City centre Wildlife Haven produces ‘fantastic’ artistic rendering to help promote city

Peterborough’s Railworld Wildlife Haven has unveiled an attractive new map which it hopes will help draw visitors‘ attention to the city’s key tourist attractions.

The bespoke, A3-sized illustration features 14 landmark Peterborough buildings and attractions.

While some of the sights, such as Peterborough Cathedral, the Town Hall and Peterborough Museum, are well-known, others like Wansford Road Railway Station and the old Eastern Counties Engine Shed are less so.

Railworld's Brian Pearce (left) unveiling his new map of Peterborough city centre with NVR Station Master, Tony King.

placeholder image — Railworld's Brian Pearce (left) unveiling his new map of Peterborough city centre with NVR Station Master, Tony King.

The map, which has been produced by local graphics specialist Chris Lane, features strikingly beautiful hand-drawn illustrations by Martyn Hanks, an immensely talented 83-year-old artist and model maker from Preston, Lancs.

Railworld trustee and volunteer, Brian Pearce MBE, explained how he managed to get the gifted octogenarian on board:

“Every year, for the last 40 years, me and my brothers have gone to the Lake District walking,” he said. “We live all over the country so we always meet up in The Lakes every year.”

And it was while staying in a hostel near Keswick on their last meetup that Brian noticed some artwork adorning the walls.

The beautiful hand-drawn map features 14 of the city's chief landmarks and attractions.

“I kept seeing these lovely hand-drawn maps of walks around the hostels and I thought ‘these would be perfect in Peterborough’.”

Brian, who is famed for his can-do attitude, set about finding out more about the man behind the drawings, Martyn Hanks.

In true Brian Pearce fashion, Martyn soon found himself in Peterborough, as Brian’s guest, staying in his home for three days.

“We just sort of adopted him,” Brian adds, chuckling, “and we’ve been friends ever since.”

As well as illustrating the new map, Preston-based artist and model maker Martyn Hanks also created two intricate models for Railworld.

As well as helping to create the lovely map, Martyn also volunteered his model making skills:

“He made a windmill for our garden railway, and a watermill for our wildlife haven,” Brian added.

The map – which folds down into a leaflet and features info about Railworld on the reverse side – is available at four key locations across the city: the railway station, the tourist office, Peterborough Museum and the Town Hall.

Brian says the response to the illustrated map has been “fantastic.“

“The railway station rung me up and asked ‘Can we print a thousand of these off as people keep asking for them?’”