Wappenshall Wharf Mural

In January 2026 I was approached about a project to transform a large wall into a mural dedicated to a little known heritage site which shines a light on Thomas Telford. Whilst I frequently get asked to make a proposal for murals, I knew this was different.

A local, community ran project I immediately went to visit the site. Just 20 minutes from where I live I could see just how determined the volunteers were to bring this heritage site further to life.

Here is what the wall looked life before:

A little history to the site:

Wappenshall Junction is an historically important site with two Grade II listed buildings a skew 

bridge which is a scheduled ancient monument and the only transhipment warehouse over water in 

the UK.  Opened in 1835, it linked two important canals, Shrewsbury and Newport and carried 

goods to and from Shrewsbury helping to accelerate the Industrial Revolution. The small 

warehouse was opened as The Welldeck at Wappenshall Wharf, a Community Café in December 

2025 and restoration continues on the larger warehouse. 

Many months passed when I found out both that I was the artist that had been chosen and that the money had been secured for the project funded by the National Lottery 

Community Fund.

Here is my design description from my proposal:

DESIGN DESCRIPTION:

To tell the story of the Wappenshall Junction I chose imagery which I believe represents the history in a way that is accessible to all.

Starting from the left with photo of the Wappenshall Junction from around 1970 showing the other side of the bridge, which I think was very interesting view as visitors won’t be able to see this kind of view now.

The portrait of Thomas Telford signifies the importance of his contribution as civil engineer who designed the initial canals, including improvements and the Newport branch, connecting to the Shrewsbury Canal. He also designed some of the prominent warehouses at the junction. Below is his signature and a couple of sketches representing his work.

The map is showing the canal from Shrewsbury to Newport and location of the Wappenshall Junction so visitors can easily understand the context within the locality.

Below the map is a historical photo of the Shropshire Union Canal - Newport Lock from 1935. This ties in both important points of this part of the canal Shrewsbury - Newport.

The sign shows the three directions Shrewsbury - Trench - Newport

The final image on the right is of steam train from Coleham Signal Box - Shrewsbury 1964 - and it shows the reason why this canal only lasted less than 100years due to the arrival of railway system the transport on water was no longer needed and Wappenshall junction was closed in 1944.

The whole mural will be painted in tinted green monochrome colours with the exception of the portrait of Thomas Telford which will be painted in full colour to bring his presence more into our time.

I am a professional airbrush artist so this mock up accurately represents the finished mural, as my work is highly-detailed realism.

By this time the seasons were changing...

Outdoor mural projects generally take place between May and September due to requiring certain minimum temperatures for the paint application.

We had to watch the weather closely and I required a clear 9 days to paint the mural.

The design I originally submitted received feedback from the team and it took a few redesigns to suit everyone.There was a sense of importance in getting this right to reflect the life and work of Thomas Telford. The mural will be there for many years to come.

Our good weather window arose starting the 20th September 2and the team of wonderful volunteers had prepared the wall for me. Of course we had some rain disruptions but I worked flexibly to get the hours in. It took around 35 hours in total, not including the consultation time, design time and prep time.

On the Saturday, 25th Anniversary celebrations were taking place, so I had the opportunity to show the process to visitors.

Here is the wall with the finished mural:

I am blessed to have huge variety in my work, but it's projects like this that feel very special. The passion from the volunteers knows no bounds, and they looked after me with great care. At a time where it can feel like profit over passion, we can turn to community projects like this to remind ourselves what we can really achieve when we work cooperatively.

I would like to thank Joanne, the team of Volunteers, The National Lottery Community Fund and Shropshire and Newport Canal Trust for this opportunity.

If you would like to contact me about a project, you can find all methods on my Contact Us Page.