nature trail

When I wrote about the zoological garden last November, I included a photograph of the entrance to an alleyway that I also cycle past every Sunday. It is close to the entrance to ghost alley, and I ventured down the alleyway back in November because I thought that it might contain some interesting artwork. I didn’t have time for a comprehensive survey of the alley, but I made a mental note to return, having noted some interesting paintings on display.

The sign on the right states that this is the domain of a group that provides guided tours of nature in the area for children. Anyway, having ridden past week after week, I decided to take a closer look yesterday, and I was surprised (and delighted) to find a lot of new artwork on the footpath. I’d just found somewhere to park my bike so that it wouldn’t block the way and had taken out my camera when a local man, who identified himself as Michael, appeared and asked me what I was doing.

In the course of our conversation, I learned that the new artwork had been painted only two days previously, and Michael thought that the group responsible wasn’t finished. He believed it to be the same group who had created ghost alley—he didn’t use this name, I hasten to add—and he asked me if I was aware of that location. Of course, I replied, I’ve even written about it! Twice!

Anyway, here are some of the older images from this site. It’s impossible to photograph the entire image painted on this power pole:

I’m not sure if this slightly garbled Charles Dickens quotation has any significance:

This is probably the most elaborately painted image here. I believe it to be a koi carp:

And here are two floral patterns. The first appears to feature two lovebirds, and I’ve included the second mainly because it’s the only image that is dated:

The remaining photos were taken yesterday and are almost exclusively leaf or flower motifs. They tend to be quite crude, but for me the only disappointment is that there is none of the anthropomorphism that characterizes many of the best images in ghost alley.

Finally, here is a general view of part of the path. The bamboo structure on the left is a homemade set of wind chimes, although to get the best effect, you need to rattle your fingers across the suspended lengths of bamboo:

I will be back here a few weeks later to see if Michael was correct, that the work here is unfinished. I do hope so.