GULLIVER is back, looking smart and refreshed! 

A scheme to revitalise the popular painted giant mural of author Jonathan Swift’s literary hero of Gulliver’s Travels, has been successfully completed, thanks to the town’s Whitehaven Heritage Action Group - and the artist Paul Wilmott.

After nine years of wind and weather, the large mural at Washington Square in Whitehaven town centre had been looking tired and faded, with peeling paint.

Paul originally created the scene on behalf of the Heritage Group in 2013 when it replaced a 20-year-old seascape. It features Lemuel Gulliver strapped down by the ‘little people’ at Whitehaven harbour!

And it was thanks to grants from Whitehaven Town Council (£1,000) and Councillor Charles Maudling’s ward fund (£500), that the amount required to do the work was raised. 

Heritage Group chairman Michael Moon said: “It’s a constant challenge for a group like ours to maintain our past projects and try and keep them looking good. The Gulliver mural is very popular with local folk, and also with visitors and was beginning to look less than its best. And the refresh has triggered a general spruce up of the square itself.

“With no core funding we rely on the generosity of others to carry on with our work and are grateful to those who support us.

“This year we mark our 31st anniversary and have managed to attract several new members who have joined us with enthusiasm and new ideas, which is wonderful. 

“Whitehaven lost its Local History group, and its Civic Society some years ago, so we try to carry the baton forward, aiming to make the most of the town’s historic past."

News and Star: Artist Paul Wilmott, who has spent the last two weeks re-painting his magnificent mural, said: “I’m really pleased. It’s actually better and the whole Gulliver theme is so inspiring.

“Everyone’s been so lovely. Kids have been coming up saying, that’s great. It’s great to get such great feedback from the town.”

Charles Maudling, mayor of Whitehaven, said: “I want to thank Whitehaven Heritage Group. They do a fantastic job. This is one of the hidden gems of Whitehaven. Paul’s fantastic work on here is brilliant.

“Please come down and see what Whitehaven Heritage Group have done and Paul’s fantastic artistic town.

“We hope to bring a lot more visitors to the town. We are a town on the up and Whitehaven Heritage Group are keeping that upkeep going.”

Local legend has it that Swift, born in Dublin in 1667, was brought over to Whitehaven as an infant by his nurse and that he may have drawn inspiration for the Lilliputians from a childhood memory of gazing down from a high point onto the busy harbour quays below. The satirist, essayist and poet would become Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.

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