What began as an unremarkable project became the Can House, one of England’s most unusual folk art sites, in Hartlepool. Philip Muspratt was born in 1952 and passed away in 2015. Between his birth and death, he served in the armed forces as well as being employed as a bus driver until his early retirement due to a disability, as recorded in the SPACES Archives entry on the Can House and noted in local obituaries describing him as a retired bus driver who died aged 63. The project began as a simple gesture of kindness, not as a work of art. This began when Muspratt decided to decorate his back garden with found materials to cheer his elderly father, who was deaf and unable to speak.
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