Retellings: BH365 Songlines for Greenwich

Retellings – interlinked Celebratory Walks for BH365 – Saturday 12 July 2025

InspiralLondons Songlines for Greenwich creates a day of polyphonic shared exploration  - 4 separate but interlinked walks along the InspiralLondon Trail. Starting from Mottingham, passing through Eltham, reaching up to Severndroog House and descending across Woolwich Common towards the River Thames. This walking event links up different parts of the Borough, highlighting Black Lives - unique reclaimed stories and hidden histories - located in Greenwich’s diverse landscape.

Join us in this day of interlinked walks that celebrate Black history and cultures within Greenwich as we traverse the Borough from Motterham to Woolwich. We will stop on the way for performances, talks and celebratory retellings – with partners including Mottingham Community Church, Oxleas Wood Friends, Severndroog Castle, Rusty Pub, St Edward the Confessor Community Church, Greenwich Get Walking and with T-100, Greenwich University, University of East London, Goldsmiths University, Museum of Slavery and Freedom (MOSAF).

This event is generously supported by Royal Borough of Greenwich Black History 365 Grant 2024 to 2025.

You can join one or more walks - or for full Retellings experience book for the day - Booking for all four walks from May 2025.

The first walk of Retellings starts at Motterham Station at 10.30am (10.30am-1.30pm) - We pass along King John’s Way to arrive at the end of this first walk near to Eltham Palace. We take time to admire the views and for a picnic lunch with refreshments at 1pm.

Second walk (2pm to 4pm) - A Walk from Eltham Station through Tudor London, time travelling past Eltham Palace, to walk up to the edge of Oxleas Wood, to reach Severndroog Castle at 4pm.

Third Exploration (4pm to 6pm) – Join us on this short exploratory walk with musical interludes in the woods around Severndroog Castle. We meet and congregate at Severndroog Castle from 4pm. The short walk will make a wooded circuit around the towers of the castle – exploring the hidden story behind the construction of the Castle, and its complex history. Through song, music and story-telling we explore together other histories that mirror post-colonial retellings of the past. Refreshments available.

Fourth Walk (6pm to 7.30pm) - Leaving the Castle at 6pm for a descent towards the River Thames, crossing Eltham Common and Shooters Hill we enter the wilderness of Woolwich Common, to finally arrive near to Woolwich Arsenal Station at 7.30pm.

From 8pm, there will be a final gentle perambulation down to the Thames and along the Thames pathway – for a final celebratory event.

Full details of walks and event will be available on the booking form (from May 2025): 

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