Artist captures day-to-day life on one of Manchester's…

Artist captures day-to-day life on one of Manchester's busiest streets

For the last couple of years Len Grant, a Manchester-based urban sketcher, has explored the location between Withington and West Didsbury, documenting Burton Road.

His drawings, created on-site, act as a spontaneous response to people, places, and events around him from dog groomers, bicycle mechanics, pizza chefs and even a bakery making over 400 naan breads a day.

They include many of the independent delis, café bars, and restaurants that make this part of town one of the most popular in Manchester suburbs.

Sketcher and writer Len, 62, said: "It started between lockdowns. It was somewhere close to home where I could sit out on the street and draw. I didn’t at first think it might become a book."

The drawings are a collaboration of 96 sketches of Burton Road (Len Grant)

He moved to Withington 26 years ago, and it's shops, bars, schools, and swimming baths have become familiar ever since.

As well as Len’s sketches, the artist was delighted to be joined in this book by his 27-year-old daughter Rebecca, who took up sketching after attending a workshop run by her dad. “She has such a creative flair,” he says, “she makes drawing look effortless.”

This is Len’s second published sketchbook, though he had spent most of his life thinking he couldn't draw until he discovered the Urban Sketching Group in 2013.

"I started it as a hobby, but it's now become my profession, the same way photography did 30 years ago. It's about getting to know your urban environment, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation and chatting to people along the way."

Len Grant sketching on South Manchester's Barton Road (Joe Nelson)

In 2018 he made The Rusholme Sketcher after a year-long blog of the same name, documenting the ever-changing Curry Mile in South Manchester. “I spent my evenings and weekends sitting on the street and in takeaways and shisha bars. It was definitely the inspiration for The Burton Road Sketchbook.”

The drawings are seen as a record of time and place, with truthful markings to the scenes the artist witnesses. Len said: "People would recognise me as the guy who sketches, and that's what I particularly like about urban sketching. People engage with the process of drawing."

The Burton Road Sketchbook by Len Grant (Len Grant)

"You get to speak to people you wouldn't normally come across, there's a strong community feeling. I like to think the book is a celebration of Burton Road, it's very special to locals and people who have visited."

Len has hinted that his next project will take a focus on Manchester's Northern Quarter which retains a unique character and charm, home to lively restaurants, music venues and indie bars.

The Burton Road Sketchbook is being launched on Thursday, 10th November 6-9pm upstairs at Withington Baths on Burton Road, M20 3EB. All welcome.

To order the book online for £17 plus postage just search ‘Len Grant Big Cartel’ or follow this link .

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