Hosted by Charley as her final event with us at Birmingham TreePeople for the Urban Tree Festival 2025, we celebrated urban trees by walking through the legacy, magic, and species of the forest dedicated to Benjamin Zephaniah in Burbury Park, Newtown, where he grew up for a time with his family, Benjamin Zephaniah Family Legacy Group.

Attended by winning poets Annie Colloby, Phil Buckley, and Manish Popat-Szabries, as well as Benjamin’s family Joyce, Frank, and Daniel Springer, family friend Saida Chowdhury, and several other wonderful people, we walked through selected trees within The Zephaniah Forest.

The diverse species planted here range from Chinese Dogwood planted by Qian Zephaniah in November 2024 for National Tree Week (adjacent to Farm Street, where they lived), through to the hardy Fig tree planted by all of his friends, family, forest supporters, and local residents in February 2025. This will ideally climate-proof this park, creating a better chance for these trees and the legacy to survive.

We also talked about the incredible myths, legends, and practices surrounding the various species, ranging from Biblical to Ancient to medical to magical. The beautiful poems were carefully selected to pair with certain species of trees; these wonderful ideas can be tied to the legend of Benjamin in Birmingham, a true wonder of his time, and trees represent each day of his inspiring life. Charley said: