NORTHCOTE ROAD COMMUNITY MURAL

Northcote Road is a vibrant, thriving, and ever-evolving community. So with this community mural project, we wanted the artwork to be shaped by the people who live and work on the road every day. We spent a lot of time on the street, chatting with locals and gathering their memories, stories and reflections. What emerged was a shared voice, an anthology of memories and characters, which seemed to naturally take the form of a poem.

This poem hopefully captures the spirit of Northcote Road, its energy, its transformation over the years, and the experiences its inhabitants kindly shared with us, told through the lens of the river that still quietly flows beneath it.

This poem was the inspiration for the artwork, 'The Ebb and Flow', a tribute to the ever-changing tide of the Street. 

A thanks to Bayfields for supporting this community mural, and an especially huge thanks to all of the community members who contributed their own memories and emotions to the project.

The ebb and flow of Northcote Road
Where once Falconbrook water flowed
Now streams of kids-in-high-vis holding rope
A Dove and a Dandelion down the slope
From once lavender fields and natural springs
A valley of freshly baked everything


’Twixt the Commons’, the past and the present collide
The folk who've witnessed the turn of the tide
Recalling Tony’s ‘lovely day!’
An aria from Harry, David’s bouquet  
From the bustle of barrow boys to coffee-house chat
A current of evolving habitat


The fruit 'n' veg and the floral stalls,
The butcher, the grocer, the antique halls
A confluence of culture, time’s trickle and flow
A warm welcome on the street where below
Still, the Falconbrook water flows
Blessed to meander down Northcote Rd