Take home your own piece of Redditch history

Visitors to Arrow Valley are being invited to take home their own personal piece of Redditch history to mark two years since the first Covid-19 lockdown.

In a spontaneous public outpouring of positivity amidst the pandemic in 2020, thousands of locked-down residents left stones painted with messages of positivity for each other in Arrow Valley Country Park, forming a huge trail.

The trail inspired a permanent piece of artwork in the park last year, with a rainbow installation made from the carefully-collected ‘positivity rocks’, along with a carved stone and commemorative plaque to mark the starting point of the original trail.

Now people in the town are being invited to celebrate and take home the remaining ‘positivity rocks’ at a special one-off community event in the park.

All are welcome to the lakeside by the Arrow Valley Visitor Centre on Sunday 20 March from 1.30pm until 3.30pm, alongside the artists, sculptors and community groups who have been involved with the project.

The rock line started when a group of friends painted positive messages on stones and lined them up along a park path for people to find. It struck a chord, and the line went on to reach over 7,000 stones stretching across the 900-acre country park in the middle of Redditch.

Lauren Mernagh, 17, started the Redditch Positive Rocks Line. She said: “We're so excited for you to join us to celebrate two years since the Redditch Positivity Rockline. An event that brought the community together. So come along so we can meet the faces behind the rocks. Can't wait to meet you all, thank you for all the support always!”

Around 1,000 of the positivity rocks were used in the rainbow art installation, and the remaining rocks will now be laid out at Sunday’s event for anyone who wants to take away their own piece of this unusual chapter in Redditch’s local history.

Portfolio Holder for Leisure Cllr Joanne Beecham said: “My thanks and congratulations go to Lauren for doing what she did and bringing the town together. For someone so young she is truly an inspiration. There aren’t many people in Redditch who don’t have some kind of connection to that rock trail, whether we left a stone ourselves, knew someone who did, or watched it grow on our walks. There are also not many people who haven’t been affected in some way by Covid, so positive actions like the rock trail should be celebrated. This is a chance for visitors to take home their own piece of Redditch history.”

Council leader Cllr Matt Dormer said: “It’s something we’ll never forget, and I’m sure many people will be looking forward to taking home their own personal commemoration rock from this event. It’ll always be a little bit of local history.”

Redditch Borough Council owns and manages the park and commissioned and provided space for the community-led works of art.