Mural competition winners
Year Eight students at Lord Lawson of Beamish School have won a competition to design a 40 foot long mural. The project came about when Bill Fullen, Chief Executive of Gateshead Housing Company, approached the school following the success of a previous Christmas card design competition. Students were asked to design a mural for Gateshead Housing's Head Office in Team Valley, which would tie in with local landmarks.
The office, Keelman House, takes its name from the route the River Tyne takes from Wylam to Bill Quay, known as The Keelman Way. So called because of the Keelmen who used flat-bottomed 'keel' boats to carry coal to ships at the mouth of the Tyne, the fourteen mile route is a reminder of the area's ship building and coal mining history.The students found the route to be a great source of inspiration for their sketchbooks and ideas. Researching the area's coal mining history and bridges, as well as the area's regeneration, landmarks and wildlife, gave them plenty of ideas with which to approach their final designs.
Bill and his colleagues found it very difficult to choose the winners from the resulting designs, however it was eventually decided that the mural would be made up of six designs. Congratulations to all students who took part in the project, and particularly to winners Lucy Forster, Alice Orr, Rachel Dodds, Laura Moody, Ellen Bloomer and Ethan Thoburn.