BT street cupboards in Kettering made into works of art

BT Openreach street cupboards are being turned into works of art to celebrate a town's history.

Professional artists are painting scenes on to the green metal cabinets to create a heritage trail in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

The pictures so far include a shoemaker, a pleasure park and a garden.

One of the artists said: "It's been great fun injecting a bit of colour on the streets of Kettering."

The project has been funded by Kettering Town Council and run jointly with Kettering Civic Society (KCS).

The society said permission had been sought before the artists started using the non-descript metal cases as canvasses.

Sally Leach has created "Cafe Corner" outside a retirement home in Oaktree Court, which reflected the residents' wishes for a garden design.

She said: "We were discussing different ways in which we could improve the local area, and one of the things that came up was the BT boxes.

"We'd seen in other areas people doing projects where they'd put artwork on them, and we thought it would be great to get some of those going through Kettering."

Daisy Farrar-Hayton's "Pleasure Park" mural on Macefield Road celebrates Rockingham Pleasure Park, while Mark James's "Shoemaker" on Wood Street honours the town's shoemaking history.

Ms Farrar-Hayton said: "It's been great fun injecting a bit of colour on the streets of Kettering. I hope mine and the other fantastic artists' work will make people smile."

Mr James said he had harked back to his younger days.

"My first job was in Tebbutt and Hall in Raunds in a shoemaking factory, and the shoemaking business has always been a constant around this area in my life."

Now the first three cabinets have been completed, the plan is to carry on brightening up the town by painting more of them.

Monica Ozdemir, the secretary of KCS, said: "We appreciate the talented artists who have created their interpretation of a specific memory particular to that part of the town and hope to support more creative street art to flourish across Kettering."

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