A Road Trip for Longbridge – dates announced

Austin Park, with Bournville College in the background.

I’ve been working with cultural planner Jenny Peevers to find a way to harness the Road Trip I’ve been developing as part of my Longbridge Public Art Project commission so that the conversations catalysed though it can be more effectively turned into actions.

As a result, we’ve linked two of the Road Trip events to two Supper Club meals that Jenny’s organised as part of a larger series.

Here’s how she describes the Supper Clubs:

…an exchange of food, stories and future possibilities. We bring the food, you bring the stories.

Through your stories we will map collective hopes and aspirations, getting more local voices heard as the new Longbridge grows.

So, on the 5th and 26th of April, you can spend the afternoon with me touring different corners of Longbridge and the surrounding areas looking for new angles on the theme of community, and then segue smoothly into a meal and some activities designed to identify what changes people would like to see taking place in Longbridge over the next few years.

Both events are free, but you will need to sign up in advance via these eventbrite pages (NB ticketing closes the Monday before each event so Jenny has time to prepare all the food!):

Road Trip + Supper Club combination, 5th of April, starting from Reaside Community Centre.

Road Trip + Supper Club combination, 26th of April, starting from Longbridge Methodist Church Hall.

For those of you who would like to take part in the Road Trip but not the Supper Club events, there is a Road Trip only taking place on the 29th of March. Sign up for your place on the minibus here.

Our conversation (although not necessarily the journey itself – check the sign-up pages for starting locations!) will start at Austin Park where the River Rea has been ‘realigned’ to look more natural. Our effect on our surroundings and our surroundings’ effect on us will be a recurring theme throughout the day.

Join us and add your feet and your voice.

These events are part of Longbridge Public Art Public (LPAP) conceived by EC Arts for and on behalf of Bournville College. For more information visit www.lpap.co.uk.

A road trip for Longbridge

As I mentioned recently, I’m one of a cohort of artists and other practitioners involved with the Longbridge Public Art Project (now with its own website).

Following those first explorations on foot, Colin Corke (vicar at St John the Baptist, former chaplain at the Longbridge car plant and general Austin/Rover aficionado) was kind enough to give me a motorised tour of the area.

We talked about communities, places to gather, places to get away to, landmarks, things that aren’t there and, yes, maybe a bit about cars too!

I found this a really eye-opening way to think about Longbridge and, as a result, I’ve decided that my main project for the residency will be to develop a guided tour taking in a selection of locations that relate to the themes of community, roots, travel and flows. A road trip for Longbridge.

I’m working with local residents and staff and students of Bournville College to pull together the content for the tour. See this post for my first request for stories about Frankley Services and/or St Leonard’s Church.

The draft route is currently weighing in at about 25 miles, so I think I’ll be researching mini-bus hire in the near future too!