PLEASE NOTE: This walk starts at 10am NOT 11am as previously advertised. This is to avoid the hottest hours of what will be a very hot day. RESPECT THE SUN! If you wish to attend you MUST email: walkspace.uk@gmail.com
Three years ago we led a pilgrimage to Spaghetti Junction to celebrate its 50th birthday. We explored some of the ways the famous motorway interchange could be considered a sacred site, a “confluence of confluences” and a gateway to the underworld. Great as it was, this walk barely scratched the surface and so we’re making a return visit for this year’s Summer Solstice. We hope you’ll join us to honour the Great God Interchange.
In recent years the artist and writer Jen Dixon has joined the ranks of Walkspace and her work reveals new layers of sacred significance to the site now known as Spaghetti Junction. Her INTERCHANGE field guide posits the site at Gravelly Hill as not merely a motorway junction, but a place of “physical and spiritual interchange over hundreds, if not thousands, of years.”
Jen will be joined by Andy Howlett to help untangle the watercourses, crossings, caverns and megaliths that come together to form this utterly unique environment. Discover the Hawthorn Brook. Cross the ancient ford. Enter the Dwarf Holes. Honour the Holy Oak. Draw back the thin veil between worlds and leave your offering.
The pilgrimage will begin at 10am in Chamberlain Square, central Birmingham on Saturday 21st June. Meet Andy and Jen beside the fountain. From here we will make our way down to the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal which we shall follow all the way to Spaghetti Junction along the towpath – a distance of about 3.5 miles. After observances round and about the Interchange, we’ll aim for a picnic lunch at around 12:30-1pm beside Aston Reservoir.
To book please email: walkspace.uk@gmail.com
Bring a packed lunch, plenty of water, sun cream and wear sturdy shoes. The terrain is mostly pavement and towpath with some uneven and sloping sections, cobbles and narrow tunnels. Buses 65, 66, 67 and 68 all take you back to Birmingham and can be caught on Lichfield Road. Aston Station is also a 10-15 minute walk from the walk’s finishing point. For your evening festivities we heartily recommend Acid Solstice in Digbeth.
Text and image © Jen Dixon
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