During the last few years Bristol has become increasingly colourful. You may already be familiar with the brightly coloured houses that you can see from the harbourside but it sometimes seems that almost every available surface is being covered with graffiti or murals.

Although he likes to keep his identity a secret it is generally acknowledged that Banksy grew up in Bristol and was taught how to use a spray can by a youth club leader in Barton Hill, who has a lot to answer for. He was once just another teenager tagging local buildings. The local authority spent a lot of money covering up what they classed as vandalism.

Banksy is now world famous. A few years ago he was even allowed to take over Bristol museum and art gallery for an exhibition. street art has become much more respectable.

I recently went on a street art photographic walk around East Bristol and have chosen a few of my favourite pieces for Thursday Doors a weekly blogging feature where bloggers from around the world come together to share pictures of doors and some of the stories behind them. It is well worth checking it out. Soon, you too might find yourself looking for curious doors.

We met by the Full Moon at the bottom of Stokes Croft which is now a backpackers hostel and toured through St. Paul’s, Montpelier, Easton and Stokes Croft. Midway, We paused for a quick drink at the Grand Old Duke. East Bristol has a very vibrant culture and has attracted several waves of immigrants.

It is now undergoing gentrification with lots of vegetarian cafes and artist studios.

The grand old Duke of York he had ten thousand men
He marched them up to the top of the hill
Then he marched them down again.

A couple of Victorian doors

This door is the entrance to a small cell which would have been used by the police to lock up drunks or petty thieves overnight.

DJ Derek Mural: A Tribute to Bristol’s Ska DJ Legend

About 150,000 vehicles pass this  huge mural in Bristol every day. It takes up the whole of the side of a house in Stapleton road and is overlooked by the Eastville roundabout of the M32. But who was DJ Derek and why did four of the leading local street artists come together to paint this mural?

At first glance ,the bookish bespectacled DJ Derek seemed an unlikely character to be a local celebrity. He spent decades working as an accountant for Cadbury’s chocolates.  His real name was Derek Serpell-Moris and he grew up in inner city Bristol. 

As a young man he mixed with the Windrush generation of migrants from the Caribbean. He shared their love of Ska and Reggae music and built up an encyclopaedic knowledge of West Indian music and a huge record collection.  He became a  D.J. at the Star and Garter pub in Montpelier. As a white man playing black music he attracted a lot of local interest and his fame quickly spread. At a time when there was a lot of racial tension in Bristol leading to the St. Paul’s riots he was able to bridge the two communities and be respected by both.

In middle age he quit his safe if boring job to spin his records at festivals across the country including Glastonbury. He often finished his sets with the Bob Marley classic “one love” “lets get together and feel alright.”

Unfortunately his story has a very sad ending. In 2015 Derek disappeared and despite numerous appeals from his friends and family no trace of him could be found. A few months later his bones were found in a local woodland.

Tributes

The mural was painted by the street artists, Hazard One, Inkie, Zed in the Clouds and Cosc.  DJ Derek loved travelling around the country using his bus pass and enjoying a pint of real ale in the local Wetherspoons and this is reflected in the fence panel. The lady dancing with the halo is the house owner’s sister who had died a few months before. The colours in the mural are those of the Jamaican flag.

Some of his record collection were made into mini discs and his introductions often in Jamaican patois were added. If you put money into the juke box at the Star and Garter, you can still hear him spinning discs.

This post will be added to the photographing public art challenge16 Follow my link to see what other bloggers have found or to add your own post.

Public art encompasses any form of art you see in a public place, large or small, statues, murals, graffiti, gardens, parks, etc. The art should be visible from streets, sidewalks or outdoor public places.

This post has been added to the Sunday Stills challenge “urban”