6 days ago
I'm obsessed with ‘beautiful' manhole covers – people think I'm a nutter but they've changed my life
A GRANDAD is so obsessed with manhole covers he has travelled the world to see them and written two books.
Peter Sishton's love for street coverings began in 2017 when he hurt his back in southern France and could only look down while out walking.
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He said: "I visited friends but on day two my back went and I ended up laid up for the majority of the time.
'When I went out for a walk in the evening, doubled over in pain, I looked down and noticed that the manhole covers were a work of art in themselves.
'I took abstract photographs of them and even managed to sell them, so I kept going.'
Peter, 63, from Barry, Glamorgan, runs Facebook group Manhole Covers Around the World, with 65,000 members.
He visited Spain, France and Sri Lanka to search out designs.
The artist's books include Heavy Metal and Manc Holes and Beyond, which he wrote with the Manchester Manhole Collective.
The group launched the world's first manhole exhibition, Manc Holes and Beyond, which ran from April to June at Manchester Central Library.
The exhibition proved such a success, celebrating the art and design of manhole covers, that he is now in talks with the National Lottery Heritage fund to move the manhole exhibition out of Manchester to tour the rest of the UK.
Peter said: 'Manhole covers changed my life. When I start talking about manholes, people think I'm a nutter.'
Other manhole cover fans include ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and historian Lucy Worsley.
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