Hull – Three Ships Mural

It looks like the end for the Three Ships mural in Hull, which the city council has said can be demolished. It’s a clever design, spelling out the word Hull and also focusing on the city’s maritime heritage. There are a quite staggering one million pieces of glass in the mural, which was designed by Alan Boyson in 1963 for what was then the Co-op building.

It’s the largest such mural in the country and there is currently a petition to save it, with a separate letter being signed by Sir Tom Courtenay, Al Murray, Kate Fox, Bob Stanley and Kevin McCloud. The Co-op were later replaced by BHS, but their demise has seen the building left empty and the site is now earmarked to be used for the £130 million Albion Square redevelopment.

The council is claiming that the mural can’t be saved because there is asbestos in the building and they said that HSE wouldn’t let them separate the mural from the wall. I’m not sure why the HSE wouldn’t let this happen if appropriate safety procedures were followed, but it doesn’t look very positive for this wonderful mural.