Walkspace newsletter: Bumble Hole Flags and Romantics in Birmingham
Hello walking enthusiast!
In this edition of the Walkspace Newsletter we announce an exciting new Walkspace project, we invite you to join us for some flag-making in the Black Country, and we ask the question: what if the Romantics had visited Birmingham?
The Roaming Flags of Bumble Hole
We are delighted to announce that Walkspace has been commissioned by Creative Black Country to run two events celebrating the natural abundance, waterways and rich history of Bumble Hole nature reserve in Dudley. The Roaming Flags of Bumble Hole will take place across the summer and will involve a sensory guided walk, a flag making workshop and a celebratory musical procession. The project is part of the Dudley Creates Summer of Creativity which will see art, colour and fun opportunities popping up in spaces and places across the Borough from June to September.
The flags will be coloured with natural dyes made with plants found locally and the designs will be informed by participants' responses to the sensory guided walk. Inspired by Tibetan prayer flags, we shall be using five different colours: blue, white, red, green and yellow to represent the five elements of sky, air, fire, water and earth. Rather than being an exercise in patriotic territory claiming, the flags will represent nature asserting its own stake in the land.
July 17th Walk and Flag Making
The first event is a creative guided walk followed by on-site flag making workshop on Sunday 17th July. Led by Walkspace members Andrew Howe, Beth Hopkins and Andy Howlett, this event will celebrate nature's reclamation of this formerly industrial land. We will visit some of the key points of interest around the reserve using a series of fun prompts to connect with the landscape. We will use the walk to generate ideas and inspiration for the flag-making activities which will follow the walk. There will be a range of stamps, stencils, inks and other materials for participants to experiment with in their designs. No artistic skills or experience is required.
This event will start outside the Bumble Hole visitor centre just off the Dudley Canal at 10am and will finish at the same place at around 2pm. It's free but places are limited and booking is essential. For more important information and to book your place please go to the booking page.
The project will culminate on 13th August with a public ceremonial procession of the flags around the reserve in which participants will be able to show off their designs and celebrate their collective stake in nature's abundance. The parade will be accompanied by sing-a-long renditions of original and traditional folk songs drawn directly from the soil in which the flags will stand. More on that next time!
This project is supported by Creative Black Country as part of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places National Portfolio programme, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC) and support from CoLab Dudley.
What if the Romantics had visited Birmingham?
Would we be appreciating the awe of the Urban? Seeing the sublime in the everyday? Our newest Walkspace member Dan Gutteridge is interested in what happens when we view a busy urban environment through the lens of Romanticism, a movement not exactly known for its love of modernity.
Join Dan on a walk of Birmingham’s New Street (the street, not the station) to look for where we can ‘reconnect’ and ‘restore’ ourselves in a hyper-urban setting. Followed by a creative workshop to detail and depict our findings, as the Romantics would have done.The walk will take place from 5:30pm on Thurs 21 July. For information on taking part email scribblingdan@gmail.com
This event is part of The Fourth World Congress of Psychogeography 2022, theme: "Wish We Were Here"
We'll be in touch again soon with more West Midlands walking updates!
All the best,Andy, Fiona and Pete: The Walkspace Committee.
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