Lost Rocks

Photographs taken circa 2015.

Many years ago when exploring the length of the River Tame, I came across these concrete curiosities abandoned in a shabby-looking and overgrown area near Hodge Hill. I walked this route on a few occasions, and each time I returned the rocks had gone walking, moved to another bit of the wasteland. On two occasions different burnt-out cars had arrived, and the stones had seemingly waddled over to take a look. Eventually, they must have got tired of this place, and wandered off to greater adventures, never to be seen again.

It was not till many years later that I learnt that they had been by the sculptor John Bridgeman, who was commissioned to produce a series of playground sculptures in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 2015, when I found these sculptures, another of Bridgeman's pieces in Acocks Green was grade II listed, and if I'd have known what these were I would perhaps have attempted to have them rescued.

These sculptures had been installed as part of the Firs estate, which Birmingham City Council built on an ancient floodplain of the River Tame. Needless to say, the eight-story flats soaked up the water and became so damp that the ground floor apartments were uninhabitable. When they were demolished in 2001, Bridgeman's sculptures must have been left behind, left to wander, rewilded to the land.

S C U L P T U R E O N E

Photographs taken circa 2015.