Despite Cumbria’s rural nature – it’s home to a thriving tattoo scene.
There are hundreds of tattoo artists of all kinds working across the county, but it’s an art that wasn’t always as popular and commonplace as it is now.
For veteran artist Colin Fell, of Carlisle, the world of tattooing has been a lifelong fascination, and when he first started out, it was a job full of excitement and mystery.
At 64 years old, Colin is Cumbria’s longest working tattooist and has had skin in the game since he first picked up a tattoo machine in 1980.
He said: “When I was leaving school and people were asking what you wanted to do, I just wanted to be a tattoo artist.
“I remember when I was in Silloth School I’d draw hearts and swallows on my exercise books and tattoo in a garage with my mates with a pin and a bottle of ink and do crosses and love hearts and things like that, it’s just something that’s been in me all my life.
“Why? I don’t know, because my dad didn’t have any tattoos and neither did my mam or my uncles. It was just something that fascinated me.
“But back in the 70s it wasn’t like it is today, it was a totally different game then. It was more backstreet, dark and mysterious.
“It was never on TV or anything like that. You’re talking about a time where people who had tattoos had been in jail or were servicemen, it was mostly dodgy people that had tattoos.
“It definitely wasn’t a fashion thing and it wasn’t something people just got like they do now. People use to use them as diaries to tattoo on. But for me it was a really interesting world.
“I wish I could get some of that feeling out of me and give it to you to feel what it was like then, because it was just so exciting.”
Colin first got his start in tattooing through an apprenticeship – the traditional route for most artists – after serving in the navy in 1976.
He said: “I wanted to see what the Japanese way of doing stuff was like, so I joined the navy thinking I would go to Japan, but I ended up in America instead and did it that way.
“When I came out of the navy in 1980, I served my apprenticeship down in Stoke, with Jim Mager, and starting tattooing in Carlisle from then and I’m still tattooing here today.”
Colin has worked in several shops throughout his career, including two of his own before he settled in Mike’s Tattoos, owned by his best friend Mike Haslam on London Road.
Over his years spent tattooing, he said that both the industry and culture around the artform has changed drastically.
He said: “There’s more shops now than there’s ever been and the outlook on tattooing has totally changed, people want appointments and are more particular now than they even were 10 years ago.
“It’s mainstream now – it’s just like going to a hairdressers, that’s how I see it. I think some of the old boys would turn in their graves seeing what has happened to the industry.
“Back in the day you’d go in for a tattoo and if you had 20 quid you’d look at all the £20 tattoos until you’d see one you liked and you’d just get it, that’s the way you did it then.
“I served my time working in a walk-in shop too. There’s no custom stuff with walk-ins – some days you’d be doing around 18 tattoos in one day. It was unbelievable back then, but really good.
“It’s even down to the machines used. I use coil machines that make the traditional buzz of a tattoo machine. A lot of the new ones now they call them ‘tattoo pens’.
“They’re basically just battery charged pens and quieter, so it’s changed probably for the better for a lot of people, but I prefer the old ways.”
While Colin can tattoo in any style, his preferred style of tattooing is traditional, which makes use of bold black outlines, limited colours and common motifs influenced by old sailor tattoos.
He has also won awards for his work and was once presented with trophies at a Coventry tattoo convention by Lyle Tuttle – one of Colin’s biggest tattooist heroes.
He added: “I’m a pure traditional artist myself. I just love the old way of doing it. Because I’ve done it for so long I’ll have people who come in and say I want a traditional tattoo Colin, I’ll just leave it to you. It makes my day when customers do that.
“You just think ‘oh that’s ace, I can get on with it’. But a lot of the old designs like swallows, hearts and roses have all stood the test of time. People are still getting them today.
“You can’t beat a good rose and scroll with a swallow thrown in on top of it. They will always give you a good tattoo.
“But I don’t think you can always say the same for the new styles coming out. You can’t keep up with it – but nothing’s really new, it’s all been done 20 or 30 years ago. Probably not as well, but it’s all been done.
“The people who inspire me are the old boys, people who were tattooing in the 70s. Dave Heap, from Bury, who’s one of the old legends and Tony Lord, from Blackpool, they’re really traditional artists who are keeping it alive.
