A huge new mural of punk rock singer and guitarist Pete Shelley has appeared in Leigh, Greater Manchester, this afternoon.
Created in tribute to the late punk rock icon, it sits in the heart of the community where he was born and grew up and still has family today.
Based on the cover of The Buzzcocks’ 1978 single Ever Fallen In Love and a portrait of Shelley, created by artist Chris Gabrin in the same year, it’s been designed by artists Malcolm Garrett and Akse P19.
The latter is well known in the city for his photo-realistic portraits of pop culture icons, and his work is often seen popping up in prime locations across Manchester.
Image: Akse P19
Situated close to Leigh Town Hall and the historic Turnpike Centre, the new mural is Akse’s biggest yet – sitting smack bang in the heart of Leigh. Initiated by The Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign, it has taken over three years of fundraising in order to complete the project.
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At a whopping 200 meters squared, it’s not an easy one to miss if you’re in the area and has taken around a week to complete – with the finishing touches, including a final coat of protective varnish, being applied by the street artist this afternoon.
Whilst the artwork has been unfolding over the past week, locals have had some fun trying to guess who it might be – with Akse posting a range of updates to his social media showing the piece at various stages of completion.
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Sharing an image of the mural with just the hair, background and outline complete, he asked: “Slow progress, can you guess who’s the subject I’m painting?” – and got some surprising responses.
Image: Akse P19
A surprisingly large number thought it could be Ghislaine Maxwell, perhaps created in response to Quebek’s recent Prince Andrew mural which appeared in Manchester over the Jubilee weekend.
Others guessed it could be anyone from Hayley Cropper to Bruce Lee, Jonny Marr, or even Liza Minelli.
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One person commented: “If it’s not Jonny Marr, it’s not too late to make it Jonny Marr anyway”
Another said: “With just that hairstyle I’d have to guess any Mancunian man between the ages 35 – 45?”
A third got it spot on, saying: “Pete Shelley but first thought was Liza”.
The mural is now complete, to the delight of Shelley’s cousins Howard Lycett and Rebecca Hamilton, who still live in the local area.
The pair told Louder Than War: “As a family, we are delighted to have Pete back in his hometown and looking as vibrant as he ever was.
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“Pete was always incredibly proud of his northern roots, and we hope that the mural will help Pete’s legacy live on and inspire more young artists and musicians to break down barriers and follow their dreams”.
What people are wearing at Parklife 2026 – ruffles, cowboy boots, football shirts and bandanas
Clementine Hall
Parklife weekend is here, which means festival fashion is back, and Manchester has absolutely delivered on its outfit trends once again.
Every year in the fields of Heaton Park, thousands of ravers flock to Parklife festival for the biggest party of the year.
And of course, you can’t attend a festival without wearing a fire fit and boy oh boy have we seen some.
Gone are the days when you’d throw on a t shirt and jeans to a festival, and although you may see a few tracksuits and flimsy rain ponchos (we are in Manchester after all), the people of Parklife are dressing to impress this year.
Images: The Manc Group
The main theme of the weekend is…ruffles.
We’re talking ruffled shorts, ruffled boots, ruffled skirts – if you can ruffle it, the Parklife people are buying it. We’d say the vast majority of girls are wearing ruffled hot pants, and we are absolutely here for it.
Another trend is not practical in the slightest but of course looks absolutely fab, and that is cowboy boots.
Images: The Manc Group
We dread to think of the blisters that are going to crop up after the weekend, but as the old saying goes…beauty is well and truly pain.
You may mistake yourself for being at Coachella due to the amount of girls absolutely rocking a bandana this year, a trend which is both stylish and practical with the sun blaring down on Heaton Park this weekend.
And last but not least, maybe it’s the World Cup fever but we’ve spotted both boys and girls sporting football shirts and looking class whilst doing so.
Images: The Manc Group
All in all, Parklife weekend is flooded with fashionistas this year but are we surprised when Manchester is a hive for the coolest cats in the game? We think not.
There’s also a couple of pop-ups onsite this year for if you’re looking to level up your fit, including Suzy Loves Milo selling vintage garms and The Mothership providing all the perfect accessories.
Take That at the Etihad Stadium – the Manchester boys are ‘back for good’ | Review
Clementine Hall
We’re not saying this was the ‘Greatest Day’ of our lives…but it was certainly up there.
Take That have been taking us all on a trip down memory lane over the past few weeks, bringing The Circus Live back to stadiums across the UK and recreating their record-breaking 2009 tour.
Last night they kicked off their four night run at the Etihad Stadium, and it’s safe to say the much-loved pop trio have absolutely still got it.
In fact, I’d go as far to say that this is the best Gary, Mark and Howard have ever looked, sang, and above all else, danced.
Maybe it’s because this is their first hometown gig in two years, or maybe it’s because I’m extremely biased having grown up listening to Take That in my mum’s car on the way to school.
Either way, I said what I said.
Now as the name suggests, The Circus Live isn’t your average show. There’s a gigantic hot air balloon, a huge mechanical elephant, clown face paint, acrobats, unicycles, fireworks, sparkly costumes, you name it – they’ve got it.
It’s an aggressive assault to the senses, a fantastic fever dream, overstimulation of the highest degree, and I lapped up every single moment.
It’s what I imagine taking a tab of acid feels like before a gig, and if that’s the case then I would recommend doing so.
Of course the boys open the show with ‘Greatest Day’, and from the get go Gary Barlow’s vocals are just as smooth as ever.
After a brief Barry Manilow cover they then showcase their exceptional synchronised choreography during the dance break of ‘Pray’, to which I could almost hear the audible gasps from hundreds of mums in the audience.
All of which, I assume, were transported in that moment back to 1993 when Take That debuted the moves on Top of the Pops.
After a brief pause, Mark Owen leads the lads in ‘Shine’ as they make their way to the second stage in the centre of the stadium. Top hat in hand, Gary on the keys, Howard there purely for vibes – it’s no wonder Morrison’s chose this banger for their advert.
From then on it is simply banger after banger, and it’s clear that they feel very grateful to still be filling out stadiums as Howard particularly gets teary eyed after ‘Never Forget’ is met with roars of applause.
Take That have three more shows left at the Etihad Stadium, and you can still grab some last minute tickets here.
However, if you fancy not moving from your sofa but still want to be a part of the fun – Saturday’s show will be livestreamed across the globe via Amazon Music, so no matter where you are in the world, you can still visit The Circus. Find out more here.
Georgina Pellant -
7th July 2022 
