On Sunday 22nd August we launched our new series of public walks with In Search of the Brumphalos, a journey to find the heart of Birmingham. The walk was devised and lead by Walkspace members Andy Howlett and Robson and was inspired by an article in The Guardian which revealed the precise geometric centres of the UK's 10 largest cities.
There were seventeen of us on the day and we visited various sites that might be considered the centre of the city, some obvious, some a bit more esoteric, before finishing at the mathematically calculated "real" centre which turned out to be on a residential street in Duddeston.
Inspired by Greek mythology we carried a specially made "Brumphalos" stone with us to mark the spot. The original Omphalos (meaning "navel") is a sacred stone in Delphi, believed to have been placed there by Zeus to mark the centre of the ancient world. Our Brumphalos was created by visual arts duo Hipkiss and Graney and participants on the walk took it in turns to carry it in pairs in a concealed crate. The stone was only revealed once we reached our destination, at which point we carefully placed it on a bed of ivy behind a railing where it shall remain until it is reclaimed by the earth.
