Hawkesley is an area of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is part of 'The Three Estates', the housing estates Hawkesley, Pool Farm, and Primrose. These are to the south of (and effectively sub-areas of)
Kings Norton
Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward within the Government of Birmingham, England. The district lies 6.5 miles south-southwes ...
. The Ordnance Survey grid reference is SP0477.
Hawkesley was an important area of action during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
particularly aroun
Hawkesley Farmwhich is situated further towards
Longbridge
Longbridge is an area of Northfield in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire.
Public Transport
Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus services run by Kev's Coa ...
site of the famous motor works.
Wast Hills Tunnel
The Wast Hills Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. Its northern portal is in Hawkesley, Birmingham. Its southern portal is in fields just outside the city's boundaries, in Worcestershire.
Construction and measureme ...
, on the
Worcester and Birmingham Canal
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn (just after the river lock) and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long.
There ar ...
, passes beneath the area.
The Three Estates New Deal for Communities in place since 2001 has encouraged
urban regeneration
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
.
UK artists Gavin Wade and
Alec Finlay
Alec Finlay (born 14 March 1966) is a Scottish-born artist currently based in Edinburgh. He is a son of Sue Finlay and Ian Hamilton Finlay. Finlay's work takes various forms and media, including poetry, sculpture, collage, audio-visual, neon, and ...
working with poet
Paul Conneally
Paul Terence Conneally (born 1959 in Sheffield, United Kingdom) is a poet, artist and musician based in Loughborough, UK.
Poetry and art
In the field of poetry Conneally is best known for his haiku and haiku-related forms including haibun and ...
were commissioned to make public art in Hawkesley and as part of the work organised community
Renga
''Renga'' (, ''linked verse'') is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ''ku (''句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 mora (sound units, not to be confused with syllables) per line are linked in succession by multiple poets. ...
workshops across the Three Estates making a unique piece that forms part of Wade's huge Strategic Questions piece. The piece being co-funded by the Three Estates New Deal for Communities and Birmingham City Council.
External links
Birmingham City Council: Three Estates
Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands
{{WestMidlands-geo-stub