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Morven Crumlish - Murals

Mark Bonnar

Morven Crumlish

Jeremy Osborne

Morven Crumlish - Murals: Episode 2: Banana Bread

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Murals

Episode 2

Episode 2: Banana Bread

Banana Bread

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Morven Crumlish - Murals, Banana BreadSearch BBC

A builder uncovers part of a mural and relives the life and death of his lost son.

In a brickyard that was once a church, a builder finds neglected murals and relives the life and death of his son. Read by Mark Bonnar.

These three stories by Morven Crumlish, commissioned specially for Radio 4, are inspired by the work of the artist Phoebe Anna Traquair.

Traquair (1852-1936) was born in County Dublin and, in the 1870s, moved to Edinburgh where she would later become a prominent figure in the Scottish Arts and Crafts movement. 

Probably her best-known works are the vibrantly-coloured murals in what was formerly the Catholic Apostolic Church in Broughton Street, Edinburgh which Traquair took eight years to complete (1893-1901). When the church fell out of ecclesiastical use, the murals suffered badly through neglect but, following the formation of the Mansfield Traquair Trust, a major restoration was undertaken, completed in 2005.

While art is at the core of all three fictions, Murals also mirrors the evolution of a similar building: from church, to brickyard, to present-day use for visitors and as a venue for events.

2/3. Banana Bread

The building has fallen into disuse as a church and is now a warehouse for bricks. A builder uncovers some of the neglected murals and relives the life and death of his lost son.

Morven Crumlish's stories have been broadcast widely, and she also contributes to the Guardian. Her work has featured in four previous Sweet Talk productions for BBC Radio 4, including Dilemmas of Modern Martyrs - five of her stories - in 2008; and most recently 'Harold Lloyd Is Not The Man Of My Dreams' (Three For My Baby, 2011). Morven lives in Edinburgh.

Reader: Mark Bonnar
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

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Short stories by Morven Crumlish, inspired by the work of artist Phoebe Anna Traquair

Short stories by Morven Crumlish, inspired by the work of artist Phoebe Anna Traquair, in particular by her vibrantly-coloured murals in a former Catholic Apostolic Church in Edinburgh

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