DOWN TO EARTH in The City

Fir at Cannon Hill Park possibly Abies grandis Winter 'evergreens', a suitable and seasonal distraction in terms of identification, providing a rather more challenging activity than the now fallen broad leaves, although having said that, a tree with no leaves is just as challenging when only buds and bark are at play. Also, the language of evergreens is somewhat different to that of broadleaves, in both biological terminology and description, providing a continual monologue through the year, with a voice that changes less hysterically than its broadleaf distant relatives. The other challenging difficulty of course is the weather, standing with a field guide and key on a cold day is not everyone's idea of fun. The subject trees related to in this passage are mainly those found locally either at the Cannon Hill Park Tree Trail or at the Highbury Park Pinetum and Highbury Estate.  All of the trees have been introduced with various planting schemes over the past 80 years or so,

Boer War Memorial Sculpture Cannon Hill Park The 'memorial statue' has become the subject of contention over the past few years, as the rewriting of history, providing us with alternative details of a particular event, gathers pace.  Edward Colston in Bristol Robert Milligan at West India Dock Quay Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford To name a few- Most, if not all statues of this kind represent either an occasion or an individual for actions deemed celebratory in their day, yet as successive generations awaken to  further revelations, the discussions can take a turn in another direction, and we begin to question other aspects and related facts. A broader section of our previously unvoiced society is able to voice opinions according to a different perspective. https://www.historyandpolicy.org/opinion-articles/articles/the-fall-of-slavery-statues-symbols-and-social-contention   The article - ' The fall of slavery: statues, symbols and social contention' -  addresses th

A pleasant walk, fine weather, lots of park activity, good company, jolly banter, shared knowledge and light humour were the ingredients for a fine health and well-being walk recipe. Veteran Willow at Cannon Hill  As is often the case during 'Down To Earth in The City' meetings the themes veered this way and that, but were largely kept on course by the landscape features at Cannon Hill Park and beyond. Added to the headliner features of hedgerow, meadow, ancient oaks and veteran willow was the Organic Growers Alliance conference at the MAC and a friendly rivalry encounter between the Hay Mills and Billesley Fire Crews. Birmingham's Premier Park can be a bustling hive of activity on occasion but most times provides a comfortable encounter for families, dog walkers, runners and casual visitors. If the need to escape suddenly becomes overwhelming, then a short walk across the main grass-covered arena to the woods will often suffice. In need of a greater escape? then venture fu

H ow we love to celebrate the British hedgerow, citing the great benefits to the natural world and the enhancement to the wider countryside, together with the annual 'National Hedgerow Week' and hedging competitions taking place around the country; mostly carried out by volunteers and amateurs it should be said, but also employing a few professionals in the process. A longside these annual events, there are written works aplenty and photographs combining to make a very interesting historical account, but with ramifications beyond the 'green and pleasant land' epithets.  ' E nclosures' with its sinister and oppressive connotations is cited in virtually all works on the subject, and on occasions in social history accounts too. S ylvia Federici makes many references in the Preface, Introduction to, and text in her book on capitalism, 'Caliban and the Witch', noting early on "...a new round of "enclosures" that have expropriated millions of ag

  A series of leisurely wayside walks -  along the streets, asides the rivers and through the parks accessible to all October 18th -  Riverside Walk Cannon Hill Park 12.00 start, meet at MAC courtyard November 1st- Trees of Highbury Park Highbury Park 11.00am meet at the car park off Shutlock Road November 15th -  Urban Walking Pacha House to Highgate Park 12.00 meet at Pacha House, Friends Hall and Institute, Old Moseley Road, Highgate November 29th -  Between The Oaks Kings Heath Park to Cannon Hill Park via Highbury Park 12.00 meet at the White House in the centre of the park

All compass point details are approximate Three cornered garlic or similar Library Terrace (Roof) garden To the west - Broad Street towards Five Ways West side looking south Baskerville House looking south east North east looking North north east East South

Meadows and pastures traditionally served the same purpose for feeding cattle and sheep throughout the year, pastures for all-year grazing and meadows providing hay for winter feeding, and these grassland features would have been an integral part of the city structure and development of the marketplace well into the 20th century. Many of our meadows are now managed for their wildlife value, maintained and enhanced on a single 'cut and collect' regime each year. By removing the nutrient-rich cuttings, the practice ensures a nutrient-poor soil layer, thus enabling a variety of flowering plants to thrive, rather than a coarse grass-dominated grassland.  Cannon Hill Meadow 2022 Highgate Park was Birmingham's first purchased municipal park, bought by the city council from a Trust set up at the request of the previous landowner Elizabeth Hollier in 1790, with an official acknowledgement by Mayor Joseph Chamberlain in 1876, three years after the opening of Cannon Hill Park. Up unt