Painted Captain Tom mural taking shape at Market Drayton club
A life-size mural tribute to fundraising celebrity Captain Sir Tom Moore is taking shape in a Shropshire town.
Artist Mark Whittle is hard at work on his latest piece, a large painted tribute to the famous NHS fundraiser, who died of coronavirus aged 100 last month.
'Captain Tom', as he was popularly known, made headlines after leading a £33 million fundraising campaign for NHS charities by walking around his garden.
Mr Whittle, who is a veteran and a town councillor, is working with the town's Royal British Legion club and Buildbase, who donated paint, on the piece outside the club in Church Street.
"It's about halfway through, it should be done by Saturday. The Legion want to put a kind of plaque on there with his information.
"There's Captain Sir Tom in the middle, a nurse on the one side and a soldier on the other saluting.
"It's life-size so kids can go and get their photos taken. The second you see it, you will know who that is."
He has been alternating between large brushes for broad strokes and much more delicate tools for detail work like the red-and-white stripe tie. He said that one of the challenges was painting on uneven bricks.
"I'm quite enjoying it, lots of people coming up asking how it's going.
"It's that cold it takes a long time to dry, my hands are still freezing."
