The Middle of Everywhere: New Writing From Floodgate Press
Birmingham based indepndent publisher Floodgate Press have just published their second e-published collection of flash fiction The Middle of Everywhere: New Writing From Floodgate Press.
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Walk Midlands 10 Most Viewed Walks in 2025
In 2025 more than 40,000 people have accessed Walk Midlands routes. These are the ten most viewed during the year.
A Three Day Walk on the Limestone Way
Corkscrewing for 46 miles between Rocester in Staffordshire and Castleton in the heart of the Derbyshire Peak District, the Limestone Way is an idiosyncratic, but very popular and enjoyable way to see the highlights of the White Peak plateau.
GRAIN Project’s Autumn 2025 Staffordshire Moorlands Photo Walks
A series of Artist-Led Photo Walks are taking place in locations across the Staffordshire Moorlands for people to experience and enjoy the natural environment, hear about landscape and folklore, wildlife habitats and heritage, and create new photographs.
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The Campden “Wonder”
Everything about the Campden “wonder”, a bizzare, weird and tragic true story which occured in the northern part of England’s Cotswolds in the early 1660s.
Walk Midlands 10 Most Viewed Walks in 2024
Here are the most viewed walks published in 2023 on the Walk Midlands website. As ever all are doable without a car.
Changes to the Walk Midlands Newsletter from January 2025
There will be some substantial changes made to the Walk Midlands Newsletter from the January 2025 issue. It is moving to Substack and adding some new sections.
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Night Time Economy Anthology
Birmingham indepndent publishers Floodgate Press have a new anthology out, and this time the focus is on the West Midlands region’s Night Time Economy, very, very broadly defined.
Birmingham Launch for “Vulcan’s Forge” Book Bluecoat Press Edition, Midlands Arts Centre 08/10/2024
The definitive edition of Janine Wiedel’s “Vulcan’s Forge” published by Bluecoat Press is having its West Midlands launch at MAC Birmingham on Tuesday 8th October 2024.
Walking the 60 Mile Long Harzer-Hexen-Stieg (Harz Witches Trail)
All about walking the excellent 60 mile long Harzer-Hexen-Stieg (Harz Witches Trail) across the Harz Mountains in northern central Germany.
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Event Recordings: “Step into Coventry’s History: A Virtual Walking Tour”
Recordings from the “Step into Coventry’s History: A Virtual Walking Tour” event I was a panellist for in May 2024 are available on YouTube.
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Event: STORIE feat. Josh Allen, Ashley Hickson-Lovence, So Mayer & Jackson Rees
I am delighted to have been invited to share a chunk of my book project at Storie on the evening of Thursday 20th June 2024 (19:00 – 21:30).
Continue reading Event: STORIE feat. Josh Allen, Ashley Hickson-Lovence, So Mayer & Jackson Rees
Event: Step into Coventry’s History – A Virtual Walking Tour
Event: Step into Coventry’s History – A Virtual Walking Tour.I am delighted to be on the panel for this excellent event (attendance at which is possible both online and in-person) on Wednesday 22nd May 2024
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Walk Midlands First Two Years – The Ten Most Popular Walks
Walk Midlands launched at the end of March 2022. Here are the ten most popular walks in terms of the number of people who have accessed them over the course of the last two years since the site launched. Scroll to the bottom to discover the most popular Walk Midlands walk of all so far.
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Janine Wiedel – Vulcan’s Forge
I was pleased to be invited by the renown documentary photographer Janine Wiedel to contribute a forward to a new book of her legendary late 1970s photographic project Vulcan’s Forge.
Midlands Spring History and Heritage Days Out on Foot
Selection of walks from the Walk Midlands collection showing how to get by foot and public transport to historic sites and attractions across the English Midlands region. All are typically free to enter or experience and have a radical bent.
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From Rea to Stour, Walkspace Walking the Severn/Trent Watershed
This year, in conjunction with Andy Howlett I was pleased to deliver Walkpace’s contribution to the event, which celebrated the Severn/Trent watershed, one of the Midland’s most important and defining geographical features.
