Jubilee 'mood wall' unveiled in Silchester (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Jubilee 'mood wall' unveiled in Silchester

11:20am Saturday 4th August 2012 in Local By Helen Morton

A COMMEMORATIVE Jubilee ‘mood wall’, featuring dozens of handprints, will be a lasting reminder of a very special year.

Locals of all ages used green paint to create the leaves on a pre-painted tree on the wall at the back of the pavilion on Silchester playing fields.

The prints were made during the Silchester Jubilee celebrations in early June, and now the wall has been officially unveiled.

Tracy Hart, 34, of The Common, Silchester, came up with the idea with her friend Debbie Walker.

Tracy said: “I go to Blissfields Festival every year and they always have a mood wall.

“I thought it would be a good thing to have here in Silchester.

“The aim is to try to capture the moment and the mood of the day. With the Jubilee wall, we wanted to get as many people who were present on the day to be part of it.”

More than 350 people made their mark on the wall, which will remain in the playing fields for future generations to look back on.

The wall was funded by National Lottery funding, given to Silchester Parish Council for their Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Tracy’s husband John created the eight-foot by six-foot backdrop and Tracy painted the tree itself.

Tracy, a physicist, said: “A lot of people have come back looking for their own handprints.

“I was quite taken aback by how much interest it generated within the local community.

“It has been treated to make it last and has been treated with anti-graffiti paint. Hopefully, it will remain for many years and when there are more big events in the future, there is space on the back of the pavilion to create more mood walls.”