Guest blog by Philip Grant in a personal capacity:
I wrote last month about the “reveal” by Brent
Council and Quintain of three of the Bobby Moore Bridge tile mural scenes in
Olympic Way, as part of Brent’s London Borough of Culture 2020 celebrations. LINK
On 2 February, Martin added a comment he had
received via email to that blog. The points which Elisabeth had made echoed
what I and many other local people feel, and prompted me to write a joint email
to the Cultural Director of Quintain’s Wembley Park Arts organisation and
Brent’s Chief Executive (full text as a comment on the previous blog). My email
finished with:
‘I hope that Quintain
/ Wembley Park and Brent Council will reconsider plans to put adverts over the
revealed tile mural scenes again after 24 February. Please leave them uncovered
for at least the remainder of 2020, or if that is not considered possible,
please announce future dates during LBOC 2020 when these tile murals will be on
public display again.’
I have now received a
reply (from Wembley Park, but not from Brent). While it says that ‘Quintain and Brent
Council have an agreement to reveal the south eastern tiles for a specific
amount of time each year,’ it goes on to say:
‘… this year the tiles
are being unveiled for 38 days in January and February to ensure residents and
visitors have the opportunity to view the installation.’
I asked whether this
meant that there would be no further display of these mural scenes during 2020,
and the answer was “Yes” it did. So, 38 days out of 366 (yes, it’s a leap year)
in LBOC 2020 in which to see this part of Brent’s cultural heritage. If you don’t see them by Monday 24
February, there won’t be another chance this year.
It appeared that being
the London Borough of Culture had made Brent Council and Quintain finally
acknowledge the cultural and heritage importance of these tile murals. I had
been encouraged by statements made on behalf of both organisations when the
Mayor of Brent conducted the “reveal” on 18 January, as a prelude to the LBOC
2020 “RISE” event later that day.
All smiles from Brent Council and Quintain at the tile murals
“reveal” on 18 January.
(Photo by Francis
Waddington, Wembley History Society)
At the reveal event Julian
Tollast, on behalf of Quintain, said:
‘The iconic cultural
and sporting events at Wembley are celebrated in these heritage tiles behind
us, and we are really proud to work with Brent and with Wembley History Society
to make the reveal on a periodic basis of these murals possible.'
Brent Council’s press
release about the reveal of ‘the heritage tiles at Wembley Park’s Bobby Moore
Bridge’ said:
‘The tiles, which show
scenes from famous sports and entertainment events at Wembley Stadium and the
SSE Arena, Wembley, are part of Brent’s rich heritage and date back to
September 1993 when they were originally dedicated to the legendary footballer.’
It is now clear that their enthusiasm for Brent’s
rich heritage is subject to the proviso that it ‘does not restrict commercial opportunities that benefit both
parties.’
It appears that
these “commercial opportunities” may also extend to the occasional covering up
of the “footballers” mural in the subway. That mural scene was put back on
“permanent” public display in the autumn of 2019, following the approval of
Quintain’s planning applications LINK as a gesture towards the heritage
significance of the murals. Quintain’s application had promised that:
‘a 9.4m long section
of the original tiled mural located on the east wall and referencing England
footballers and the Wembley ‘twin towers’ will remain uncovered and visible to
the general public.’
The reply I received from Wembley Park included the statement: ‘Quintain has committed to make this
scene visible at all times with the
exception of a small number of stadium event days.’ When I asked for
clarification, the response was:
‘ These tiles may be covered up for events held at Wembley
Stadium, such as the NFL games, UEFA events and concerts. As of today, there
aren’t plans to cover them up until potentially the NFL games in late October.’
It seems that
Quintain and Brent Council would be prepared to cover up this iconic England
footballers mural, even during England’s Euro 2020 matches at Wembley Stadium,
if “the price is right”. For the NFL games at the stadium this autumn, they
would be willing to cover up the “soccer” mural, but not put back on display
the American Footballers scene!
I will give the
final words on this situation to a lady who emailed me this week, in response
to my recent blog on the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals. She has lived in
Wembley for more than sixty years, and with her late husband had been to many events
at the Stadium and Arena, including the Wembley Lions last ice hockey match in
1968:
‘As Brent is
supposed to be the London Borough of Culture, I am appalled that our sporting
heritage murals are to be covered by advertisements.’
Philip Grant