Mural celebrates one of Britain's first car makers

A pioneer of the British car industry has been celebrated with a mural.

Richard Stephens was one of the country's first car manufacturers, opening his workshop in The Triangle, Clevedon in the late 19th Century.

The painting, accompanied by a blue plaque, has been unveiled on that same factory - less than a year after a statue celebrating the Stephens cars was unveiled in the town.

Mark Reber, who runs Clevedon Cars and Coffee and organised the statue and mural, described the artwork as an "all-Clevedon effort".

Stephens began his business in 1897, taking inspiration from engineers he met in America such as Henry Ford, and went on to create the first motorised taxi for an operator in Bath and a nine-seater bus.

The company folded in 1916 due to growing competition from other manufacturers, but two cars have survived to the modern day - one of which is still using its original 127-year-old tyres.

Reber said he wanted to remind Clevedon's residents about the pioneers of the past through the mural.

"If you live here, and you recognise that before email and all the advantages we have now, a guy named Richard Stevens - a bankrupt Welshman - was able to get a team together and build this car, then I hope the mural and the monument remind people what's possible," he said.

"If those old guys can do it, we can do it too."

The mural was painted by local tattoo artist Hans Heaton, of Hanz Tattoo, who created it for free despite having little interest in cars.

Heaton told the BBC he estimates he put in about 80 to 100 hours to produce the work.

"I wanted to do this for the local community who have supported me, and to give back to them," he said.

"This celebrates local history, it's important to add a bit of culture to the area, and it brings something meaningful to Clevedon," he added.

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