Common Ground: Walking Wild Walsall
Event details
Date
About the event
This circular walk explores areas including an ancient common, a disused railway line, a memorial sculpture garden, a canal towpath and a community garden. These green pockets and corridors are gateways to a wilder Walsall, a place teeming with flora and fauna, calling back to the area’s pre-industrial past. We welcome your curiosity and invite you to explore the waterways, wildlife and public art of this suburban hinterland where town becomes country. The walk will include opportunities for some “wild drawing”, inviting you to slow down and tune your attention and senses to the natural world. No artistic experience is necessary and we welcome both locals and visitors.
This event starts with a visit to Goscote Greenacres Community Garden where there’ll be a chance to have a cup of tea or coffee and learn a bit about this inspiring project. At some point on the walk we’ll stop for a lunch break so please bring a packed lunch.
Key Event Information
Date: Thursday 26th February, 10.30 - 1.30pm
Arrival time: From 10:20 to begin at 10:30am
Start and end point of walk: Goscote Greenacres Community Garden (Behind Goscote Centre), Goscote Lane, Walsall, WS3 1SJ.
Duration: Approx 2.5 - 3 hours inc. lunch break
Terrain: Variable ground, including roads, woodland paths. Please wear sturdy footwear and appropriate attire for our unpredictable weather.
Toilets: Available at Goscote Greenacres Community Garden at the start of the walk only (the garden will be closed when we return).
Parking: Limited parking is available at the Goscote Centre, however we encourage travelling by public transport or on foot where possible.
About the Walk Leaders
Daniella Turbin is an artist-adventurer from the West Midlands. Her artistic practice combines long distance walking with photography, drawing and writing. In 2022 she embarked on her longest walk to date – around the whole of Great Britain. Setting off from and returning to her home in Essington, South Staffordshire the artist planned a route that would pass through every county and take about a year to complete. Recent projects include a solo exhibition at The New Art Gallery Walsall (2024) and she is currently writing a book about the journey.
Andy Howlett is an artist, filmmaker and writer based in Birmingham. He’s interested in the power of collective walking to re-map and re-enchant our neighbourhoods, cities and public spaces. His walks and films have been commissioned by Flatpack Festival, Ikon Gallery, Solihull Council, Creative Black Country and Voce Books/Influx Press. He is co-founder of walking-art co-operative Walkspace which has exhibited at Artefact gallery and received commissions from The British Council, Creative Black Country, and the Wildlife Trust.
Walkspace is a co-operative of artists and creatives in the West Midlands who are intrigued by walking in all its forms. Formed in 2020, Walkspace has become a locus of activity for creative walking in the region. Through their experiments in collective walking they forge new connections between people and place.
Goscote Greenacres is a not for profit company set up to encourage and support local people to come together in a local community garden to learn new skills, meet new people and enjoy gardening and other outdoor activities together.