18th May we went with our youth panel and art club members to discover Highgate. First step was to check out our giant map, and find out where people wanted to go.

We went to the Baptist Church, home of Rev. Peter Stanford (1858-1909), who was the first Black Baptist Minister in the UK (Benjamin Zephaniah’s character in Peaky Blinders is loosely based on him).  There were a few other Black Ministers in the UK in the 18th and 19th Century, but Rev. Stanford’s story from slavery in America is quite incredible, and best read in his autobiography.  Following his invite to become a minister in Birmingham (a mark of how progressive a city it was), he was libelled, slandered and ostracised.  He was a prominent campaigner for racial justice, and also was a part of Birmingham’s ‘Civic Gospel‘ encouraging wealthy people in Birmingham to pay for ‘Civic Good’ like supporting the new movements to provide Public Parks and Public Libraries.  Watch the Black History In Birmingham film.

We went on to the Park on the site of a ‘Middlemore Childrens Home’, where local destitute and poor children were prepared for their long journey to a new life in Canada and Australia in the early twentieth century.  Conybere Street was once a major bustling High Street in Birmingham built on the origins of ‘Medieval Birmingham’.  We passed two food bank locations, and walked to the site of a former cinema on the corner of Leopold Street and Alcester Road, and popped in on a shopping arcade on Vaughton Street.

In the afternoon we visited Stanhope Wellbeing Hub Community Garden, and went on to New Hope Park, talking to local residents and finding out more about Highgate.

There is still loads to discover, and we plan to do more walks, interviews, photography in the Summer, finding out more about Highgate and what young people think – we’ll keep posting here!