WATCH: New mural on Peterborough's Oundle Road to pay tribute to famous novelist L.P Hartley
The mural will be created by Street Arts Hire Ltd’s Nathan Murdoch and will be unveiled on Friday (October 25).
Work has begun on a new mural to honour famous novelist L.P. Hartley, who formerly lived in Peterborough. The wall will also become to a new blue plaque to celebrate the author’s history with the area.
The new artwork has been commissioned by Fletton and Woodston ward councillor Alan Dowson to celebrate the history of the area and will be located along the wall of the Happy Valley Chinese takeaway, which runs along Bread Street, just off Oundle Road.
The work will celebrate the life and works of L.P. Hartley who was born in Whittlesey in December 1895 before moving to the mansion Fletton Towers, which is now Grade II listed and tucked away behind hedgerows on Queen’s Walk, as a child. The building dates back to the first few years of Queen Victoria’s reign.
In 1951, the Hartley Family, residents of Fletton Towers, gifted land to the people of the city to create Woodston Library; which campaigners are currently fighting to save.
After a long literary career, Hartley rose to fame in the 1950s with the publishing of his novel The Go-Between in 1953.
The book gave a critical view of society at the end of the Victorian era through the eyes of a schoolboy and drew on memories of Hartley’s childhood at Fletton Towers.
He went on to with the Heinemann Foundation Prize of the Royal Society of Literature in 1954. Hartley was awarded a CBE in 1956.
The film was adapted into a film in 1971 starring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Margaret Leighton and Edward Fox.
A scene from the film inspires a section of the mural, along with a historic photograph of the area from the turn of the 20th century, ; including the rail bridge on Oundle Road as well as a depiction of trains running at the nearby Nene Valley Railway.
The mural is being created by famed street artist with his company Street Arts Hire Ltd.
Nathan said: “We’re going for a Victorian theme sepia tone to mark L.P. Hartley’s mark on the city.
"We’re going for a sketch style to create something to look a bit old fashioned to call back to the area’s past.
An official unveiling of the work will be held on Friday (October 25).