Bonners Fish Bar: 'I love looking at it but I'm worried it will get stolen' Essex chippy says after Banksy mural
At a crossroads in the middle of a Walthamstow housing estate sits Bonners Fish Bar, a chippy thought to be around 100 years old. The unassuming traditional fish and chip shop recently drew attention after Banksy chose the outside wall as a canvas for a piece in his nature series, with a pair of pelicans tucking in to fish from the sign on the shop front.
Bonners is clearly a place that draws people in the area, but in recent weeks the chippy has drawn even more attention, and from beyond Walthamstow. Graffiti artist Banksy has caused a flurry of attention in the town after visiting Walthamstow under the cover of darkness and painting two pelicans as they feed on the fish in the shop’s sign.
Owner George Christou said he is "honoured" to have his shop sought out by the famous artist, whose work has sold for millions, saying: “You'd never think a little shop in Walthamstow would have a Banksy on it!”
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George had been on a family holiday in Cyprus when he got a worried message late at night from a regular customer saying “Someone's graffitiing your wall!”
"I thought, 'Oh God! I'll have to deal with it in the morning'," George told EssexLive, but by 1pm the next day, Banksy had claimed the pelicans as his and what had threatened to ruin a small business owner's holiday became something a whole lot stranger.
“The shop's Instagram account was going mad. It was on the news and on radio and everywhere else. I was in Cyprus and people were talking about it, while I was by the beach,” George said. “It's a bit surreal. I love looking at it when I walk in every day and every night I sort of look back again.”
But while George is very happy with the shops new sign, the extra attention hasn't been entirely positive. He said: “My first fear was somebody might break in and unfortunately someone did."
A police investigation into the break-in is ongoing and security has been increased around the shop. For George, it’s more than just someone trying to steal his sign.
“It's like someone's breaking into your house and knowing they've been into your personal space. It's just sad that someone would do that as well,” he said.
Since Banksy, other local artists have added to the shop and Bonners now also has four additional pieces of art on its outside. Bonners, which has always been a chippy for the people of Walthamstow, is now shining the light on artists in the area. “It's just nice just to give back to the community,” George said.
Speculating why Banksy might have chosen Bonners, George jokes, “Maybe he really liked the chips when he came in.” He shared that if he could share a message with Banksy “It would just be nice to know who he is. Just to say thank you. We really appreciate that. It’s a pretty awesome thing to have. Not many people can say that they have a Banksy in their area, let alone on their own wall.”
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