General Wolfe departed from Greenwich on his way to Canada, Quebec, which resulted in the scaling of the Heights of Abraham, the battle on the plains above the cliffs, the defeat of the French and Wolfe's death on the battlefield.

Some hundreds of years later, the LCC built a council estate in Deptford, which had a very long row of tenants' stores, built in Sussex bricks. Under the Council scheme for murals, I was asked to deal with this uncompromising brick wall, with doors at intervals.

I chose the Battle for Quebec, as it gave unlimited opportunity to produce red-coats marching in measured tread towards the advancing French, also in measured paces.

All urged on by leaders on horsebacks, waving swords, with flags flying, drums and fifes beating to decide who would control Canada, or in this case, Deptford High Street.

The theme and the method were spectacular. Several tons of grit are poured into a container. I then don a protective helmet, gloves and point a heavy rubber hose, tipped with a ceramic nozzle. The compressor is operated, which produces 2000 psi of air which hurls the grit at the wall, which then etches whatever surface it strikes.

It is, of course, essential to have a strong image of your intended design; after all, you don't have a great deal of time to rethink with tons of air driven grit pouring out of the hose.

Design-wise tightly compacted shapes are desirable, as there is a danger of single lines giving a 'weak' appearance. Thus tightly compacted troops were ideal.

It is also a good idea to study the period, as there is generally some onlooker who puts you to rights on any historical error.