Art teacher still passionate about town trail

BBC A man with grey hair in a blue coat pointing at decorated tiles on a wooden door. The tiles show small raised pottery artwork of windows and birds.BBC
Mike Griffiths asked his pupils to create tiles and used them to decorate the trail

A former art teacher who created a walking trail to encourage children to take an interest in the town where they live is still maintaining it a decade later.

"The first time I came to Shrewsbury I walked around and I couldn't believe what a beautiful place it was," Mike Griffiths said.

But he was surprised when children at the Wakeman School, where he taught, had no knowledge of some of the local architecture.

His response was to create a trail around the town, later decorated with the children's artwork, which took them around some of the sights.

Mr Griffiths recalled his first walks near Shrewsbury Abbey and said: "I looked at the chimney stacks and chimney pots outside, which are stunning examples of brickwork."

But when the children told him they had not seen the chimneys, the former art teacher said: "I've got to do something about this."

He said he decided to get the children out in the town to sketch what they could see.

"I wanted them to look up and look up at the architecture that's all around the town," Mr Griffiths said.

A man in a black beanie hat and blue coat looking at a black door covered in yellow graffiti. A person with grey hair in a puffy dark blue coat walks away from him along an alley between two red brick buildings.
Mr Griffiths said he still kept a watchful eye on the trail to maintain it

Later, Mr Griffiths asked his pupils to create artwork on tiles and when the school came to close in 2013, it was decided to use them to decorate the walking trail.

"We don't need to pay an artist to do this, we've got 4,000 artists," Mr Griffiths reasoned.

The tiles can still be seen displayed all around the town and Mr Griffiths said he keeps an eye on them, to make sure they stay free of vandalism.

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