“I just love traditional work and colour work. I look at sleeves and they’re beautiful, but I like to see the collector. That’s my thing.”
Colin has tattooed all kinds of designs in Cumbria and beyond over the years – and still has loyal customers who’ve been getting tattoos from him since he first started.
He said: “You couldn’t put all the people I’ve tattooed in one box. I’ve tattooed so many different people of all nationalities and genders…you name it, I’ve done it.
“Over the years I’ve seen it all, nothing shocks me anymore. Where I’ve tattooed on some people you wouldn’t put it in print, believe me, you name a part of the body, I’ve been there with a needle and tattooed them.
“But I have standards, if a lad comes in and he’s 18 and he’s only got one tattoo on his arm and wants one on his hand, I wont do it.
“I don’t care how much he wants to pay me, I’ve got scruples. I love tattoos and I love tattooing, but I know there’s a lot of people out there that don’t and I don’t want to be the one who has blocked someone from getting that job.
“But I can’t thank Mike and my customers enough. I’ve still got customers I’ve been tattooing for 40-odd years and without them you don’t have a business.”
Colin has also passed his skills in tattooing on to his daughter Megan and son James. His second daughter, Melissa Kenney, is also in the body modification industry and works with her dad in Mike’s Tattoos as a body piercer.
He added: “My son worked in the shop while he was still at school by doing stencils and making coffees and helping out. When he left school he got a job as a mechanic but still came in and tattooed on a Saturday morning in the shop.
“Megan, my daughter, she left school and worked in the shop for a bit and then decided she wanted to be a tattooist. So I put her through her training – don’t get me wrong, I’m not the easiest person to please with work, if I look at your work and think it’s not good enough, I’ll tell you it’s not good enough.
“But Megan’s done really well, she’s got her own style of work and it took off brilliantly. But it was great to work with her, I really enjoyed it. She’s also married to Shaun Hubbard, who’s also a talented tattooist and they have their own shop in Peterborough.
“Melissa, when she left school, she started body piercing and Gillian, Mike’s daughter, taught her. She left for a while and worked in car sales and now she’s back and she’s been with us three years. She’s really busy with it and it’s going really well.
“They all got their first tattoos off me, which is a bit nerve-wracking when you do it for them for the first time. But they’re all in the industry and it makes me so proud to see them doing what they’re doing.
“I’ve also got my granddaughter working in the shop with us now too, so we’re keeping it in the family as best we can and I’ve taught a few apprentices, so I’ve handed it down to a few.”
Together, both Colin and Mike have also paved the way for several firsts in the tattoo scene in Cumbria – including the region’s first and only tattoo convention, North Lakes Tattoo Show.
Colin said: “Me and Mike about 17 years ago used to go to a lot of conventions all over. We’ve been all over Europe and the country working and just going as guests.
“So we agreed to put one on in Carlisle, to show the people here what the tattoo world had to offer.
“We did the first one in the Shepherds Inn and had artists from Australia, America, Europe and Singapore, it was just unbelievable.
“It was a real success and we thought if we can get two or three shows out of it that would be great, but we’re now onto our 17th year and we’ve had tattooists from every country you can think of.
“We’ve brought mainstream, world-class tattooing to Carlisle and we try to look at the convention as a family, because it’s a family-run show.
“My son helps out and both my daughters come up to work it. All the lads that pitch in to help are my customers and friends.
“It’s just a massive family and we treat the artists and customers that come as family as well. I don’t care how many shows you go to, you’ll never come across an atmosphere like North Lakes.”
Mike’s Tattoos has also been a pioneer for the body piercing scene in the county as well as laser tattoo removal – and Colin is thought of as a tattooing legend by artists working both in and outside of Cumbria.
He added: “We get on really well with majority of the shops in Carlisle. A lot of the shops the lads will come down with a coil machine and ask if I can sort it out for them and I’ll do it. I look after them as best I can.
“One or two of them call me ‘tattoo dad’ because I’m probably the oldest tattooist in the county at the minute. I don’t mind it, it’s quite flattering really.
“I just love it, I love everything in the tattooing world, it’s a way of life, and I’ve lived it since I was a kid.”
