THE WORK OF ALAN BOYSON
1930
Alan Boyson born in Marple, Stockport on 16th March, 1930. Boyson becomes a muralist and sculptor working chiefly in glass, ceramic and concrete.
1950–54
Alan Boyson trains as a ceramicist at the Manchester Regional School of Art under the ceramicist Lester Campion.
1951
Alan Boyson’s father, who was the manager of the Marple Co-operative Society, recommends Philip Andrew to the chief architect at the CWS. Philip gets the job and starts work on the 6th floor of the Coop bank on Corporation Street in Manchester. Philip will later be chief architect of the Hull Co-op Central Premises.
1954–57
Boyson trains at the Royal College of Art, London under the tutelage of Robert 'Bobby' Baker, Professor of Ceramics. During his time at the RCA, he meets painting student, Susan Braddock, and they marry in October 1955.
1957–61
Boyson lectures in the Ceramics Department at Wolverhampton School of Art, whilst simultaneously establishing his own studio taking small commissions.
1961
Alan Boyson is commissioned by Hull Co-op Central Premises chief architect, Philip Andrews, to design a mural for outside of the Skyline Ballroom. Boyson creates and completes his FISH mural in the same year.
Philip Andrews also commissions Boyson to create a large external mural which results in the THREE SHIPS.
1962
Boyson creates his Tree of Knowledge mural at the former Cromwell Secondary School for Girls, Salford. On 19 August 2009 the mural was Grade II Listed with the help of Architectural Historian Christopher Marsden and the Manchester Modernist Society.
1963 October
Boyson completes his THREE SHIPS mural.
On 17 October 1963 Hull Daily Mail wrote, "Five-men in Hull have nearly finished a jigsaw with more than 1,000,000 pieces. For six weeks now they have been working, watched by shoppers and city workers, on the 80ft high mosaic mural which dominates the front of the city's new Co-operative store. Given good weather, the mural, believed to be Britain's biggest, will be finished in about a fortnight. And the people of Hull will be the first to see what it looks like in one piece. For so far it has only been laid out on the ground in sections. The five-men fixing gang from Leeds are putting it up in foot-square numbered slabs – each slab made up of 225 tiny cubes mounted on a paper backing. They have no pattern. Said foreman fixer Richard Fletcher, 'We just play it by ear as we go.' When the gang started work they discovered that the mosaic was four cubes – a little over 2in – narrower than the curved 66ft. x 64ft. concrete screen on which it is mounted. 'Four cubes does not seem much, but it meant a lot to us.' said Mr Fletcher. The mosaic contains, according to my mathematics, a total of 1,061,775 pieces, all imported especially from Italy. The Co-op commissioned Wolverhampton artist Alan Boyson to design it. The contemporary design is meant to symbolise Hull's fishing industry. What Hull thinks it symbolises will doubtless become plain when the scaffolding comes down, probably next month. "I think it may be a little bit much for people at first," said Mr Fletcher. He has been fixing mosaics for 12 years now, and the Co-op mural is three times bigger than anything he has tackled before. But it has presented few problems and rain – the mosaic fixer's biggest enemy – has halted work on only two days. Needless to say there has been no trouble from the other big hazard – too much sun, which dries the fixing cement too quickly. At the request of Hull's town planners, the design is in muted colours. But there is no fear that the pale greens and browns will lose their tones. One of the biggest advantages of glass mosaic is that it is not affected by the weather."
1963 November
At 08:30 on 22 November the 'Skyline Pantry' opens containing 10,400 ft of floor space. This opening marks the completion of the third stage of the Hull and East Riding Co-operative Society Store development, including the Three Ships mural. The mural mosaic work is by Richards Tiles Ltd. of Stoke, with the mosaic slabs affixed to a steel frame by A. Andrews & Sons (Marble & Tiles) Ltd. of Leeds.
The interior Fish mural is handmade by Alan Boyson using his usual high grog content ceramic (a ceramic raw clay material, comprising silica and alumina, that has been ground up and then fired), as well as stone, salvaged marble and tile.