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Event: Walkspace – “Walking the Watershed”, 12:00 – 15:00 (23/02/24)
Event: Walkspace – “Walking the Watershed”, 12:00 – 15:00 (23/02/24)
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Walk Across West Midlands Book
I am writing a book about walking across West Midlands county, from Binley Woods on the eastern edge of Coventry, to Moseley Old Hall on the north western fringe of Wolverhampton.
Walk Midlands 10 Most Viewed Walks Published in 2023
Here are the most viewed walks published in 2023 on the Walk Midlands website. As ever all are doable without a car.
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Walk Midlands 10 Most Viewed Walks in 2023
2023 has been another wildly successful year for Walk Midlands. Here are the most viewed walks this year doable without a car in the English Midlands.
Walks to “Christmas Card” Towns in the English Midlands
Christmas and the wider festive season is a time for visting cosy picturesque towns. Preferably with a market and carols. Luckily the Midlands has them in spades.
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Caldon Canal
Stretching from the heart of the Potteries out into the hilly, wooded part of north east Staffordshire bisected by the River Churnet, lying between Leek and Uttoxeter, known as the “Staffordshire Rhineland”, the Caldon Canal is a waterways system as much singular channel.
No car required: Understanding the Midlands one step at a time
Kindly hosted by Walkspace West Midlands “No car required: Understanding the Midlands one step at a time” a set of reflections upon two years of working on Walk Midlands.
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Real Mythical and Legendary People of the English Midlands
A selection of walks up and along a wide plethora of ridges situated right across the English Midlands
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Review: Joel Lane – “From Blue to Black”
Review of Joel Lane’s errie rock music novel set in early 1990s Birmingham and the Black Country “From Blue to Black” published by Influx Press.
Malerweg: Walk German Midlands
All about a week long walk along the Malerweg Trail in Germany’s Saxon Switerland National Park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.
The Crooked House, Himley, in Memorandum
Now reduced to a pile of rubble, for reasons which have been subjected to much speculation, The Crooked House pub in Himley was a true Midlands legend.
Eight Hills Regional Park
Recently the National Trust announced a consultation into plans they have to create a new Eight Hills Regional Park in northern Worcestershire.
Ridge Walks in the Midlands
A selection of walks up and along a wide plethora of ridges situated right across the English Midlands
The River Trent’s Source
For such a mighty and important river, 185 miles long in total, the River Trent has an incredibly modest start. It rises next to a 1980s vintage housing estate on the southern edge of the little Staffordshire Moorlands District village of Biddulph Moor.
Digbeth Stories
Nascent Birmingham publishers Floodgate Press have published their first book an incredibly varied anthology about the city’s centrally situated Digbeth district: Digbeth Stories.
Weaver Hills
All about the Weaver Hills in north eastern Staffordshire. The most southerly part of the Pennine and the Peak District.
Walks to Midlands Places of Folk Custom, Mystery and Legend
A selection of walks from across the English Midlands celebrating the region’s folklore and folk customs.
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A Long Weekend Walk in Eastern Staffordshire
An account of a 3 and a half day walk in eastern Staffordshire one May bank holiday weekend exploring the sparsely populated, famously rather mystical land between the Trent and the Derbyshire Peak District.
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The Perry Barr Coiners
All about the Perry Barr coiners. A group of forgers and fraudsters in the Birmingham and Black Country area a little bit like David Hartley’s Cragg Vale coiners. They were led by William Booth a farmer from Perry Barr.
History and Heritage Days Out on Foot
A wide ranaging selection of walks from the Walk Midlands collection showing how to get by foot and public transport to historic sites and attractions across the English Midlands region. There is a historical day out, where yu can really feel the past come to life, for everybody.
Event: “Squats, Street Theatre and Sprints into Staffordshire: A walking tour of Selly Oak’s radical history” Sat 10th June 2023 (10:00 – 12:00)
On Saturday 10th June I am delivering a free walking tour of Selly Oak’s radical history. Find out more.
