Beacons of the Future

Ben Waddington

Sun 16 June // 12pm // 131 minutes approx

GUIDED WALK

£7 0r limited FREE tickets

Meet: outside The Olive School, 19 Byron Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B10 0EW

Ends: Milk Street, Deritend B5 5SU

'Beacons of the Future' is a quote from the short story ‘The Adventure of the Naval Treaty’ in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, in which Holmes impels Watson to 'Look at those big, isolated clumps of buildings rising up above the slates, like brick islands in a lead-coloured sea.' — 'The board-schools,' — 'Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring the wiser, better England of the future.'

Sixteen of Birmingham's own board schools remain; curious architectural interlopers in the city’s skyline, appearing amongst the spires, turrets, minarets and domes. Holmes’ beacons are characterised by the ventilation systems designed by Martin and Chamberlain, who were well-versed in giving utilitarian structures an air of reverence. There is a beguiling beauty to these often bizarre-looking towers: ‘Birmingham Gothic’, a brash interpretation of Gothic Revival in red brick and terracotta, bold in its defiance of harmony and constraint. Our three-mile walk through south-east Birmingham connects six of these strange towers, along with a few other intriguing vertical Victorian features. A curious walk of discovery and persistence rather than of sight-seeing, taking in some of the city’s most industrial and least-swept streets. A long side-lined idea of a walk that has finally found its time with the broader theme of Sherlockian investigations.

Footwear suitable for urban walking and weather-appropriate clothing is essential. Water is advised for this longer walk.

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