Martineau Gardens Instameet – IgersbirminghamUK

by Damien Walmsley 10/04/2023 22/04/2023

Martineau Gardens, Edgbaston, IgersbirminghamUK, April

There is a hidden gem close to Birmingham city centre and must be ranked as one of the places to visit. Martineau Gardens is a beautiful community garden just off Priory Road in the middle of Edgbaston. After getting off the 61/63 bus that leaves the city, cross the Bristol Road and make your way up the hill on Priory Road. After a short walk, Martineau Gardens is on your right. There is a wooden entrance hut that leads you into two and a half acres of beautiful gardens. Martineau is a mixture of traditional gardens and a woodland towards the back of the property. The hub of the gardens is the Pavilion, so named, as there were originally tennis courts here as part of the land. The building, which will be renovated in the coming year, is a welcoming centre for the gardens. There is the opportunity to sit out on the table and chairs and share a cuppa with the volunteers and other visitors.

IgersbirminghamUK run Instameets where we invite local photographers to a venue. We tag our pictures and share them both on Instagram and also with the venue who kindly allowed us to photograph their property. At the start of the meeting, we were met by Jenni Fyer, CEO of Martineau Gardens who gave us an introduction to the gardens. Jenni outlined the history of the place where it was once used by teachers to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Now it is a community garden and is maintained by volunteers. The gardens pride themselves on being a therapeutic environment of organically maintained land, close to the city centre. The environment helps the community and supports people from different backgrounds especially those with various special needs. Jenni invited us to roam around the gardens, which were just waking up from the winter months, to take as many photographs as possible and then to join her and the volunteers for a cuppa at the Pavilion. After the obligatory group photograph of the IgersbirminghamUK participants, we were then left free to wander around the grounds.

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I do love Instameets as it is a chance to catch up with old friends. Therefore there was much chatting with people before the real business of the visit; the photographing began. I made my way to the entrance and then into the formal gardens. There were spring flowers around and the buds were only just appearing on the trees. Next was the herb garden and the orchard. The sun was out making shadow play on the greenhouse glass and the wood of the garden huts. The shipwreck play area looked fun, and a mental note was made to bring my grandchildren back to see the place. Whilst the wildflower area was not yet up and running, I enjoyed taking pictures of the wheelbarrows, watering cans and the potted flowers. I then moved onto the woodland walk and was immediately surrounded by tall trees and foliage.

This part of the gardens is Designated a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINC). Jenni Fryer had mentioned that this area is teaming with wildlife and is a welcome green corridor amongst the urban conurbation that surrounds the gardens. There was a pond that looked a great place for dragon and damsel flies over the summer months. Next along the path was a Sacred Circle for meeting on a common ground and then a collection of beehives. There was much activity in the hives so I did not get too close! I slowly wandered back as I found myself content just strolling through the gardens. There was the occasional sound of tennis balls against rackets as we were neighbouring onto the Edgbaston Priory Tennis Club but otherwise you could lose yourself in the environment.

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Upon returning to the Pavilion, one of the volunteers made me a lovely cuppa. Then there was time to chat talking about the photography and the gardens. Before saying my goodbyes, I purchased some apple and mango chutney from the shop. Something to remind me of the visit later.

I started off this blog saying that this is a hidden gem. It is no longer hidden to me and this will be a place to visit in the future with the family. Martineau Gardens is a place to visit to meditate, to unwind and let the stresses of life fall away. There is so much to enjoy and see.

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Finally thank you to all the volunteers and staff and thanks to Jenni Fryer for welcoming us and to Sarah Hill-Daniel at the gardens for arranging the date and timing of the IgersbirminghamUK visit.

Please follow these tags on Instagram to see more photographs by the talented people @IgersbirminghamUK.
#martineaugardens
#igersuk_meet_martineau

If you wish to discover more about the gardens then please visit the Martineau Gardens Website. There is also an informative leaflet plus map of the gardens.

