Still Walking, book launch, and the search for a lost well

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It's lining up to be a good summer for walking in Birmingham with the return of Still Walking Festival and the accompanying guidebook "111 Places in Birmingham That You Shouldn't Miss" by Ben Waddington.

Still Walking has been a big influence on many of us at Walkspace with its unusual and highly creative approach to the walking tour format so we're very excited for its return over May and June. This edition features Sherlock Holmes, Shibboleths and Satan. Book onto the walks now.

As for the book, here are some words from the publisher:

‘111 Places…’ books are known for side-stepping a city’s best known places, instead highlighting the lesser-known— or wholly overlooked— features that more candidly reveal the city's identity. Ben takes this approach on his guided tours with Still Walking… walks informed by posing the question 'what would guided tours look like if they weren’t about sight-seeing?’

The aim of the book was to tell Birmingham's story through its art, architecture, music, industrial history and cultural diversity; showcasing the city's triumphs while embracing its gritty side. Accordingly, there's an intriguing mix of urban oddities, micro-museums, sacred sites, epic landscapes, industrial remnants (bridges, tunnels, engines) and a handful of ‘survivors’ from the pre-Revolution Birmingham. 

A few of us went along to the book launch at Ikon gallery earlier in the month and listened to Ben in conversation with Andrew Kulman. The talk was full of fascinating insights but it was especially interesting to hear about all the things that for one reason or another didn't make it into the book.

The book was several years in the making and in typical Birmingham fashion a number of the places originally due for inclusion were demolished before it went to print. Perhaps we can expect a follow-up volume: "111 Places in Birmingham You Shouldn't Have Missed".

Another reason for some places not being included were the difficulties in obtaining permission to photograph private property. Ben told us of the case of the Lady well, "Birmingham's answer to Leicester's Richard III car park discovery".

Buried underneath the car park of the Ibis hotel in Chinatown is a holy well, probably once dedicated to the Virgin Mary, that provided water for domestic and industrial purposes until the mid 19th Century. The site of the well is marked only by a concrete square built into the ceiling above.

Ben enquired to Ibis for permission to photograph the sacred site but found himself entering a Kafka-esque, bureaucratic nightmare, being passed from department to department with no one being able to give him a clear answer. Alas, the Lady well doesn't feature in the book. This story was just too tantalising though so immediately after the book launch three of us decided to schlep over to the other side of town in the pouring rain to investigate.

Photo © Andy Howlett

The first clue is in the name of the road that the hotel is on: Ladywell Walk. The car park can only be accessed through the hotel reception so we stepped inside, approached the receptionist and said that we had come to see the site of the holy well. Somewhat perplexed by this request, she told us to take a seat while she went to consult a with colleague.

A few minutes later the colleague came and acknowledged the existence of the well but warned us that there wasn't much to see. She offered us a keycard to get down there and told us about reported ghost sightings associated with the well. Unperturbed we thanked her and made our way down.

Photo © Andy Howlett
Photo © Andy Howlett
Photo © Andy Howlett
Photo © Andy Howlett

This is a taster of the sort of unexpected discoveries and urban adventures that Still Walking and "111 Things…" offer up to the curious city dweller. For the tenth edition of the festival, Still Walking has crafted a special programme of eleven walks inspired by the new guidebook. Head over to the website where you can order a signed copy of the book to collect when you attend any of the walks for the discount price of £12.