Abbots Bromley Horn Dance
All about the unique and mysterious Abotts Bromley Horn Dance folk dance ritual performed annually in the little village of Abotts Bromley in Staffordshire.
Walks for May Bank Holidays
12 walks across the English Midlands celebrating the first year of the website Walk Midlands a guide to day walks in the English Midlands accessible without a car, for walkers interested in all aspects of the region’s people, landscape and history being published.
How to Walk From Manchester to Leeds in Four Days
Want to walk from Manchester to Leeds? Here is a guide suggesting how to walk between Manchester and Leeds in four days via a route that is relatively easy, covers ground efficently and passes points and places od interest along the way.
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Wakefield – Leeds (Manchester to Leeds Day 4)
Description of a 13 and a bit mile walk from Wakefield to Leeds. Across the countryside, along canalised rivers, and through the little towns and villages ringing the conurbation. Then past Amazon warehouses, across the M62 and up the River Aire path to get into the heart of the city. Part four of the four…
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Penistone – Wakefield (Manchester to Leeds Day 3)
Description of a 17 mile walk from Penistone to Wakefield. Across rolling, wooded and hilly countryside. Past Yorkshire Sculpture Park and across the Calder and Heble Navigation. Part three of the four day walk from Manchester to Leeds
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Glossop – Penistone (Manchester to Leeds Day 2)
Description of an 18 mile walk from Glossop to Penistone. Via Longdendale in the Peak District National Park, across the moorland around Woodhead, then into more gently hilly country around Penistone. Part two of the four day walk from Manchester to Leeds
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Bleaklow
All about Bleaklow a gritstone plateau in the Derbyshire Peak District 633 metres above sea level at its highest point. It is also home to the most easterly point in Britain above 610 metres.
Manchester – Glossop (Manchester to Leeds Day 1)
Description of a 15 mile walk from Manchester to Glossop. Initially along canals then across hillsides on the edge of the Peak District. Part one of the four day walk from Manchester to Leeds
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Walking from Manchester to Leeds
Outline of a planned walking route from Manchester to Leeds, along canal towpaths, across the Peak District via the Trans Pennine Trail, then north from Penistone to Wakefield via the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, before walking up the Aire Navigation to the centre of Leeds
Middleton Top
All about Middleton Top, a working steam engine that once powered an incine plane in Derbyshire. An incredible survival form the earliest days of railways which worked until 1963 with amazing views across the white peak landscape.
Wyrley and Essington Canal
All about the Wyrely and Essington Canal. A famously meandering former industrial waterway north east of Walsall and Wolverhmpton nicknamed the curly whirly.
12 Months of Walk Midlands
12 walks across the English Midlands celebrating the first year of the website Walk Midlands a guide to day walks in the English Midlands accessible without a car, for walkers interested in all aspects of the region’s people, landscape and history being published.
Help Shape the Proposed West Midlands County Walking Trail
West Midlands Combined Authority are thinking about creating a West Midlands Walking Trail. They want members of the public to have a say in shaping it. Find details of the survey and consultation groups here.
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Review: The Art Schools of the West Midlands
“The Art Schools of the West Midlands” is a historical research inspired exhibition by John Beck and Matthew Cornford on at the New Art Gallery Walsall until 2nd July 2023 which maps and explores the lives and afterlives of the western Midlands civic art schools.
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Compton Verney’s Old Town Meadow
Compton Verney’s Old Town Meadow. A gently hilly field in Warwickshire with a fascinating past, an enaging present and a bright future
Days Out Without A Car in the English Midlands
Walks from the Walk Midlands collection that show how to reach days out and attractions across the Midlands on public and transport and foot without a car.
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Review: Making Mischief – Folk Costume in Britain
“Making Mischief – Folk Costume in Britain” at Compton Verney until 11th June 2023, explores the ongoing resonance of folk culture old and new in contemporary Britain.
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England’s £2 Single Bus Fares Extended Until 30th June 2023
England’s two pound single bus fares policy is being extended for another three months until 30th June 2023. Most Midlands bus routes are to cost two pounds regardless of distance or location.
