Middleton’s famous front door: a story of community spirit, childhood and a simple desire to pass on the gift of creativity

Throughout the 1980s, Yvonne Malik’s front door at 145 Walker Street in Middleton was a focal point for the local community, eventually making its way into the local public art collection as an item of historical significance.

Now on display, 30 years after its removal from Malik’s home, in an exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale, it tells a story of lost communities, neighbourly spirit and the creative gift. What makes this famous front door so special?

Having been signed by almost 300 local children, including dedications to pets, over the course of a decade, exhibition organisers are telling the front door’s story as part of the exhibition, What’s Changed? and asking for signatories to come forward with their memories.

A trained designer – having spent time globally establishing design centres at the request of 20th century leader in British design, Sir Gordon Russell – Mrs Malik, now 84-years old and of Wray, Lancashire, arrived in her modest home in 1980 and almost immediately made her mark.

Finding children simply ‘hanging around’ outside her home, she began teaching them the basics of art, turning her front room into a makeshift classroom for lessons completely free-of-charge.

As reported in a local newspaper on 1 August 1988, her ‘grotty’ front door, in lieu of being replaced at cost, was renovated by Mrs Malik in the most unusual of ways. Taking a paint brush to it by herself, her creative spin on simple household renovations caught the neighbourhood’s children’s imaginations. Pretty soon, it became a canvas on which they all wanted to make a mark on themselves.

As reported in another newspaper in 1989, she said: “It started quite by accident. While I was painting the door, I heard my neighbour’s young daughter, Ruth Clarke, asking her mother if I was going to paint any cats on it. I didn’t see any reason not to, so I painted three small cats at the bottom.”

In 2021, Mrs Malik recalls her nearest neighbours being ‘shocked’, but soon the children that she welcomed for art lessons were given a part of the door and their names drawn on. What’s more, space was given over to their pets and the names of snails, a pony, stick insects and birds were written in alongside.

Up until leaving Walker Street in 1992, new requests were coming to her to add new pets' names to the door. Mrs Malik took the door with her to her new Lancashire home, before offering it to Rochdale Art Gallery in 1994.

Now, four decades after the first name went onto the door, Touchstones Rochdale are hoping that those who signed the door – and on behalf of their pets – will come forward to claim a name as theirs and offer their memories.

Mark Doyle, Joint Head of Culture at Touchstones Rochdale, said: “That a front door can symbolise the shared history of a community and the lives of almost 300 individuals is remarkable and tells us something of the Middleton and Greater Manchester communities of only a few decades ago.

“A time of open front doors, of conversation and community spirit that we might think ended a long time before. We’d love to hear from anyone who Mrs Malik taught during the 1980s and especially anyone who knows or thinks their name might be written on the door.”

Anyone with memories of Mrs Malik’s art lessons and the front door of 145 Walker Street can email touchstones@link4life.org or call 01706 924928.

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The Harmony, Contrast & Discord exhibition at Touchstones is on until Saturday 3 July 2021.

Touchstones is open Wednesday - Saturday 10am - 5pm & Sunday 10am - 4pm

Touchstones Rochdale, The Esplanade, Rochdale OL16 1AQ