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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Damon Wilkinson

These huge murals have been painted all over Rochdale town centre and they look brilliant

These huge murals have been painted around Rochdale town centre as part of a Bank Holiday weekend art festival.

Street artists from across the UK and Europe gave the town a fresh lick of paint during the Rochdale Uprising event.

Twelve murals have been created on buildings such as the Pioneers Museum on Toad Lane and on the back wall of Marks and Spencer off Yorkshire Street.

The festival was led by Rochdale-born artist Hayley Garner, one half of mural duo Nomad Clan.

A mural at Waterside House (Manchester Evening News)

Their contribution is a huge mural showing cotton workers and miners, a nod to Rochdale's industrial past.

It also shows the construction of Rochdale's landmark Seven Sisters flats and the wind turbines on nearby Scout Moor.

On the side of Pioneers Museum (Manchester Evening News)

Speaking before the festival was launched Hayley, whose grandma owned a wool shop in Rochdale and whose family still live in the borough, said: "Our mural will celebrate the major role that Rochdale played on the world stage through the textile industry and as part of that we’ll be highlighting women, who were often the backbone of it.

"I’ve wanted to get my hands on the Regal Moon for years, so I was really excited when the council approached me about doing a street art festival here."

Above Fishwicks Newsagents on The Walk (Manchester Evening News)

The former Kenion Street recording studios, which played host to the likes of The Fall, has been adorned with with piece paying homage to Joy Division's album Unknown Pleasures - the band recorded at the studio earlier in their career -and the long demolished Ashfield Valley flats, which was once home to a thriving punk scene.

On Water Street, close to the council's headquarters, artist Philth has paid tribute to Rochdale's cotton mill heritage, by painting eight cotton bolls.

A mural at the side of the Regal Moon (Manchester Evening News)

The Walk, a well-known shopping alley, has also got a giant new street sign painted by artist Lei Mai.

And Manchester-based artist Tasha Whittle has created a bright mural of smiling daisies on the wall of the Pioneers Museum.

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