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Volunteers repaint graffiti-hit underpass

Ellen Knightin Shrewsbury
News imageEllen Knight/BBC Photograph of John, who is looking into the camera and smiling. He is wearing a dark blue raincoat, with a purple checked shirt underneath. He is also wearing a dark blue cap with an orange letter C on it. He is holding a blue sign, that reads in white letters 'Sign Cleaning in Progress, follow me on Facebook', and in the other hand has a white spray bottle. He is standing in the underpass, which has cream coloured, corrugated walls which have large patches of white paint where he has begun to paint over the graffiti. Ellen Knight/BBC
John Edwards said he has cleaned more than 700 road signs in Shropshire - and is now turning his sights to graffiti

A volunteer cleaner has said seeing graffiti in public places "gets on my nerves" - and has pledged to clear it up.

Parts of the Crowmere underpass in Shrewsbury have been covered in paint, including red St George's crosses and graffiti "tags."

John Edwards, who is known in Shropshire for his efforts to clean road signs around the county, is leading the efforts.

When it was covered in graffiti Edwards said the underpass was "a pretty threatening place to walk through, to be honest."

"It was covered in red daubed crosses and other graffiti," he added.

Edwards said he spent 13 hours making a start on the clean-up, and was joined by a volunteer with a pressure-washing businesses.

"We hope to come back on Sunday," he said, adding that the plan is to "completely repaint the place all the way through" to make it "look nice and presentable again."

The road above, Bage Way, was opened in 1989 by Prince Philip, and Edwards is keen to get the underpass closer to how it looked all those years ago.

News imageJohn Edwards Photo of the graffiti in the underpass, which has rough cream walls. There are three pieces of graffiti visible, from left to right: a large red cross, a stylised 'tag' reading 'JE', and a large purple piece of text that is not legible. Around the larger pieces are various scribbles in black ink. John Edwards
The underpass was covered in all sorts of graffiti before the team got to work

The project to clean up the Crowmere underpass has even won sponsorship from a local business.

Paintwell provided Edwards' team with "three massive buckets of specialist masonry paint" in order to spruce up the area.

Edwards admitted that some people say repainting "just gives a clean board to graffiti-fy" - but was adamant that he will "come along and just over paint it again."

"It's extremely satisfying to do it," he said, adding that "hopefully it'll catch on in other areas as well."

News imageEllen Knight/BBC Photo of the underpass - a long passageway with rough cream walls, a tarmac walkway, and a concrete roof. There are large patches of white paint on the walls where John has begun to remove the graffiti. At the end of the underpass are some green verges and a grey car. Ellen Knight/BBC
Edwards said he spent 13 hours making initial efforts to remove the graffiti

Edwards, 72, has been retired for seven years after working in the aerospace industry - and said cleaning up public spaces is a good use of his knowledge of "sheet metal work and fixing things."

"I've still got all those skills," he said, and that he "just loves fixing things."

"I suppose it gives me a purpose in my early seventies."

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