Artist creates artwork of local pub to raise money for St Ann’s
The artistic talents of Monty Milner have ensured regulars have a souvenir of their favourite local pub which has now closed down.
Monty’s painting of the High Grove pub in Gatley was so popular among fellow drinkers that he raised £500 for St Ann’s Hospice.
Monty, from Gatley, sold 50 signed limited edition prints of his water colour for £10 each, with all proceeds going to the charity.
Monty, aged 76, only began attending art classes in recent years after retiring from his job in advertising and marketing.
Regulars at the High Grove have raised tens of thousands of pounds for St Ann’s over the years and they are still hoping it has a future as a pub.
A golf society called ‘Monty’s Old Fettlers’ was based at the High Grove and one of Monty’s next projects will be to paint the new clubhouse at Northenden Golf Club where he has been a member for 44 years.
The painting managed to capture something which obviously appealed to my friends at the pub. We were sad to see the pub close down a few months ago and this is a way of having fond memories before the bulldozers move in. I’d been going there for more than 30 years and we were all just a big family. Friends asked for a copy of the painting so it seemed natural to make a donation to St Ann’s, especially as we know friends and relatives who’ve been cared for by the charity. Monty Milner