The West Midlands isn’t very well served for ancient monuments or stone circles. Those wishing to mark the solstices at such sites might have to travel out to the Rollright Stones on the Oxfordshire/Warwickshire border or Mitchell’s Fold on the far side of Shropshire. But what about those of us in the urban centres unable to make such trips? One option is to make use of the municipal stone circles and megaliths which adorn many of our public parks, such as the stunning Bordesley Henge in Birmingham. This is something we’ve done in the past, but this summer we’re going to try something different.
Suburban Birmingham may not be famed for its neolithic sacred stones, but it does contain an abundance of another type of ancient rock. We are of course referring to the erratic boulders which were deposited here by glacier 450,000 years ago. These lumps of volcanic rock travelled from the mountains of North Wales during a severe ice age and now litter the parks, gardens, churchyards and roadside verges of 21st Century suburbia. (For our previous boulder walks see here and here)
Thanks to the efforts of the Erratics Project, the boulder locations have been plotted on a handy online map. From this we can see that some of the boulders of the western suburbs are arranged in something of a circular formation, albeit spread across many miles. And there we have it. The West Midlands DOES have a stone circle, completely unique and several hundred thousand years older than Stonehenge.
To activate this newly discovered ancient monument we shall walk the entire circuit, anoint each of the 16 stones and read aloud from Alyson Hallett’s “Stone Monologues”. We’re very grateful to the Great Stone Inn in Northfield for granting us access to the historic village pound, home of The Great Stone itself, the first erratic boulder of our walk. The 17th Century village pound was formerly used to hold stray animals but it’s now used for stray boulders and we can’t think of a better place to begin this momentous walk.
At 13 miles this is the longest public walk we’ve ever done so it’s just as well the Solstice happens to fall on the longest day of the year. The walk takes us out to the far western fringes of the city with great views of rural Worcestershire. As well as the historic stones, the route also takes in the Frankley Reservoirs, home of Birmingham’s drinking water; a ruined castle; a holy well; the Severn/Trent watershed; a 12th Century church, and some spectacular views of the M5. We encourage you to bring along a pocket-sized stone of your own for the journey.
Meet outside the Great Stone Inn in Northfield at 10am, Thursday 20th June. We aim to finish back at the Great Stone by 6pm for refreshments and a much needed sit down. Wear your sturdiest walking boots and come prepared for a 13 mile trek through suburbs, country parks and some semi-rural terrain. There will be stiles, steps and some moderate inclines. Bring sunscreen, a packed lunch and PLENTY of drinking water. Please don’t underestimate the challenges of an all-day walk on a summer’s day. Public restrooms are next to non-existent so we recommend walkers of all genders have strong bladders and/or be comfortable finding somewhere to go discretely in the wooded sections.
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