When the average Brit goes shopping for a new yearly calendar, photos of pylons and wheelie bins aren’t normally the top choice.
But for Stuart Atkinson, 57, there’s simply no competition when it comes to a subject for his self-proclaimed ‘dull’ calendars.
Although his full-time job is working as a chemist, Stuart is passionate about creating an homage to mundane objects.
His first project was a calendar detailing pylons near Manchester, which initially began as a joke with his friends and family, before the product actually began selling.
Stuart told Metro: ‘People buy silly calendars about all sorts of things, don’t they? Roundabouts and car parks and things. So I decided to get some photographs of pylons a few years back.
‘There’s a drive-through Greggs near me which has a prominent pylon next to it. I thought I could do a calendar of every pylon next to something interesting, but eventually thought, ‘The pylons can be the stars.’
But this year’s subject might be the cherry on top of Stuart’s calendars: wheelie bins.
‘Greater Manchester has ten local authorities, and each borough has four different bins – so it sort of writes itself, with the colours and volumes,’ Stuart said.
His upcoming calendar includes a ‘BINFO’ panel, showing the total capacity, annual capacity, council tax and rate per litre for each bin – along with a handy dandy map of which borough the bin belongs to.
Out of the countless bins across Greater Manchester, Stuart says his two favourites are Salford and Rochdale.
Salford’s bins are grey, but have a ‘cheeky’ pink lid. Rochdale, on the other hand, has a light green bin with a blue lid.
Still, Stuart knows his hobby is a bit unorthodox.
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‘Bins are boring. No one’s interested until something happens, or if someone takes your bin down the street, so you’re pretty pissed off about that,’ he said.
But the keen calendar maker says his creations pay homage to things that are boring but essential to daily life.
His next plans?
‘I’m considering maybe one of gravel. Or some traffic cones,’ he adds.
‘I’ve thought about next year already. I’m going to do views of the M62 as well at some point. And then the M6 in 2028. So yeah, I am thinking ahead.’
Stuart says he aims to find a calendar subject that he’s interested enough in to make, but also a topic that hasn’t been done before.
His field is macabre, but others do bizarre calendars too – ‘There is another guy who does odd calendars, but he’s never ventured into my territory, really,’ Stuart jokes.
He adds: ‘The world’s always been in a mess, but it seems to be in a worse mess at the moment.
‘If it brings a smile to someone’s face, just to laugh at something ridiculous, then that’s a bonus enough. I’ve probably succeeded.’
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