Forge Mill Lake

Last updated

Forge Mill Lake
Forge Mill Lake, Sandwell Valley Country Park - geograph.org.uk - 1579402.jpg
Looking west along the lake
West Midlands UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in West Midlands
Forge Mill Lake
Location Sandwell Valley
OS grid SP 031 926
Coordinates 52°31′50″N1°57′18″W / 52.5305°N 1.9551°W / 52.5305; -1.9551 Coordinates: 52°31′50″N1°57′18″W / 52.5305°N 1.9551°W / 52.5305; -1.9551
Area63 hectares (160 acres)
Operated by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Designation Local nature reserve
Website Forge Mill Lake

Forge Mill Lake is a local nature reserve in Sandwell Valley, near West Bromwich in West Midlands, England. It is within Sandwell Valley Country Park.

Contents

Description

The site, area 63 hectares (160 acres), [1] is owned and managed by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, and was declared a local nature reserve (LNR) in 1991. Part of the site, including one of the two islands in the lake, is managed by the RSPB as part of the adjacent Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve. [2]

The lake is alongside the River Tame. There is a footpath around the lake; wildflower meadows and woodland plantations are linked to it by pathways, a cycleway and bridleway. There is a visitor centre at Forge Mill Farm. [1]

Wildfowl and other species can be seen on the lake; in winter, wigeon, snipe, water rail and other rarer birds are there. In spring and autumn, migrant birds pass through and rarities may be seen. [1]

The lake itself, also known as Sandwell Valley Storage Lake, was completed in 1981 as part of flood alleviation measures on the adjacent river; its capacity is 498,000 m3 (651,000 cu yd). [3]

As of 2020, the lake is being remodelled and its capacity increased as part of the "Perry Barr and Witton flood risk management scheme". [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve

Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve is a nature reserve, run by the RSPB, in Sandwell Valley, to the north of West Bromwich, in the Sandwell borough of West Midlands in England. It is adjacent to, and shares its main lake with, Sandwell Valley Country Park and near the settlement of Hamstead.

River Tame, West Midlands River in the West Midlands of England

For the river in Greater Manchester, see River Tame, Greater Manchester.

River Rother, South Yorkshire River in South Yorkshire, England

The River Rother, a waterway in the northern midlands of England, gives its name to the town of Rotherham and to the Rother Valley parliamentary constituency. It rises near Clay Cross in Derbyshire and flows in a generally northwards direction through the centre of Chesterfield, where it feeds the Chesterfield Canal, and on through the Rother Valley Country Park and several districts of Sheffield before joining the River Don at Rotherham in Yorkshire. Historically, it powered mills, mainly corn or flour mills, but most had ceased to operate by the early 20th century, and few of the mill buildings survive.

Warragamba Dam Dam in Warragamba, New South Wales

Warragamba Dam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is a concrete gravity dam, which creates Lake Burragorang, the primary reservoir for water supply for the city of Sydney. The dam wall is located approximately 65 kilometres (40 mi) W of Sydney central business district, 4½ km SW of the town of Wallacia, and 1 km NW of the village of Warragamba.

Perry Barr Human settlement in England

Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khalid Mahmood.

Sandwell Valley

Sandwell Valley is an area of green belt in the county of West Midlands, England, on the border of Birmingham and West Bromwich, with Walsall at its northern end.

Sandwell Valley Country Park

Sandwell Valley Country Park is a country park, run by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, in Sandwell Valley, on the River Tame in the middle of the urban conurbation between Birmingham and West Bromwich in West Midlands, England.

Lake Vyrnwy Man-made lake in Wales

Lake Vyrnwy is a reservoir in Powys, Wales, built in the 1880s for Liverpool Corporation Waterworks to supply Liverpool with fresh water. It flooded the head of the Vyrnwy valley and submerged the village of Llanwddyn.

Witton Lakes

Witton Lakes are a pair of former drinking water reservoirs between the Perry Common and Erdington areas of Birmingham, England.

RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor English wetlands nature reserve

RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor is an 89-hectare (220-acre) wetlands nature reserve in the Dearne Valley near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). It lies on the junction of the A633 and A6195 roads and is bordered by the Trans Pennine Trail long-distance path. Following the end of coal mining locally, the Dearne Valley had become a derelict post-industrial area, and the removal of soil to cover an adjacent polluted site enabled the creation of the wetlands at Old Moor.

Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve

Rainham Marshes is an RSPB nature reserve in the east of London, adjacent to the Thames Estuary in Purfleet, Thurrock and the London Borough of Havering. In 2000, the area of land was bought from the Ministry of Defence, who used it as a test firing range. With no activity for several years, the nature reserve was officially opened to the public in 2006. It has maintained much of its medieval landscape, and is the largest area of wetland on the upper parts of the Thames Estuary.

Ingrebourne Valley

Ingrebourne Valley is a local nature reserve (LNR) in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. It is owned and managed by Havering Council, and has a visitor centre managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Most of it is in Hornchurch Country Park west of the River Ingrebourne, but there are also areas north and south of the park which are part of the LNR. It has a wide range of habitats, including woodland, grassland, the river and marshes. It is an important site for a range of species of plants, animals and birds, including great crested newts, slow worms, the harvest mouse and the water vole.

Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve

Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve informally known as Dibbinsdale is a combined park and local nature reserve managed by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and located in Bromborough, Merseyside, England.

Hamstead railway station Railway station in Birmingham, England

Hamstead railway station serves the Hamstead, Great Barr and Handsworth Wood areas of Birmingham, England. It is located at the junction of Rocky Lane and Old Walsall Road, Hamstead, at Birmingham's border with the borough of Sandwell. It is situated on the Birmingham-Walsall Line, part of the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by West Midlands Trains.

Sheepwash Urban Park Local Nature Reserve in the West Midlands, England

Sheepwash Urban Park is a Local Nature Reserve (LNR), situated in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, in the West Midlands conurbation of the United Kingdom. It forms part of the Black Country Urban Forest.

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.

Ham Wall Wetland nature reserve in Somerset, England

Ham Wall is an English wetland National Nature Reserve (NNR) 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of Glastonbury on the Somerset Levels. It is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Since the last Ice Age, decomposing plants in the marshes of the Brue valley in Somerset have accumulated as deep layers of peat that were commercially exploited on a large scale in the twentieth century. Consumer demand eventually declined, and in 1994 the landowners, Fisons, gave their old workings to what is now Natural England, who passed the management of the 260 hectares Ham Wall section to the RSPB.

Bumble Hole Local Nature Reserve

Bumble Hole Local Nature Reserve is situated in the Netherton area of Dudley Metropolitan Borough in the county of West Midlands, England. This former industrial area now features canals, ponds, grassland and wooded areas. The reserve lies adjacent to the Warren's Hall Local Nature Reserve. It was declared a local nature reserve in 1996.

Walthamstow Wetlands

Walthamstow Wetlands is a 211 ha nature reserve in Walthamstow, east London, adjacent to the historic Essex-Middlesex border on the River Lea. It is focused on the Walthamstow Reservoirs, built by the East London Waterworks Company between 1853 and 1904 as part of the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain. The site is one of the largest urban wetland nature reserves in Europe and is particularly important for wildlife due to its position within the Lee Valley. It serves as a byway for migrating, wintering and breeding birds. Visitors can freely access the site's natural, industrial and social heritage in one of the capital's most densely populated urban areas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Forge Mill Lake" Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. "Forge Mill Lake LNR" Natural England . Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  3. Environment Agency public register of Large Raised Reservoirs, as at 2 November 2020, via Boswarva, Owen. "Large Raised Reservoirs" . Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  4. "Perry Barr and Witton flood risk management scheme". United Kingdom government. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  5. Archer, Megan. "Pictured: Huge new flood defences going up at Sandwell Valley". Express and Star . Retrieved 7 December 2020.