letter talks as though Quintain think that they own the Bobby Moore Bridge and the tile murals on the walls of its subway. In fact, they are owned by the London Borough of Brent (which, as far as I know, is not legally under Quintain’s ownership or control).
But what do you, as citizens of the Borough, think about the idea of Quintain’s lighting displays, as against the tile murals celebrating Wembley’s sports and entertainment heritage, which are currently hidden behind the LED light panels? If you’ve not seen them, or can’t remember what they look like, here are a few reminders:
Part of the murals on the west wall of the subway, in 2012. (From a “Soundscape” web page)
Some of the mural scenes on the east wall of the subway, pre-2013.
A lighting display, either side of the footballers mural, on the east wall of the subway, July 2021.
Would you prefer to see the heritage tile murals back on permanent display, or Quintain’s modern ‘cultural offering’ of lighting displays? Please feel free to give your honest views in a comment below.
My response to Quintain on 9 January suggested an alternative solution for the Olympic Torch mural, using their LED light panels. This is the text of my open letter (which was written to Quintain’s Head of Masterplanning and Design, with a copy to James Saunders, the CEO):-
Dear Julian,
Thank you for your letter of 4 January 2023, in response to my New Year letter to James Saunders.
I note the reasons given as to why Quintain will not be taking up my suggestion for uncovering, and putting on display, the Olympic Torch tile mural, on the east wall of the Bobby Moore Bridge subway, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the 1948 London Olympic Games in July 2023.
You have set out your view on the history of the current lighting arrangements in the subway. I don’t think that it would be helpful to argue over this now, However, I do remember that when you and Quintain’s lighting designer came to a Wembley History Society meeting in October 2018, to set out your vision for the subway, several members suggested to you that the plans should be changed.
Instead of putting all of the murals on the walls on display, with sufficient lighting in the subway for that purpose, as members had asked, you chose only a minor amendment to your original plans, which displayed just one of around a dozen tile mural scenes. The Society did agree that if just one scene was to be displayed, it should be the footballers playing at the “twin towers” stadium, which included the plaque unveiled by Bobby Moore’s widow in 1993.
It is disappointing that you seem to suggest it is Quintain’s intention to retain the lighting panels, which cover the rest of the tile murals in the subway, as a permanent feature. I am aware of the various planning and advertising consents. However, I would remind you that while Quintain’s ownership of the tile murals on the walls of Olympic Way is not in dispute, the Bobby Moore Bridge and the tile murals in its subway belong to the London Borough of Brent.
Since my suggestion for uncovering the Olympic Torch tile mural is not acceptable, I will offer an alternative suggestion, which I hope will meet with the approval of yourself and your colleagues at Quintain.
This mural is covered with LED light panels, which can be programmed to show particular displays. As part of ‘the changing programme of lighting displays which has been integrated into the overall arts and cultural strategy at Wembley Park’, I would suggest that the panels over the Olympic Torch mural could be programmed to show an image of that mural, during at least July and August 2023.
You already have a clear photograph of the mural, showing the design and its colours, which I included in my 1 January 2023 letter. The LED digital version of it could provide a temporary addition to the Wembley Park Art Trail this summer, adding to the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the 1948 Games, on the wall next to the displayed “footballers” mural - as marked on this image:
I look forward to hearing that this alternative suggestion will be taken up, as part of the Olympic Way local history enhancements for this important anniversary year.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Philip Grant.
UPDATE FROM PHILIP GRANT (see January 13th comment below)
How an image of the Olympic Torch mural could be displayed, in the same way as an advertisement in another subway.
