Rusholme’s curry mile and its colourful characters brought to life in series of sketches

An award-wining photographer has turned his talents to sketching to document Rusholme’s vibrant community.

Len Grant has spent the last year sat on a sketching stool on Wilmslow Road’s curry mile drawing pictures of restaurants, take-aways, fashion stores and the many characters who pass by.

The colourful sketches have been brought togther in a publication under the title of The Rusholme Sketcher.

Len, who lives in Withington, began his craft as a photographer in 1990 before incorporating his writing into his work. He has won accolades for his blogs and photography documenting life in Manchester.

“I consider myself a storyteller” 

He said: “I base my work around communities and different people. To me it is another way of telling a story”.  

Len says The Rusholme Sketcher is a personal project that’s not been commissioned by anyone but gives him the opportunity to demonstrate the power of storytelling with sketching on location.

Len says The Rusholme Sketcher is a personal project that’s not been commissioned by anyone but gives him the opportunity to demonstrate the power of storytelling with on-location sketching.

Len said: “I’m delighted to be publishing a book of my Rusholme sketches as it will serve as a document of this dynamic neighbourhood. As Ibrahim, a Rusholme window cleaner, told me on my very first outing: ‘It’s like life, always changing.’”

The Rusholme Sketcher is launched on 15 November with an event at the Anchor Coffee House in Rusholme at 6.30pm.