The man behind Britain's self-proclaimed 'dullest' calendars has revealed four new subjects for 2027: gravel, the M62, Merseyside wheelie bins and Manchester's traffic cones.
Stuart Atkinson, 58, a full-time chemist, gained attention last year with a calendar featuring Manchester's colourful wheelie bins. He told Metro he is drawn to the everyday infrastructure around him, however mundane it may seem.
Finding Art in Gravel
Atkinson said the idea for a gravel calendar came while he was telling someone that anything can be considered art, when he happened to look down at the floor.
'I said, "You could take 12 shots of this, and it would look good on a calendar." And maybe it does. People put gravel on their drive, so there must be something to it,' he told Metro.
From Pylons to Wheelie Bins
His first project was a calendar featuring pylons near Manchester, which started as a joke with friends and family before it began selling. He later made a calendar about the M60, profiling 27 junctions across two calendars, and this year added one focused on the M62.
His Manchester bins calendar proved so popular that he has now produced one devoted entirely to Merseyside's wheelie bins. A cartoon Liver bird named Bella shares fun facts about each bin, and a 'BINFO' panel lists capacity, annual capacity, council tax and rate per litre.
'I did a lot of research for the Manchester one – 10 boroughs, 40 bins, all the volumes, collection frequencies and pence per litre. That was the most popular publication so far,' Atkinson said.
Looking Ahead to 2028
Atkinson's personal favourite remains the pylons calendar, recalling a large pylon outside his school that he and friends used to gather under. He now focuses on subjects that amuse or interest him, noting the amusing ones tend to sell better.
'If it sounds daft enough, then that's usually a good indicator it will sell well,' he joked.
He has already begun thinking about ideas for 2028, pointing to the centenary of the first pylon going up. His family initially thought the idea was 'daft', but have been pleasantly surprised, and Atkinson said that if his calendars bring a smile to someone's face, that is reward enough.
