Sept 2021 - A Bit of a Clean-up for Dickie Dirts

Over the past few months, you may have noticed some young painters from Brunt’s Academy working on a piece of public art at 11 Leeming Street. Guided by artist, Clare Taylor of Bus & Bird Arts, and with kind permission from the building owner, Steven Rye, the students have created a mural for the Townscape Heritage project on the theme: Mansfield Past, Present and Future.

As the mural takes its final shape, you’ll see nods in the design to the building’s past life as Boots the Chemist and Dickie Dirts clothing emporium – the green pharmacy crosses, capsules, carboys (large glass bottles that advertised a chemist’s shop) and blue denim jeans. The hourglass repeat pattern in the right-hand panel echoes the original tiles that remain on the lower part of the building. A large grey cog on the left and the canaries on the right commemorate the mills and the mining industry that drove Mansfield’s prosperity for centuries. The River Maun and Olympic swimmer, Rebecca Adlington, are represented by the stylised water symbols. You’ll see the footprints of people and pesky pigeons, and a large oak leaf symbolising Sherwood Forest and a greener future for the town.

We hope that the mural brightens up your shopping days and inspires you to think about the best of Mansfield’s past, present and future!