Co-op Display Artists: Anne, Sandra and Carole, pose in front of the Fish mural in their lunch hour (see MEMORIES tab).
On 21 November 1963 Hull Daily Mail wrote, "Dominating the entrance externally is a mosaic mural, 64ft by 70ft, which symbolises the city's fishing industry. The mural contains more than 1,000,000 pieces, specially imported from Italy. Interwoven through the muted colours of greens, blues and browns is the Latin inscription, 'Prosperity through industry.' The mural was designed by a Wolverhampton artist, Alan Boyson, and was put up by a five-man fixing gang from Leeds."
1993
The Three Ships is photographed by Scott Engering as part of a Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) survey of post-war architectural sculpture.
1998
The Three Ships is featured in the book 'The Shop for the People: Two Centuries of Co-operative Enterprise in Hull and East Yorkshire' by John Edward Smith, Hutton Press Ltd.
1999–2004
Alan Boyson continues producing large-scale and small-scale works until c.1999 and c.2004 respectively.
2007
Hull City Council grants a local listing for the Three Ships mural. The building and Fish mural are not listed.
2008 December
The Three Ships is included in the C20 Society Murals Campaign.
2011
Christopher Marsden helps Manor Properties locate and uncover the Fish mural which had been hidden by a false wall on the fourth floor.
2016 January
Building is put up for sale.
Historic England publication 'Public Art 1945–95' includes Alan Boyson, and states on p.10, that, "mural artists of this era who frequently worked with developers were very flexible; they could be relied upon to solve design problems and were capable of working in almost any medium".
2016 May
On 30th May, the Hull Heritage Action Group (HHAG) submit an application for Grade II Listing, of the Three Ships and Fish murals, to Historic England. The Hull Civic Society and C20 Society also apply for Listing.
Click here for a potted History of the Campaign.
2016 November
On 4th November, the application for Grade II Listing is rejected by Historic England who argue that the mural, "falls short of the high bar for listing post-war public art".
HHAG start a change.org petition to Historic England in support of the campaign for Grade II Listing.
On 22nd November HHAG makes an appeal to the Secretary of State for Culture to reconsider the decision by Historic England. An appeal decision is still to be made.
Click here for a potted History of the Campaign.
2017 January
Hull UK City of Culture commences.
The C20 Society places the Three Ships on their Buildings at Risk list.
2017 April
Hull Heritage Action Group (HHAG) launches ‘Keep the Coop (BHS) Mural in Hull’ campaign on change.org
From the 10–18th April, Duncan Titmarsh (the UK’s only official professional LEGO builder) creates 1,700 LEGO Daffodils out of 146,000 bricks which are displayed in front of the Three Ships. At the end of the display people were able to take a LEGO flower home in return for a donation to MIND and the Hull Citizens Advice Bureau.
2017 May
On 2nd May @BHSMuralHull Twitter account is launched.
2017 July
The Hull Tile Trail is launched on 1st July to showcase Hull’s decorative tiles, ceramics and mosaics.
Experts from the 'Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society' visit Hull on 1–2nd July.
2018 March
On 14th March Hull City Council conduct initial inspections of the Three Ships to establish the make-up of the structure and possibilities for the planned Albion Square redevelopment.
2018 August
Alan Boyson, creator of the Three Ships and Fish murals, died on Sunday 19th August 2018, age 88.
2018 September
Following filming on SHIPS in the SKY with EP Andrew (CWS Architect of the Jameson Street store), Architectural Historian and Alan Boyson expert, Christopher Marsden, discovers the existence of a third Alan Boyson mural, which may still be in the empty store. If any significant part of it survives it will be the most existing complete sponge print tile work of by Boyson.
2018 November
On Thursday 29th November, Hull City Council inform Hull Heritage Action Group (HHAG) that they've found the third Sponge-Print Tile mural in the former Skyline Ballroom bar area. It is incomplete, and what is there has been painted over, but previous precedents show that a work of this nature should be able to be restored. The Council are looking further into it as part of their redevelopment plans for Albion Square.
