On Saturday 10th June I am delivering a free walking tour of Selly Oak’s radical history.
Primarily focused on the “long 1970s” the walk does look at the longer run of Selly Oak’s history too… It is an evolution of a walking tour that I produced with several colleagues when I worked at the University of Birmingham in 2018 as part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund supported Activist Selly Oak Project. Having kept doing some research off my own bat more recent findings are summed up here.
This iteration of the tour is produced as part of the Walkspace Midlands Group Show 2023 (3rd – 21st June), which is primarily a visual arts exhibition taking place at Artefact in Stirchley. It promises to be excellent and is well worth checking out. There will be an opportunity to do so after the walk on the 10th June.
Full details of the walk and registration are below
Overview
Viewed while crawling along the Bristol Road from the top deck of the 63 bus, Selly Oak seems like the archetypical Birmingham suburb: ranks of Victorian terraces sloping up hillsides; major roads peppered with cookie-cutter retail parks; endless parades of takeaways. An early 21st Century mise-en-scene given a dash of local flavour by the all-seeing eye of “Old Joe”, the imposing clock tower of the University of Birmingham.
On this walk Josh Allen looks to the recent (and less recent) past to reveal a very different side to this South Birmingham suburb. This is a Selly Oak where tenants blockaded roads to get council houses, where libertarian communists squatted derelict buildings to create print workshops, advice clinics, youth clubs and co-ops. A Maoist bookshop stood opposite what’s now Aldi and precarious migrant metalworkers launched weeks long strikes.
How might this undercurrent of radicalism have been encouraged by Selly Oak’s historic position at the crux between three counties? Join us on June 10th to find out. See below for details.
Walk Details
Meet Josh Allen and Andy Howlett in the public square outside Bournbrook Pavilion at 10am on Saturday 10th June. The route is just under 2 miles and finishes outside Big Johns on the Bristol Road. We’ll be walking at a gentle pace with regular stops along the way. We aim to be finished by 12pm. For those who wish to hop on the train to visit Artefact for coffee and to see the exhibition after the walk, you’re welcome to join us.
Surfaces will all be hard tarmac, bricks or slabs. There are no steps involved, but several inclines, some of which are pretty steep.
This event is organised by Walkspace as part of the Walkspace 23 exhibition at Artefact (June 3 – July 1 2023)
Register
Many thanks to Walkspace Midlands, its steering committee, and especially Andy Howlett, for their assistance programming and producing the tour.
Header image is a screengrab from a ATV News Report on the 8th October 1976. It is publicly accessible via the MACE Archive.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1i93peg8a4bp2lu8yukkf/Whatstandwell-CrichNationalTramwayMuseum.gpx?rlkey=x3hcw0nnw1jq060q4ox1lhy0u&st=dzwj5azy&dl=0