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Artist paints mural of Sam Smith's Brewery horses

Louise FewsterYorkshire, Tadcaster
News imageClaire Bentley-Smith Grey shire horse with white legs stood in front of a boarded up shop with a drawing on either side of the door of a shire horseClaire Bentley-Smith
Falcon is one of the two shire horses featured in the mural painted on the front of an empty building in Tadcaster

A mural celebrating Samuel Smith's Brewery's iconic shire horses has been painted on a boarded-up shop front close to its headquarters in Tadcaster.

The artwork sits in the shadow of the brewery and the Angel and White Horse Inn - where the shire horses are stabled and remain one of town's familiar sights.

Local artist Claire Bentley-Smith said she created the mural as a tribute to the brewery's owner, the late Humphrey Smith, and to the animals that deliver beer around the town.

She added: "I'm lucky enough that the shire horses from the brewery come past my house every morning, and as an equestrian artist I've always found that incredibly inspiring."

Called Prince and Falcon, the brewery's horses are used to deliver beer to the local pubs in and around Tadcaster five days a week.

Bentley-Smith said she decided to paint the mural of the the animals after seeing the empty shop with boarded up windows on Kirkgate.

The painter, who has worked as a commercial artist in Leeds for the past 25 years, said the mural has become a talking point for the town.

"It's sort of inspired the whole town to talk about how they feel about the loss of Humphrey Smith," she said.

News imagePA Media A shire horse on the left of the picture with a horse drawn cart with seven silver barrels on top of the cart. A man is seen sitting on top of the cart wearing a hat and a second man is in front of the horse and cart rolling a barrel. They are pictured in front of a white walled church with trees and bushes to the right of the picture and a wall to the leftPA Media
The brewery delivered beer to some local pubs by horse-drawn cart. The image was captured as pubs began reopening after the Covid lockdown.

Smith, who died in July aged 81, was born in Tadcaster in 1944 and took control of the family brewery in the 1980s.

Bentley-Smith said he was "a great lover of the horses" and had the blessing of the brewery to paint the mural.

She added as well as been a tribute, the artwork was also a way of saying "we want the whole town to feel unified and move forward".

Bentley-Smith has also helped set up a local arts group, Tadcaster Creates, which is organising a community-led festival from 3 to 6 September.

She said with the painting of the mural and the reopening of the Angel pub "it seems like everything's happening at once."

"We're feeling a new sort of surge of energy in the town," she added.

The BBC has contacted Samuel Smith's Brewery for comment.

Tadcaster mural honours Sam Smith Brewery owner

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