Three one - off walks coming up in Birmingham in the next few weeks you may like to know about: following the path of the 2005 Twister, me showcasing Brum's chopped-up, baffling city centre and a selection of lost burial grounds across the city.
As ever, book ahead before travelling, wear sensible shoes, eat your greens and let me know if you have any questions!
- Ben / Still Walking
Tornado Tracers // Carolyn Morton
Sat 28 July // 2.30pm — 5.30pm // £6
Meet outside All Saints Church, 2 Vicarage Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7RA
Finishes at Christ Church, Farm Road, Sparkbrook B11 1LT
Tornado Tracers marks the 13th anniversary, to the day, of the 2005 Birmingham tornado. This walk, led by Birmingham-based visual artist Carolyn Morton, charts the tornado’s route over three miles, identifying fragmented evidence, drawing from public records and personal anecdotes and exploring lasting impacts on the local community. Join us for rest, refreshments and conversation afterwards in a local public house. Please wear shoes suitable for urban walking.
Book here:
https://www.ikon-gallery.org/event/tornado-tracers/
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Knot Working // Ben Waddington
Sat 11 Aug // 1pm - 3pm // £6
Meet: Ikon Gallery, 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HS
Meet at Ikon for a tour of the Francis Alÿs exhibition, followed by a guided walk led by Ben Waddington, Still Walking Director, as he attempts to tie up some of the loose ends experienced as a Birmingham pedestrian. This walk explores themes of town planning, disappearing Civic spaces, encroaching private spaces, flyovers and invisible boundaries. Join us for rest, refreshments and conversation afterwards in a local public house. Please wear shoes suitable for urban walking.
Book here:
https://www.ikon-gallery.org/event/knot-working/
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City of the Dead // Ben Waddington
Sat 18 Aug // 12 - 2pm // £5
Meet: opposite Five Ways station, Islington Row Middleway B15 1QA
The City of the Dead guided walk takes its name from the former Jewish cemetery at Five Ways: in Hebrew Beth Olom. If it doesn’t sound familiar, that’s perhaps because it is now an overgrown sliver of land between the railway and the canal, punctuated by the occasional grave marker carved with Hebrew script. It is one of several ‘reburied’ graveyards across the city centre that at once tell the story of a rapidly expanding industrial city and decreasing church attendances. Over the course of two miles, Ben will visit the partially or completely invisible sites of the city’s former churchyards with tales of disinterments, wandering bones, unofficial garden burials and lost crypts.
Book here:
https://ti.to/still-walking/BethOlom
