Stirchley launches tourist walking tours after being named one of the best places to live in Britain - Birmingham Live

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A Birmingham suburb named as one of the best places to live in Britain has launched a series of walks for people to see what is so special about it.

Stirchley featured in the Sunday Times Best Places to Live 2021 guide which was published last week.

Bournville was also included in the list - with both suburbs being chosen as among the eight best places in the Midlands.

It is the first time both suburbs have featured in the prestigious article and now locals are taking advantage of their new found status.

A series of walking tours have been launched so locals, tourists and anyone thinking of moving to the area can have a mooch around and see all the nooks and crannies of Stirchley.

The first of these self-guided walks has now been drawn up. It starts in Stirchley High Street and takes in local landmarks, art, architecture, history and "odd places".

It has been organised by Walkspace, a group of Stirchley artists who came up with the idea of walking tours during lockdown.

Full details of the Walkspace tours can be found here.

Walkspace co-founder Fiona Cullinan said: "We had spent lockdown walking around the same streets over and over, so we started the project with us pinning curiosities and weird points of interest on a Google map.

"There are now nearly 250 pins on there with all kinds of oddities.

"The idea to do a National Trust-style tour guide started as bit of a joke, responding to the Conde Nast feature naming Stirchley as one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the UK.

Then with this year’s inclusion in the Sunday Times' list of best places to live I decided to finally realise it."

Ms Cullinan said that while, as a born and bred local, she found the attention "hilarious", it was also worrying in that house prices would be pushed up and rents for businesses would also increase.

"We originally aimed to launch this tour for new people moving into the area so they can learn what they have got themselves into by moving here - but now we want to make sure that tourists get to know the real Stirchley too, " she said.

Among the sites of interest on the Stirchley walking tour are an old Roman road, a "baffling" vintage postbox, a ghost on a cobbled pavement and Stirchley Gorilla.