A new mural celebrating Dulwich and Herne Hill’s sporting history was unveiled last week in Burbage Road.
Painted by Lionel Stanhope and designed by Katrina Russell-Adams, the image references croquet, cricket, squash, tennis and hockey – all sports based in the railway arches at Dulwich Sports Club.
It also uses colours from Herne Hill velodrome and Dulwich Hamlet Football Club, and pays homage to sporting figures from Southwark, including athletics coach Scipio Africanus ‘Sam’ Mussabini; who lived at 84 Burbage Road.
Mussabini used a mix of science and psychology to boost athletes’ performance. These methods helped his runners win eleven Olympic medals, including five golds.
He is best known for coaching 1921 Paris Olympian and 100-metre gold medallist Harold Abrahams, a victory immortalised in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.
The mural was commissioned by Network Rail and Dulwich Sports Club, and unveiled during the annual Dulwich Festival – this year held online.
It comes a year after Stanhope completed a mural on the opposite side of the road, celebrating Shakespearean actor Richard Burbage.
Stanhope said: “It’s always good to work with Network Rail on these murals, they’re so big and make such a massive difference to the places I’m working in.
“I get such great feedback from people when I’m painting them, just people walking past.”