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Matlock Bath
An exploration of Matlock Bath, a fascinating little resort town in a limestone dale on the edge of the Peak District, that is the perfect traditional seaside resort just 60 miles from the sea…
Stourport-on-Severn
Stourport-on-Severn is a mid-18th Century Midlands new town, one of the first in the UK called into being by the expansion of industry.
Three Long Distance Walk Ideas in the English Midlands
Going off for a day’s walking is wonderful. However, there are times when you don’t want to head back and just keep wanting to put one foot after the other. This is where longer distance walks, whether following a recognised trail, some of which tell beautifully intricate stories about people and places, come into play. … Continue reading Three Long Distance Walk Ideas in the English Midlands
Two Pound Single Bus Fares Until 31/03/23
Between 1st January and 31st March 2023 the price of single bus fares on most operators in England is being capped at £2.00.
Review: Horror in the Modernist Block
Review of Horror in the Modernist Block, IKON’s Gallery Birmingham’s visual art exhibition on until 1st May 2023.
Christmas and New Year Walks
Weather allowing the festive break between Christmas and New Year is a perfect time to go for a walk.
Review: From City of Empire to City of Diversity: A Visual Journey
From City of Empire to City of Diversity: A Visual Journey uses the fabulous, and until recently criminally difficult to access Dyche collection, as a starting point for a journey into over 130 years of how Birmingham has been represented and documented through photography.
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7 Tips for Day Walking Without a Car
Ever wanted a few top tips on how to get the most out of walk and exploring on days out in the UK without a car? These suggestions from Walk Midlands a website about day walks in the English Midlands doable without a car are a great starting place
Malcolm X in the Midlands
It seems almost like a dream, but Malcolm X spent time during his final weeks speaking and organising in the English Midlands.
Review: Until the Last Oak Falls
Review of “Until the Last Oak Falls” by the photographer Adrian Fisk. A fascinating trove of documentary photos of the mid to late 1990s road protests.
Bugsworth Basin
Bugsworth Basin was the busiest inland port on Britain’s narrow canal network in the 19th Century shipping Peak District limestone towards Manchester.
A (Short) Long Distance Walk in the White Peak
A long distance walk of around 40 miles doable in two and a half days throughout Derbyshire’s beautiful limestone White Peak District.
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Eyam – Bakewell (Day 3 of an Autum Walk in the White Peak)
Eyam – Bakewell the final part of a three day walk in Derbyshire’s White Peak
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Hartington – Eyam (Day 2 of an Autumn Walk in the White Peak)
Outline of the second day of a long distance autumn walk in Derbyshire’s White Peak from Hartington to Eyam
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Ashbourne – Hartington (Day 1 of an Autumn Walk in the White Peak)
Story of a walk in early Septembet from Ashbourne – Hartington in Derbyshire’s White Peak
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Hemlock Stone
An introduction to the Hemlock Stone an enigmatic sandstone rock protruding from Stapelford Hill not far from Nottingham.
Nottingham Canal
The story of the Nottingham Canal. An inland waterway in Nottingham and Derbyshire largely abandoned in the 1930s and partially transformed into a park, nature reserve, walking and cycling route by Broxtowe Borough Council since they bought a chunk of it in 1977.
Review: Blood & Fire: Our Journey Through Vanley Burke’s History
Review of Vanley Burke’s Birmingham Festival 2022 exhibition Blood & Fire: Our Journey Through Vanley Burke’s History at Soho House Handsworth
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Long Mynd Common
Discover the story of how centuries of commoning and collective managemrnt on Shropshire’s striking Long Mynd plateau has created a unique landscape
Review: Radical Landscapes
Review of the Radical Landscapes Exhibition at Tate Liverpool until 4th September 2022
Review: Home from Home
Review of the Home from Home exhibition at National Trust Birmingham’s Back to Backs
Earlswood Lakes: “The Scarborough of the Midlands”?
Earlswood Lakes: “The Scarborough of the Midlands”?
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Review: Wonderland Cinema Walk
Review of Flatpack Project’s Wonderland Cinema Walk which took place on 2nd July 2022
Flash
All about the geography, history and present life of the village of Flash in the Staffordshire Peak District. The highest village in Britian.