Icelandic artist, Dodda Maggý’s, installation Alda (which means Wave in Icelandic and Old Norse) is projected onto the Three Ships Mural as part of Absolutely Cultured's Urban Legends: Northern Light's programme over four consecutive nights.
2019 February
On Wednesday 27 February a SHIPS in the SKY •••SOLD OUT••• launch at Hull Central Library takes place with a panel including: E.P. Andrew (Hull Cooperative Central Premises Architect); Leigh Bird (Project research assistant, HHAG); Paul Dakeyne (DJ for Romeo's & Juliet's); Ann Day, Sandra Hare and Carole Murray (Cooperative Store Window Display Artists'); Esther Johnson (Project artist and filmmaker); Christopher Marsden (Alan Boyson and ceramic historian), hosted by Dave Lee (Writer and filmmaker).
Hull City Council confirm that they intend to repair and restore Alan Boyson's Fish and Sponge-Print Tile mural situated inside the former Hull Coop/BHS store. The council reported that they intend to, "retain the external Three Ships mural that sits on the exterior face of the BHS building. Like the internal murals in the Co-Op building, this will follow structural surveys and investigations. As more investigations are carried out on the Three Ships mural, other options including reducing the size of the existing panel, replicating an exact match with modern materials or replacing with new work through commission or competitions may be investigated, the council said."
2019 April 3
Hull Heritage Action Group (HHAG) Change campaign to have the Three Ships Grade II Listed by Historic England, surpasses 6,000 signatures.
Hull City Council's Planning Committee meet and vote to approve the current application with conditions to save the Three Ships if viable, and save and relocate the Fish and Sponge-Print Tile murals.
“The outline planning application, which was approved today, includes plans to retain the BHS Three Ships Mural, as well as two internal handmade Alan Boyson murals.” Hull Daily Mail BBC Article
Alan Boyson born in Marple, Stockport on 16th March, 1930. Boyson becomes a muralist and sculptor working chiefly in glass, ceramic and concrete.
1950–54
Alan Boyson trains as a ceramicist at the Manchester Regional School of Art under the ceramicist Lester Campion.
1951
Alan Boyson’s father, who was the manager of the Marple Co-operative Society, recommends Philip Andrew to the chief architect at the CWS. Philip gets the job and starts work on the 6th floor of the Coop bank on Corporation Street in Manchester. Philip will later be chief architect of the Hull Co-op Central Premises.
1954–57
Boyson trains at the Royal College of Art, London under the tutelage of Robert 'Bobby' Baker, Professor of Ceramics. During his time at the RCA, he meets painting student, Susan Braddock, and they marry in October 1955.
1957–61
Boyson lectures in the Ceramics Department at Wolverhampton School of Art, whilst simultaneously establishing his own studio taking small commissions.
1961
Alan Boyson is commissioned by Hull Co-op Central Premises chief architect, Philip Andrews, to design a mural for outside of the Skyline Ballroom. Boyson creates and completes his FISH mural in the same year.
Philip Andrews also commissions Boyson to create a large external mural which results in the THREE SHIPS.
1962
Boyson creates his Tree of Knowledge mural at the former Cromwell Secondary School for Girls, Salford. On 19 August 2009 the mural was Grade II Listed with the help of Architectural Historian Christopher Marsden and the Manchester Modernist Society.
1963 October
Boyson completes his THREE SHIPS mural.
