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  • 6 minutes ago
A park in the centre of Leeds has received a transformative new mural by an internationally recognised artist to uplift the heart of the city.
Transcript
00:01If you've been in the Pennypocket Park area of Leeds City Centre recently, you won't have missed this.
00:07The viaduct under the railway tracks on Church Walk is now home to two giant owls flying overhead, underwater scenes
00:15and a carved face emerging from a rock wall.
00:18The mural was designed and painted by Yorkshire-born multidisciplinary artist C. Blocks and is part of a longer-term
00:26project to repurpose the park and make it more welcoming for people who live, work in or visit the area.
00:34The mural reimagines a place of everyday transit as a space shaped by memory and mythology.
00:40The water scene works as a symbol for the river air running through the city, not far from the park
00:45itself, and it also hints at Leeds' industrial past.
00:50Originally the graveyard of Leeds Parish Church, which is now Leeds Minster, Pennypocket Park's history can still be seen in
00:58the gravestones placed on the slopes of the railway line that runs through it.
01:02The stones were lifted in the 1860s when the line was built and large amounts of soil were placed on
01:08top of the existing graves to create the incline.
01:11Each stone was then relayed in the same position where they remain today.
01:16Subject to consultation, proposed future plans for the park and the area around Leeds Minster include improving footpaths and lighting,
01:25installing more seating and carrying out more landscaping works.
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