The famous fish wall at the Ham in Sidmouth has had a little refresh as part of an event hosted by the Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, a community based local project that devises, sources and delivers projects that focus on community engagement, events, local economic growth, the coast, education, creativity, the arts, sustainability and responsible tourism. They are the team behind the popular Sidmouth Sea Fest and other recent projects have included the renovations to the Fishermen’s Shed, where local arts and crafts activities can take place, including the Sidmouth School of Art.
The fish wall, which can be seen at the Ham was the result of a previous community project, with the original designs being created over 10 years ago by local children. Since then, the mural has been in need of a little TLC, so naturally, the Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub wanted to invite local children to join in and help out.
Many of the new and refreshed designs were created by pupils at Sidmouth CofE Primary school, with the community coming together to help to realise their designs on the fish over the past weekend.
Now that covid restrictions have lifted, the community were able to get together and tidy up the wall, helping with grouting and preparing the fish for their new designs. Over the weekend of the 25th July, the Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub invited residents to come along and have a go at painting the wall.
The wall is still very much a work in progress, with a few fish left to paint, the mural will also now be taken around into the new coral reef community garden.
Louise Cole, director of the Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, said: “We have had so many comments about how much people love the fish wall, it was hard to make the decision to paint over the original designs and know that the children who had painted them, some of whom are now in their 20s, may feel a pang of loss for their designs, but we hope that this provides a long new lease of life and inspires people to get creative and we hope it gives as much joy again to everyone in the community and visitors to Sidmouth.”
Image: Sarah Hall
See more pictures of the wall being refreshed on Facebook here.