The Bittell Reservoirs (grid referenceSP017748) are located in Worcestershire between Barnt Green to the south and the Birmingham district of Longbridge to the north. They consist of the Upper (Upper Bittell) and Lower (Lower Bittell) reservoir. They were built to feed the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, which was finished in the 1790s, however, the reservoir was not completed until 1837. The 'Upper' reservoir is to ensure that the level of the canal is kept sufficiently high, even in times of drought. The 'Lower' reservoir(s) are compensatory reservoirs to ensure that the local area does not become parched in dry times.
The "Upper" reservoir can be seen as a form of insurance. A dried up, i.e. unusable, canal would have been disastrous for the owners of the canal as well as the artisans and tradesmen who relied upon it for a living. The irony of the reservoir is the length of time it took to build: only 6 years after it was finished the Birmingham & Gloucester railway was built alongside, mitigating the economic reasoning behind the large investment.
The reservoirs are quite obscure nowadays, however they are used actively. Today one can fish in several places, especially on the lower reservoirs. The upper reservoir is used for sailing and windsurfing, and is the home of the Barnt Green Sailing Club. The reservoir is also used by 1st Kings Norton Sea Scout Troop who occupy a large boathouse on the south east shore. The Upper reservoir is also used for open water swimming in the summer months by the local triathlon club. One bank of the reservoir is inaccessible because it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). During the early 20th century, the bird life of the reservoirs was regularly recorded by the West Midland Bird Club, long before such site-monitoring became commonplace. They were also visited regularly by a young Bill Oddie.
The Telegraph (Wednesday 15 November 2017 page 32) reported that during draining of Upper Bittell they found 500 critically endangered European eels. They were rehomed in the canal that the reservoir feeds.
The West Midland Bird Club is the UK's largest regional ornithological society. It has been serving birdwatchers and ornithologists in the four English counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the Metropolitan West Midlands, with lectures, field trips, research, a bulletin and an annual report, since 1929. It is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 213311.
Belvide Reservoir is a reservoir in South Staffordshire, England. It was built in 1833 to supply the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, and has been managed as a nature reserve since 1977. It has been used to study the effect of water level changes on bird populations.
Gailey Reservoir is a pair of canal feeder reservoirs in South Staffordshire, separated by a dam, and owned by the Canal & River Trust. Gailey Upper Reservoir is to the east; Gailey Lower Reservoir to the west.
Horace Gundry Alexander was an English Quaker teacher and writer, pacifist and ornithologist. He was the youngest of four sons of Joseph Gundry Alexander (1848–1918), two other sons being the ornithologists Wilfred Backhouse Alexander and Christopher James Alexander (1887–1917). He was a friend of Mahatma Gandhi.
The River Tame is the main river of the West Midlands of England, and one of the principal tributaries of the River Trent. The Tame is about 95 km (59 mi) long from the source at Oldbury to its confluence with the Trent near Alrewas, but the main river length of the entire catchment, i.e. the Tame and its main tributaries, is about 285 km (177 mi).
Barnt Green is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire, England, situated 10 miles (16 km) south of Birmingham city centre, with a population at the 2011 census of 1,794.
Bartley Reservoir is a reservoir for drinking water in Birmingham, England. It covers 460,000 square metres (5,000,000 sq ft).
Bartley Green is a residential suburban area and electoral ward to the south west of Birmingham city centre, England. The ward is part of the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency and is represented in parliament by Labour Co-operative MP Preet Gill. Located to the east is the Weoley ward, to the south is Frankley and to the west is the county of Worcestershire. To the north is Quinton and Woodgate Valley Country Park.
Brookvale Park Lake is a former drinking water reservoir in the Erdington area of Birmingham, England.
Edgbaston Reservoir, originally known as Rotton Park Reservoir and referred to in some early maps as Rock Pool Reservoir, is a canal feeder reservoir in Birmingham, England.. It is situated close to Birmingham City Centre and is a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation.
Brett Westwood is a radio presenter and author, specialising in natural history. He regularly presents episodes of BBC Radio 4's series The Living World and Nature, as well as his own short series, several of which are available from the BBC website. He is a co-presenter with Philippa Forrester of World on the Move, a BBC Radio 4 series that started in 2008 on migration in the animal kingdom. He is active in the West Midland Bird Club, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, and for the Worcestershire Biological Records Centre, which all cover the area around his home town of Stourbridge.
The Brent Reservoir is a reservoir between Hendon and Wembley Park in London. It straddles the boundary between the boroughs of Brent and Barnet and is owned by the Canal & River Trust. The reservoir takes its informal name from a public house called The Welsh Harp, which stood nearby until the early 1970s. It is a 68.6-hectare (170-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the only SSSI in either Borough and among more than 30 SSSIs in London.
Redditch railway station serves the town of Redditch, North Worcestershire, England. It is the southern terminus of the Cross-City Line 14.5 miles (23 km) south of Birmingham New Street. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by West Midlands Trains. Redditch station sits at the end of a single track branch line from Barnt Green which forms part of the Cross-City Line. The line used to continue south to Ashchurch and also Evesham but this was closed in the 1960s.
Barnt Green railway station serves the village of Barnt Green, North Worcestershire, England. It is situated 91⁄2 miles (15.3 km) south west of Birmingham New Street. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by West Midlands Trains.
The Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a network of narrow canals in the industrial midlands of England, is built on various water levels. The three longest are the Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Walsall levels. Locks allow boats to move from one level to another.
Birchills Junction is the canal junction at the northern limit of what is now called the Walsall Canal where it meets the Wyrley and Essington Canal main line, near Walsall, West Midlands, England. It opened in 1798, but lasted for little more than a year, until it was re-opened in 1841 when a connecting link was built to the Birmingham Canal Navigations' southern route to Walsall.
Earlswood Lakes is the modern name for three man-made reservoirs which were built in the 1820s at Earlswood in Warwickshire, England, to supply water to the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. They still supply the canal, and also provide leisure facilities, including sailing, fishing and walking. The northern banks of the lakes form the county boundary with the West Midlands.
Middleton Lakes RSPB reserve is a 160 hectares nature reserve, formally opened on 19 May 2011, created and run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at Middleton, Warwickshire, England, just south of Tamworth. The Northern part of the reserve lies in Staffordshire, yet the reserve is only a few minutes from the outskirts of Birmingham.
Broom Junction was a railway station and interchange between the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway and the Barnt Green to Ashchurch line. Although initially only an exchange station, it was opened to the public from 1880 and remained in service until 1963. Other than passengers changing trains, passenger traffic was low as the station was situated in a sparsely populated area near Broom in Warwickshire. The line to Stratford was the first to close in 1960, followed by the Barnt Green line in 1962.
Midland Sailing Club is an amateur sailing club, based at Birmingham in England. It is situated on Edgbaston Reservoir in the centre of Birmingham. The club was founded in 1894. It is an open sailing club for men, women, adults, and children of all abilities. The club actively tries to improve the diversity of the sailing population by engaging with the local community
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