On 17 October 1963 Hull Daily Mail wrote, "Five-men in Hull have nearly finished a jigsaw with more than 1,000,000 pieces. For six weeks now they have been working, watched by shoppers and city workers, on the 80ft high mosaic mural which dominates the front of the city's new Co-operative store. Given good weather, the mural, believed to be Britain's biggest, will be finished in about a fortnight. And the people of Hull will be the first to see what it looks like in one piece. For so far it has only been laid out on the ground in sections. The five-men fixing gang from Leeds are putting it up in foot-square numbered slabs – each slab made up of 225 tiny cubes mounted on a paper backing. They have no pattern. Said foreman fixer Richard Fletcher, 'We just play it by ear as we go.' When the gang started work they discovered that the mosaic was four cubes – a little over 2in – narrower than the curved 66ft. x 64ft. concrete screen on which it is mounted. 'Four cubes does not seem much, but it meant a lot to us.' said Mr Fletcher. The mosaic contains, according to my mathematics, a total of 1,061,775 pieces, all imported especially from Italy. The Co-op commissioned Wolverhampton artist Alan Boyson to design it. The contemporary design is meant to symbolise Hull's fishing industry. What Hull thinks it symbolises will doubtless become plain when the scaffolding comes down, probably next month. "I think it may be a little bit much for people at first," said Mr Fletcher. He has been fixing mosaics for 12 years now, and the Co-op mural is three times bigger than anything he has tackled before. But it has presented few problems and rain – the mosaic fixer's biggest enemy – has halted work on only two days. Needless to say there has been no trouble from the other big hazard – too much sun, which dries the fixing cement too quickly. At the request of Hull's town planners, the design is in muted colours. But there is no fear that the pale greens and browns will lose their tones. One of the biggest advantages of glass mosaic is that it is not affected by the weather."
1963 November
At 08:30 on 22 November the 'Skyline Pantry' opens containing 10,400 ft of floor space. This opening marks the completion of the third stage of the Hull and East Riding Co-operative Society Store development, including the Three Ships mural. The mural mosaic work is by Richards Tiles Ltd. of Stoke, with the mosaic slabs affixed to a steel frame by A. Andrews & Sons (Marble & Tiles) Ltd. of Leeds.
The interior Fish mural is handmade by Alan Boyson using his usual high grog content ceramic (a ceramic raw clay material, comprising silica and alumina, that has been ground up and then fired), as well as stone, salvaged marble and tile.
Co-op Display Artists: Anne, Sandra and Carole, pose in front of the Fish mural in their lunch hour (see MEMORIES tab).
On 21 November 1963 Hull Daily Mail wrote, "Dominating the entrance externally is a mosaic mural, 64ft by 70ft, which symbolises the city's fishing industry. The mural contains more than 1,000,000 pieces, specially imported from Italy. Interwoven through the muted colours of greens, blues and browns is the Latin inscription, 'Prosperity through industry.' The mural was designed by a Wolverhampton artist, Alan Boyson, and was put up by a five-man fixing gang from Leeds."
1993
The Three Ships is photographed by Scott Engering as part of a Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) survey of post-war architectural sculpture.
1998
The Three Ships is featured in the book 'The Shop for the People: Two Centuries of Co-operative Enterprise in Hull and East Yorkshire' by John Edward Smith, Hutton Press Ltd.
1999–2004
Alan Boyson continues producing large-scale and small-scale works until c.1999 and c.2004 respectively.
2007
Hull City Council grants a local listing for the Three Ships mural. The building and Fish mural are not listed.
2008 December
The Three Ships is included in the C20 Society Murals Campaign.
2011
Christopher Marsden helps Manor Properties locate and uncover the Fish mural which had been hidden by a false wall on the fourth floor.
2016 January
Building is put up for sale.
Historic England publication 'Public Art 1945–95' includes Alan Boyson, and states on p.10, that, "mural artists of this era who frequently worked with developers were very flexible; they could be relied upon to solve design problems and were capable of working in almost any medium".
2016 May
On 30th May, the Hull Heritage Action Group (HHAG) submit an application for Grade II Listing, of the Three Ships and Fish murals, to Historic England. The Hull Civic Society and C20 Society also apply for Listing.
Click here for a potted History of the Campaign.
2016 November
On 4th November, the application for Grade II Listing is rejected by Historic England who argue that the mural, "falls short of the high bar for listing post-war public art".
HHAG start a change.org petition to Historic England in support of the campaign for Grade II Listing.
On 22nd November HHAG makes an appeal to the Secretary of State for Culture to reconsider the decision by Historic England. An appeal decision is still to be made.
Click here for a potted History of the Campaign.
2017 January
Hull UK City of Culture commences.
The C20 Society places the Three Ships on their Buildings at Risk list.
