Rivers, Reservoirs, Ice and Sea – The Colours and Layers of Walthamstow. With Artists Gail Dickerson and London GeoDiversity Geologist Ruth Siddall.

Meeting at 10.30am at Forest Gate Station and finishing at 1.30pm at Wood Street Station. BOOK HERE

An Art and Geology inspired walk exploring the formation of Walthamstow, shaped by rivers, reservoirs , ice and sea. On this walk workshop you’ll encounter fun, unexpected ways to experience the city, using London Clay and other ‘geological’ materials to create ‘Thought Fragments’, forming a collective artwork.

You will glimpse of the oxidation and colours of London Clay and the recycling of Flint from the layers of Chalk through water, ice and heat to appear in its present form on the ground under our feet. Meandering through Wanstead Flats, Bush Wood and Leyton Flats.

Scratching the surface at Hollow Ponds and continuing through Epping Forest to the view over the Valley of Walthamstow from a foot bridge across the motorway. Then descending down from the plateau to finish at Wood Street Station.

You will be able to see and experience samples of rock from London’s geological strata shown at locations along the route, along with photocopies of maps and images. Related small artworks made with London Clay and local geological material will also be shown and small puddle shaped blank pieces of paper will be shared with participants to capture written and drawn ‘Thought Fragments’, which will finally form a collective artwork.

Part of InspiralLondon’s Re/Walk Festival – Excavate, Explore, Exchange – Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of InspiralLondon Trail with a festival of seven plus seven, unique walks as participatory experiences. The festival walks will take you to other hidden and less well-known parts of the city; detouring from the trail, in exploring underexplored, buried aspects of the city or walking together by night.

We wish to share the magic and multiplicity of the city with all its diverse inhabitants, and to get you walking; to explore the city with renewed curiosity, by excavating the other buried narratives and histories that make London so unique. Together, we will re/walk and re/make the city by foot.

Re/walk is generously supported by tfl WCGL grant, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and other walking group partners such as Kinetika T-100, Walking Artist Network, GPEP and soundcamp.