The Old Railway 1994

I have decided to return to an old theme I explored 7 years ago.  This theme was based on the old railway in West Didsbury, Manchester that had been disused since the late 1960s.  There were still remnants of the platform and where the tracks had been however it had become over run by nature with trees growing everywhere, fly tipped rubbish including armchairs and sofas and drug users needles lying around and about, particularly under the railway bridge.  We visited the old railway a few times in January and February 1994 and for me it was an escape from college to let my mind wander.  I have had an interesting relationship with art over the years, from wanting a career as an illustrator when I was a kid to hating almost every minute of art college.  Here I am now working as an artist in my own way.  My gran passed away a month after our last visit to the old railway so it's poignant from that point of view as well.

The old railway is now history.  It is a busy Metrolink station so all the trees, users needles lying around and old platforms are gone.  West Didsbury is a very different place to the one in 1994.

The Old Railway 1994, pen drawing, A2 (2018)