We left Brighton at 10:45am on a wonderfully sunny Thursday morning & arrived at Marc's Shrine at 12 noon. 75 minutes - not a bad time! :-)
Left is a photo of the things we took with us, needed to tidy the site & to remove Purple Pied Pete's graffiti from the steps, noticeboard & its frame, trees, and the road-facing crash barrier ...
More on that below
The First 'Job' as ever was to tidy up the dead leaves off the steps & also to tidy up the bottles, bags & other litter which had accumulated.
Purple Pied Pete's 'message' on The Tree itself had been joined by a message from 'Marc's Biggest Fan, Lorraine'. Lorraine we look forward to hearing from you & seeing you at the site to lend a hand and maybe donating some cash for the next 'tidy up & cleaning' session! :-)
When TAG members met Purple Pied Pete a couple of years after this event, TAG told him that it cost around £ 60 to undo his graffiti. Sadly, he didn't offer to make a donation towards that, then or later. Purple Pied Pete if you are reading this, please do consider making a donation now. If you are a friend of his, and you are reading this please let him know, especially as this was not one isolated insident, but one of a number of insidents over the years, starting in June 2000.
Then it was on to the next 'Job' ...
...To remove the Graffiti left by 'Purple Pied Pete'
We had received feedback to the original web page about this who agreed with us that
the use of thick marker pens are not a fan tribute, but are vandalism, pure and simple.
Among the comments we've received are the following:-
"Graffiti left in marker pen makes Marc's fans look like vandals."
"I'm sure Marc wouldn't understand why his fans would want to do this."
"This the place Marc died and is a pilgrimage for many fans. Please be more courteous and leave fitting tributes for Marc."
"It makes the site look so untidy."
"We don't want to give local people the wrong impression about Marc's fans."
"Tanx TAG. Keep up the good work at the tree."
Then, it was on to Cleaning, Scrubbing, Polishing & Changing the Chippings around the PRS Memorial.
After the old Flint Chippings had been shovelled out, new ones could be added. When we originally laid the surround for the PRS Memorial we used Flint Chppings. This time we chose a mixture of 'Grey/Black' Pebbles & 'Cambrian' Pebbles. As with all the things we need for the site which we don't bring with us we used the Adrian Hall Garden Centre which is directly opposite Marc's Last House along Upper Richmond Road West. We thought two bags would do it. But in the end a second trip to Adrian Hall's was needed for a third bag & also two small bags of lovely polished pebbles.
The woodwork with the permanent felt-tip black marker graffiti needed two coats of coloured wood protector to completely cover the graffiti!!!
Although not itself scrawled on, the front of the PRS Memorial Surround was painted too, so that it matched the steps. We even had to clean the armco crash barrier.
Fortunately the thick marker pen 'MARC BOLAN' and 'T.REX' written along the white lines which run up Queen's Ride* had worn off by the traffic using the road since they were written there on the 15th/16th 'Vigil' September nine months earlier.
* I hope it goes without saying that this is an extremely foolish thing to do and it was this type of thing which the Marc Bolan LiBeration Front covered in their late 1992/early1993 regarding the unsuitability of holding 'all-night vigils' at Marc's Shrine. The appropriate section if shown on the left and you can read the entire annotated article Here
It was wonderful to be thanked by so many of the local people as they walked past on their way home from work, or on their way out for the evening. All saying how nice it was looking :-)
ABOVE: THE NOTICE BOARD FILLED WITH SO MANY MESSAGES!
It was lovely to find some writing by someone who visits the site often called 'Phill' so says he feels 'refreshed' after visiting it :-)
We will add images of some of Phill's beautifully touching writing when we can.
ABOVE: THE TREE
After all the silk flowers had been cleaned (yes, they do get dirty, dusty and covered in cobwebs!) & new silk flowers added.
ABOVE: THE WHOLE SITE.
ABOVE: THE PRS MEMORIAL
Finally, after eight & a half hours (we thought we'd be finished in six!) we'd finished! By then the sun was setting directly behind 'The Tree' and Marc's Bust so I took some photos which I hope you'll find interesting. I didn't use a flash and the Bronze always looks strange by flashlight. Instead I decided to use the sunlight & 'play' with the images.
It was lovely to be invited in for a cup of tea by one of the residents as we were packing up, but after a day's work in the high twenties we had long cold drinks in mind, so we went to 'Jim Thompsons' for something to eat - & that well earned drink! 'Jim Thompsons' , is the pub/restaurant where we held the Bronze Bust Unveiling Reception in 2002, so it's got good memories :-)
I always look at the corner table where Mickey sat and think of him there. He was so happy on that day. As Rolan couldn't stay long and Harry isn't one for making him the centre of attention Mickey was the 'Star of the Show' at the reception and he revelled in it :-) It was so nice to be able to give him that 'gift' so close to him dying. It makes me sad too, but my overriding memories are of him sitting at the corner table Smiling & Laughing :-)
Laser Love,
Fee
PS Many, Many Thanks to my husband Kev, who as Chairman of TAG does so much work even though he isn't & never has been a Marc Bolan fan. As he said while painting the steps "It's lucky I love you!"
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