F C of S T O C K P O R T C O U N T Y in Edgeley

Spotting the final parts of the Stockport County street art in Edgeley.

We recently noticed some newly placed street art in the form of mosaic tiles spelling out "STOCKPORT" along Castle Street in Edgeley. It was a nice surprise to see it, and after a bit of research we found that the group behind the street art were Grit Studios, Mosaics in Manchester, Stockport County Community Trust, and The Writing Squad.

During another wander around our local area we spotted another "O", which led us to find other tile art letters that spelled out "COUNTY".

We then found out that there were 17 mosaics in total - and we'd found 15 of them. So we set out to find the final two to spell out the final words in the Edgeley Mosaic Trail.

The final two pieces of the puzzle

A map for the Edgeley Mosaic Trail can be found on the Stockport County FC website.

The C O U N T Y part of S T O C K P O R T

Spotting some more street art in Stockport.

We recently noticed some newly placed street art in the form of mosaic tiles spelling out "STOCKPORT" along Castle Street in Edgeley. It was a nice surprise to see it, and after a bit of research we found that the group behind the street art were Grit Studios, Mosaics in Manchester, Stockport County Community Trust, and The Writing Squad.

During another wander around our local area we spotted another "O", which led us to find other tile art letters that spelled out "COUNTY".

A trail map for the S T O C K P O R T letter mosaic artwork is coming soon...

New mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport

Finding some new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport.

We're big fans of street art and it's always fun spotting new pieces when wandering. Earlier this week we spotted a new piece showing a circle/letter O on the side of The Friary fish & chip shop on Castle Street in Edgeley and on a subsequent walk found the letter R on the Royal Oak pub, so guessed there were more letters that would spell out the word "STOCKPORT"!

We did a bit of further research - as well as receiving a comment from the artists on Instagram - and found that the group behind the new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley were Grit Studios, Mosaics in Manchester, Stockport County Community Trust, and The Writing Squad. It's from some of the same team that were behind the prominent 'The Scarf My Father Wore' mural project in Edgeley.

The Scarf My Father Wore Mural, snow and Christmas tree in Edgeley in January this year

A trail map for the S T O C K P O R T letter mosaic artwork is coming soon...

S

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O

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R

T

You can find some other nice mosaics in Edgeley at the Library on Edgeley Road.

There's also a lot of superb street art around the town centre and wider borough.

We're big fans of Invader's work too, and you can find Invader Was Here mosaics in Manchester city centre.

We'll be keeping an eye our for more of Mosaics in Manchester's work too - we've seen some pieces on our walks around the city before.

Check out these other posts about mosaics on the blog.

S T O C K P O R T mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport

Spotting some new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport.

We're big fans of street art and it's always fun spotting new pieces when wandering. We noticed a new piece showing a circle/letter O on the side of The Friary fish & chip shop on Castle Street in Edgeley and on a subsequent walk found the letter R on the Royal Oak pub, so guessed there were more letters that would spell out the word "STOCKPORT"!

Mosaic tile street art on Castle Street in Edgeley, Stockport

There are no other markings on the artwork so we don't know who did it, and we're pretty sure they're very recent additions to the fabric of Edgeley as we are round that way pretty much every day and hadn't noticed them before.

They're a very nice touch, so a job well done to the artist or artists behind them. 

Elephant Parade in Southampton

Finding an art trail in Southampton.

We enjoy finding and following art trails on our travels and we spotted two while in Southampton. The first was The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail and the second was the Elephant Parade - the world’s largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues - where there were 25 elephant statues at the Westquay shopping, dining and entertainment centre.

Visit the Elephant Parade section of the Westquay website for more information.

The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail in Southampton

Finding an art trail in Southampton.

It's always fun finding art trails when out exploring and while in Southampton we found two. The first was The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail.

The 400 mosaics were placed around the city to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from the UK to America.

The other art trail was the Elephant Parade - the world’s largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues.

Visit the The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail section of the Southampton council website for more information.

Halloween in the City - Manchester 2020

The Halloween in the City Monster Trail is up and running until Sunday 1st November.

There are seven giant inflatable monsters to track down around the city centre.

The Halloween in the City Dragon at The Printworks last year

Check out the Visit Manchester website for more information and to download the location map.

Take a look at my blog posts from last year's Halloween in the City:

• Manchester's Halloween in the City
• Halloween in the City 2019
• Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters
• Halloween in the City monster at Screamfields in Manchester

Artainment and the world of minigolf

A look at how minigolf has been used in artistic creations.

We've seen the worlds of art and minigolf combine a number of times over the years.

A relatively new term for this combination is 'artainment' - where art and entertainment mix to immerse visitors to an exhibition, gallery or installation in an interactive experience.

