Water Wrackets

Ben Waddington

Tue 30 Dec | 12pm | 180mins

FREE

Meet: Outside IKON Gallery, 1 Brindleyplace, Oozells Square, Birmingham B1 2HS

A five-mile watery walk from Ikon Gallery to Harborne via canals, reservoir and brook. The route includes the Birmingham Canal Old Line, Edgbaston Reservoir and Harborne Walkway and incorporates sections of the elusive Chad Brook, which gave the Chad Valley toy company its name.

The '111 Places In Birmingham …' guidebook has this to say of the terrains:

Following the canals in Birmingham may well lead you to Edgbaston Reservoir, which keeps them topped up and functioning (the city’s drinking water comes from Wales). Since 1957, it has been a corporation park - one with an unusually impressive duck pond.

The trackbed of the railway line which originally ran from Birmingham New Street to Harbourne, calling at seven stops along the way. You can take an optional detour to the recessed glade of Chad Brook walkway where the route passes Woodbourne Road before continuing through Harbourne Nature Reserve and past the extensive allotments.

Meet outside Ikon Gallery, which will be open from 11am if you would like to visit the current Donald Locke exhibition, but please note that their café is currently closed. As with all of Still Walking’s Xmas walks, the narrative will be minimal to keep things moving brisk. There will be regular rest intervals before our pre-dusk arrival at the final destination in Harborne, with optional rest, warmth and food and or drink refreshments at Arco Lounge. Please advise me if you would like to stay on for this and I'll reserve a table accordingly. The free walk will be available for eight people (or for an infinite number—sorry I can't read my own notes here) so book pronot!

The walk will be in daylight, but may well be cold and at least slightly damp. If the weather looks set to be unenjoyably wet (ie raining relentless) we will postpone to early 2025 - be alert to email updates a day or two before the walk. We will however endure the odd light shower, so please dress accordingly. Most of the route is off-road but on generally reliable paths, but some areas may be wet or muddy, so please be prepared!

The walk takes its name from the experimental short film by Peter Greenaway, which appears here:

Footwear suitable for urban walking and weather-appropriate clothing is essential.

Accessible

Please see the Walk Info page to get the best out of the event.