The Battersea Puzzle is about to disappear forever as planners want to demolish the building it is painted on. This mural is one of a handful that features portraits of local people and show events that were particularly relevant to the community in the early 80s.
It was started in September 1980 when the Rev Michael Wimshurst of the local church, St Peters, asked the Wandsworth Arts Resource Project (WARP) to paint a mural . Christine Thomas of WARP developed the idea of showing a 'then and now' scenario of local history events. The creation of the mural was begun in April 1981 with the priming of the surface.
The 3 x 18 meter mural starts with the German bombers flying over Battersea Power station and an image of a large tiger from the local funfair. It leads onto a Victorian house being repaired by a man on a ladder representing the gentrification of the area. An old steam train is portrayed next to a new train showing the changes to the Clapham Junction Railway station. This leads on to the march for jobs showing marchers from Jarrow representing the loss of industry in the area, the closures of ‘Morgans’, ‘Airfix’, and ‘Gartons’ and ‘Decca’ factories. There is an image of a burnt out church showing what happened to the original St Peter’s building.
Beyond these scenes are a tower block with the sign “we want out”, telling the story of local residents being moved to the building to alleviate the slums but finding them unsuitable for families. Beside this is a large swirl of jigsaw pieces and a giant broom, directly lifted from the destroyed Battersea mural know as 'Battersea, the good, the bad and the ugly'. The broom is sweeping away the past to reveal the future, hence the appearance of the jigsaw pieces throughout the mural narrative.
This snapshot of local life also has portraits of local people which is why when this type of mural disappears, their stories go too. The mural was officially opened on Sunday September 20th 1981. Now at the ripe old age of 29 and being in poor condition it’s likely to go. Like the puzzle in the picture, it’ll be swept away. At least whilst the story resides on this website, its memory won’t be forgotten.
UPDATE 2011 We got confirmation that the council has finally agreed the planning for the removal of this building. However, it is still down to the Diocese of Southwark to give final permission for the building to be pulled down and the site developed. If all goes to plan, work should begin sometime in 2012.
This mural is under threat