Remembering the Woman in the Wych Elm
In-depth discussion of the case of a still unidentified body found in 1943 hidden inside a wych elm near Wychbury Hill *see content warning at start of piece*
Walk Midlands Featured in I Choose Birmingham 28/04/22
On 28th April 2022 Walk Midlands was featured in the weekly IChoose Birmingham newsletter.
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Walking the Derwent Valley Heritage Way
In April 2022 I spent 4 days (5 including the day I spent looking around Cromford) walking the Derwent Valley Heritage Way. Read the full set of my experiences each day below: Day 1 Long Eaton – Derby City Centre Day 2 Derby City Centre – Cromford Day 3 Cromford – Calver Day 4 Calver… Continue reading Walking the Derwent Valley Heritage Way
Calver to Ladybower Reservoir
Day Four, the final part of my walk in April 2022 up the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, was from Calver to Ladybower Reservoir. It was a bit shorter than the other days, around 16 kilometres (just over 10 miles). However, I had to complete it and get back to Bamford Railway Station in time to… Continue reading Calver to Ladybower Reservoir
Cromford to Calver
After a day spent looking around Cromford and it’s surrounds, visiting Arkwright’s Mill and dropping into Wirksworth, one of my favourite towns in Derbyshire (this is how you walk there from Ambergate Railway Station) it was time to set off once more. This third day of walking is the second longest of my walk along… Continue reading Cromford to Calver
Derby City Centre to Cromford
Setting off for the second day of my walk up the Derwent Valley Heritage Way I was departing from Derby city centre. This section of the walk takes in almost the entire 15 miles of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. It was here where in the 18th Century early capitalists like Richard Arkwright… Continue reading Derby City Centre to Cromford
Long Eaton to Derby City Centre
Yesterday I kicked off my walk up the Derwent Valley Heritage Way The primary objective on day one was to get from Long Eaton Railway Station, a bit due east and south of Derby, to Derby city centre. This may have seemed like undue punishment. However, I am keen to walk the route in its… Continue reading Long Eaton to Derby City Centre
Derwent Valley Heritage Way
Outline of a 4 day walk along thew Derwent Valley Heritage Trail from the inland port of Shardlow in the south of Derbyshire up to Ladybower Reservoir
Walk Midlands on BBC Radio WM
Walk Midlands was featured on Kath Stancyszym’s 10:00 to 14:00 show on BBC Radio WM on 12th April 2022.
Three Day Walk From Sheffield to Manchester
Overview and routes taken during a three day walk between Sheffield and Manchester across the Peak District National Park
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Sheffield – Manchester (Day 3)
Day Three of a three day walk from Sheffield to Manchester
Kinder Scout (Mass Trespass)
On the third day of my walk from Sheffield to Manchester, I opted to remain in Thornsett and undertake something of a personal pilgrimage. On the 24th April this year, 90 years will have elapsed since the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass in 1932. This event saw around 400* young people from Manchester and the surrounding… Continue reading Kinder Scout (Mass Trespass)
Sheffield – Manchester Day 2
Day Two of a three day walk from Sheffield to Manchester
Sheffield – Manchester Day 1
Today I began my walk from Sheffield to Manchester My objective on the first day was to walk from the centre of Sheffield to Hope in the eastern half of the Peak District. The walk started in earnest from Sheffield City Hall. Then shortly after I passed the fine, early 1980s vintage, former HQ of… Continue reading Sheffield – Manchester Day 1
Walking from Sheffield to Manchester
Outline and route of a walk between Manchester and Sheffield across the Peak District in early April 2022
Review: The Rural Gaze
Early in 2020 GRAIN Projects commissioned 11 projects from photographic artists to create work within communities across the rural English midlands.
Review: The Machinery
Sarah Angliss and Caroline Radcliffe’s performance piece The Machinery
Review: RURALities
Meadow Arts a Shrewsbury based contemporary arts organisation have launched RURALities their first ever digital programme of new work.