Bull Street Pocket Park

As part of Sandwell Council’s Urban Greening scheme, and delivered through Multistory’s Green Roots in West Bromwich community arts and cultural programme, we worked in collaboration with Learners from Sandwell College’s Foundation Learning department on a project to further develop the Pocket Park on Bull Street in the heart of West Bromwich.

Since September 2024, Ruby Lewis, from local arts collective Bostin’ Arts, has worked closely with learners, hosting weekly design, drawing, poetry and planting workshops, with the aim of creating and maintaining a ‘pocket’ of wilderness in the urban bustle of West Bromwich town centre. In the first workshop, Ruby led the class in a survey of the Park and the creation of a herbarium (a collection of dried plant material for scientific study) so that they could appreciate the wilderness that was already present. The learners identified over fifty plants, which helped inform the group’s plans for what they would plant in the garden, and especially in thinking about what species would thrive there.

Using the plants from the herbarium, Ruby taught the learners how to monoprint, which is a printing technique that produces one unique image. The prints produced in the workshops were then used as inspiration by the learners for the design of the mosaic trail that runs through the Park. The group agreed that the mosaics would mirror and celebrate the plant and animal life that was already present in the Pocket Park and that the trail would be a bold, colourful line that runs through the Park throughout the year, especially in the autumn and winter months. Another key aspect of the learners’ design are the two steel arches that frame the entrance to the Park, that create a portal-like structure and were installed with help of Karl Lewis and Sam Hale, also of Bostin’ Arts.

The Pocket Park is filled with the creative endeavors of Ruby and the learners and it has blossomed over the course of the academic year into a thriving communal space, full of wildness, greenery and creative elements for everyone to enjoy.

“When we first saw the park, it was nothing – just dead land. Until this lady called Ruby came in. We turned this desert into what it is today. It took a lot of effort, and months of work, and I thank Ruby and my classmates for making it possible.”

“It’s filled with life and dreams.”

Everyone who has been involved in this project is proud to announce that, as of June 2025, the Pocket Park is officially open to the public!

A final message from one of the learners: “This park is for all of us to enjoy so please don’t step on the plants or insects!”