Playing Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf course at York Art Gallery in 2017

We've seen a number of art trails created in the last couple of years and they are becoming a popular part of 'retailtainment' and 'shoppertainment' where entertainment options have been added to the high street or shopping malls to help attract and retain customers.

Crazy Golf and art.

There is currently an art installation pop-up Crazy Golf course at Coal Drop's Yard in King's Cross, London. It's playable until the 29th March. Club Golf is a combination of sport, art and retail entertainment. Artists Baker & Borowski created the 9-hole themed Crazy Golf layout inspired by the rave culture in the King's Cross area back in the 1980's and 90's.

Club Golf at the Coal Drops Yard shopping and dining area in King's Cross, London

Minigolf is a very visual thing and each course is a work of art in its own right. We love seeing time, effort and thought put into the design of a minigolf hole and when they are aesthetically pleasing it's marvellous.

Playing hole 1 of Putt Putt #2 in Croydon in 2014

My favourite miniature golf layouts are Arnold Palmer Putting Courses. They are a design classic and look wonderful. They are also a real test of putting skill and incredibly playable today.

The old Arnold Palmer Putting Course from The Rotunda amusement park in Folkestone was turned into an art installation in the seaside town back in 2008.

18 Holes by Richard Wilson in Folkestone

New art-based minigolf courses in 2020.

This September the Creative Folkestone Triennial will play host to an amusement arcade and crazy golf-themed art installation by the artist genuinefake (Rachel Stella Jenkins).

My friend Jack Hurley aka Loud Ribs of Rubbish Seaside fame has also let me know about an art-based Crazy Golf course being created at Saltaire in Bradford over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

The art-based minigolf courses we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour include:

18 Holes by Richard Wilson in Folkestone in 2010.

18 Holes by Richard Wilson in Folkestone

Crazee Golf at the Tintype Art Gallery in London in 2012.

Crazee Golf at the Tintype Art Gallery in London

Bompas & Parr's Big Rooftop Tea & Golf Party saw a 9-hole London & Cake-themed Crazy Golf course created at Selfridges Oxford Street in London in 2012.

Bompas & Parr's Big Rooftop Tea & Golf Party Crazy Golf at Selfridges Oxford Street in London

M!MS Empire Sunset Nine Hole Mini Golf course in Bedford in 2013.

M!MS Empire Sunset Nine Hole Mini Golf course in Bedford

Putt Putt #2 by TURF Projects in Croydon in 2014.

Putt Putt #2 by TURF Projects in Croydon

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf at the New Art Exchange in Nottingham in 2016.

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf at the New Art Exchange in Nottingham

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf at York Art Gallery in 2017.

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf at York Art Gallery

Our friends Gareth and Lurlyn Holmes played Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf course at the Venice Biennale in 2015.

Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf in Venice. Photo by Gareth & Lurlyn Holmes, 2015

Also in 2015 our friends Matt and Helen Dodd played the Mini Gulf course at Banksy's Dismaland Bemusement Park in Weston-super-Mare.

Mini Gulf course at Banksy's Dismaland Bemusement Park in Weston-super-Mare. Photo by Matt Dodd, 2015

There was Crazy Golf at Clerkenwell Design Week in 2014. But we didn't get to play the course.

There were plans for a Visionary Golf course to be created in Trafalgar Square as part of the London Design Festival in 2016. However, the funding campaign was unsuccessful.

There was a Post-Apocalyptic Minigolf course at the Now Play This festival in London in 2017. However, we didn't manage to get along to play it.

Art and minigolf in the USA.

Our friends Tom and Robin at A Couple of Putts in the USA have also played on and created a number of art-minigolf holes on their adventures, including Sparkle City Mini Putt in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The team at The Putting Penguin have seen and reviewed a number of art designed courses over the years too.

We're looking forward to seeing where the next art-based minigolf course pops up.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Art Trails
- Crazy Golf
- Minigolf

Halloween in the City monster at Screamfields in Manchester

A look at the Halloween in the City monster at Spinningfields in Manchester.

The tentacled monster at Spinningfields

One of the monsters on the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail is at Screamfields, aka Spinningfields.

Some very find gardening

Pest control will need a lot of bug spray to get rid of this monster

'Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters' continues until Halloween night. Visit the Halloween in the City website for more information.

Manchester's Halloween in the City

Following the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail.

We had a brilliant day out in Manchester yesterday and followed the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail around the city.

Look up! Look out! Beware!

The Mayfield Depot monster

The Royal Exchange monster

A monster on Ducie Street

Halloween in the City is a brilliant way to get people out and about exploring Manchester.

The entrance to the Poisonous Maze!

A grim sign for MCR

'Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters' continues until Halloween night. Visit the Halloween in the City website for more information.