2017 April
Hull Heritage Action Group (HHAG) launches ‘Keep the Coop (BHS) Mural in Hull’ campaign on change.org
From the 10–18th April, Duncan Titmarsh (the UK’s only official professional LEGO builder) creates 1,700 LEGO Daffodils out of 146,000 bricks which are displayed in front of the Three Ships. At the end of the display people were able to take a LEGO flower home in return for a donation to MIND and the Hull Citizens Advice Bureau.
2017 May
On 2nd May @BHSMuralHull Twitter account is launched.
2017 July
The Hull Tile Trail is launched on 1st July to showcase Hull’s decorative tiles, ceramics and mosaics.
Experts from the 'Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society' visit Hull on 1–2nd July.
2018 March
On 14th March Hull City Council conduct initial inspections of the Three Ships to establish the make-up of the structure and possibilities for the planned Albion Square redevelopment.
2018 August
Alan Boyson, creator of the Three Ships and Fish murals, died on Sunday 19th August 2018, age 88.
2018 September
Following filming on SHIPS in the SKY with EP Andrew (CWS Architect of the Jameson Street store), Architectural Historian and Alan Boyson expert, Christopher Marsden, discovers the existence of a third Alan Boyson mural, which may still be in the empty store. If any significant part of it survives it will be the most existing complete sponge print tile work of by Boyson.
2018 November
On Thursday 29th November, Hull City Council inform Hull Heritage Action Group (HHAG) that they've found the third Sponge-Print Tile mural in the former Skyline Ballroom bar area. It is incomplete, and what is there has been painted over, but previous precedents show that a work of this nature should be able to be restored. The Council are looking further into it as part of their redevelopment plans for Albion Square.
Icelandic artist, Dodda Maggý’s, installation Alda (which means Wave in Icelandic and Old Norse) is projected onto the Three Ships Mural as part of Absolutely Cultured's Urban Legends: Northern Light's programme over four consecutive nights.
2019 February
On Wednesday 27 February a SHIPS in the SKY •••SOLD OUT••• launch at Hull Central Library takes place with a panel including: E.P. Andrew (Hull Cooperative Central Premises Architect); Leigh Bird (Project research assistant, HHAG); Paul Dakeyne (DJ for Romeo's & Juliet's); Ann Day, Sandra Hare and Carole Murray (Cooperative Store Window Display Artists'); Esther Johnson (Project artist and filmmaker); Christopher Marsden (Alan Boyson and ceramic historian), hosted by Dave Lee (Writer and filmmaker).
Hull City Council confirm that they intend to repair and restore Alan Boyson's Fish and Sponge-Print Tile mural situated inside the former Hull Coop/BHS store. The council reported that they intend to, "retain the external Three Ships mural that sits on the exterior face of the BHS building. Like the internal murals in the Co-Op building, this will follow structural surveys and investigations. As more investigations are carried out on the Three Ships mural, other options including reducing the size of the existing panel, replicating an exact match with modern materials or replacing with new work through commission or competitions may be investigated, the council said."
2019 April 3
Hull Heritage Action Group (HHAG) Change campaign to have the Three Ships Grade II Listed by Historic England, surpasses 6,000 signatures.
Hull City Council's Planning Committee meet and vote to approve the current application with conditions to save the Three Ships if viable, and save and relocate the Fish and Sponge-Print Tile murals.
“The outline planning application, which was approved today, includes plans to retain the BHS Three Ships Mural, as well as two internal handmade Alan Boyson murals.” Hull Daily Mail BBC Article
Every effort has been made in the accuracy of this timeline.
Please get in contact if you find any mistakes, or have suggestions for relevant additions for the timeline.
Special thanks to: Christopher Marsden for his excellent research into the work of Alan Boyson; and to www.45worlds.com/live/venue/the-skyline-club
Please get in contact if you find any mistakes, or have suggestions for relevant additions for the timeline.
Special thanks to: Christopher Marsden for his excellent research into the work of Alan Boyson; and to www.45worlds.com/live/venue/the-skyline-club
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The R&D project phase has been funded by James Reckitt Library Trust
in partnership with Untold Hull at Hull Libraries, and with the support of the Art and Design Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University and Hull Trinity House Old Boys' Association |