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Four Churches Bike Ride

by Damien Walmsley 02/04/2023 22/04/2023

The Old British School, Umberslade Baptist Chapel, March 2023

Spring is often the best time to set off on a bike ride around the Warwickshire countryside. I take my smaller camera bag with me which can hold my Canon D5 Mark IV in addition to two lenses, my EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and this time my wide angled EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM. I planned my travels around four churches which are in cycling distance and make an ideal circular route. On my way, I passed by Packwood House towards the canal where I can use the towpath and then up towards Lapworth. There is a well-positioned canal bridge that offers good views of the countryside, and this is where I turn onto the road leading to the first church on my trip. As I was passing, there was a canal boat moored up to the bank which lined up for a nice picture. The scene was featured on the Midlands Today weather feed on Twitter.

Canal Scene at Lapworth, March 2023 — This scene was featured on BBC Midlands today social media feeds.

St Mary the Virgin at Lapworth
The road to St Mary the Virgin at Lapworth takes you through a quiet part of Warwickshire. Ever since the construction of the M40 which took away a busy access road, the place is a safer place for cycling. St Mary’s church has a prominent position looking out over the Warwickshire countryside. Whilst impressive in size on the outside, it retains warmth and welcome inside. The church was open, enabling me to take an interior picture, whilst listening to some rather good piano music being played by a parishioner. On the outside, I love the texture of the brickwork and the position of the church next to the road. The small outside annex is also interesting.

St Mary the Virgin at Lapworth, March 2023 — The cosy interior of St Mary the Virgin at Lapworth. Note the piano player on the right of the picture.

St Mary the Virgin at Lapworth has a web page that links to further information.

St Thomas’s Church at Hockley Health
Back on my bike, I crossed the busy Stratford Rd and onto another quiet road. There is a steep hill down to a hollow which is fun to ride but there is payback with an uphill climb to St Thomas’s Church at Hockley Heath. This imposing Victorian church is built of red brick. I often pass it in the car on my way to Tamworth in Arden and beyond. Taking the time to stop off and explore the church was fun. The church was locked and therefore most of the pictures show the outside red brick work.

St Thomas's Church at Hockley Health, March 2023 — The Victorian St Thomas’s church.

For further information St Thomas is part of the Hockley Heath – Packwood Churches

Umberslade Baptist Chapel
The road to the next church is not very bike friendly and luckily the entrance to Umberslade Baptist Chapel is only 100 metres down the road. The approach to this pretty church is via a tree lined avenue. Upon entering the church grounds, the first building you encounter is the Old British School. This old disused building has a printed piece of paper on the door which reads “The Nuthurst British school 1877-1913”. There then follows the name of the Headmistress and the four teachers who worked there. The building sits at the end of the tree lined road and then further on there is the church. However, the dilapidated school house holds the more interesting story. Whilst it is all locked up, I just like to think what it must have been like when the school was active. Now the school is bowing out gracefully.

Umberslade Baptist Chapel, March 2023 — The British School House front view.

To learn more about this church then follow the Facebook group which has atmospheric pictures of the inside.

St Giles’ Church, Packwood
Leaving Umberslade Baptist Church, I crossed back over the busy Stratford road in Hockley Heath and started the journey home. The way back took me past St Giles, Church, Packwood which was the final church of the four. St Giles is a very picturesque church. Cycling down the path, I arrived at the gate where I parked the bike. When I entered the church grounds, my eye caught sight of an array of daffodils on one of the graves. The flowers helped me take a low down view of the church as the picture shows. St Giles church was also open to visitors. The inside of the church catches the light and on a late afternoon, the sun shines through the stained glass windows creating patterns on the walls. The play on light and dark makes a good subject for photography. I lingered in the church for a few minutes taking in the surroundings.

St Giles Church, Packwood, 2023 — The daffodils are still out in Packwood.

For further information follow the Hockley Heath/Packwood churches link.

Then it was time to head home, process the pictures and write up a blog of my travels. If you enjoy my accounts of my bike rides here are a few more for you to read through.

Stratford Greenway

Bike Riding in May