Planning for the mural began in 1976, when
Dan Jones, Secretary of the Tower Hamlets Trades Council, saw the Royal Oaks Mural under the
Westway in west London, and asked the artist, Dave Binnington, to paint a mural in Cable Street. A grant from the
Arts Council allowed Binnington to undertake research before a public meeting in October 1978 to unveil his design. The local population were generally supportive, although a letter to a local paper described the proposed mural as "political graffiti". Binnington also recruited Paul Butler to design the lower section. Many of the faces in the mural were inspired by newspaper pictures of people who took part in the battle. Funding from
Greater London Arts Association, the
E. Vincent Harris Fund for Mural Decoration, the
Gulbenkian Foundation, the
Leonard Cohen Trust,
Greater London Council and the
Royal Academy allowed work to start. Binnington began painting in late 1979 with a targeted completion date of October 1980. He found it more complicated and time-consuming than expected, and work continued through 1980 and 1981. The uncompleted mural was vandalised on 23 May 1982, when right-wing slogans were painted on lower parts of the wall. Binnington abandoned the project in disgust. He later became a furniture designer, and adopted his wife's surname to become David Savage. Work resumed in July 1982 with Paul Butler helped by Ray Walker and Desmond Rochfort (who had worked with Binnington before on the Royal Oaks Mural). The top was completed to Binnington's design, and the vandalised lower portions were sand-blasted and repainted to a modified design. The mural was completed in March 1983 and officially unveiled on 7 May 1983 by Paul Beasley, Leader of
Tower Hamlets Council, with
Jack Jones (former General Secretary of the
Transport and General Workers Union),
Tony Banks (Chair of the Greater London Council Arts Committee) and
Dan Jones. ==Mural==