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Hannah Watson and Hollie Doe at Gemma’s mural |
Let me save Gemma’s mural, says older sister
Firm refuses to re-paint panel schoolgirl created before her death
BEFORE she died, schoolgirl Gemma Watson helped paint a mural on a West Hampstead railway bridge. Now, her sister Hannah has added her voice to calls for the fading mural to be saved.
Gemma died at the age of 11 two years after painting the Mill Lane bridge. Her panel is the only one on the bridge depicting a Christmas tree.
Hannah, 17, from Finchley Road, said this week: “I’d freshen it up, not change it. It was good she was the only one that did a Christmas tree – it stands out from everything else.”
Hollie Doe, who also painted a section of the mural, said: “I’d like to re-do it. It’s good to have it on the bridge, but if it’s graffitied people are likely to graffiti it more. If it’s done again people might leave it alone.”
Their comments follow those of artist Charlotte Gerrard, who painted the bridge along with the youngsters in 2000. She told the New Journal two weeks ago that Network Rail should help out with money to re-paint the mural.
But a Network Rail spokesman said: “We have no plans to fund the renovation of the mural.
“As a largely publicly-funded company it is essential for us to employ a cost-effective maintenance regime.
“Any profits we make are re-invested back into the railway. While we are mindful of local communities, the focus of this investment has to be the safety and efficiency of the railway.”
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