Sandwell Valley

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A Lane at Hamstead, Staffordshire by William Ellis (1747-1810), now in the Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall, shows the area in more rural times A Lane at Hamstead, Staffordshire.tiff
A Lane at Hamstead, Staffordshire by William Ellis (1747-1810), now in the Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall, shows the area in more rural times

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.

Contents

It is a valley on the River Tame of which 720 hectares (1,800 acres) are owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, with the RSPB leasing 25 acres as Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve. Within this large area, is the 270 hectares (670 acres) Sandwell Valley Country Park, which contains two visitor centres, Forge Mill Farm and Sandwell Park Farm, the former using modern farming techniques, the latter with a walled kitchen garden and rare breeds of farm animals, one of 16 farm parks approved nationally by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Sot's Hole is one of three Local Nature Reserves in the Country Park, and lies on the edge of the site on Dagger Lane/Church Vale, West Bromwich. In an effort to protect and restore the reserve, a group of local people joined together in November 2005 and formed the Friends of Sot's Hole.

The earliest evidence of people in Sandwell Valley is in the form of flint tools from the Mesolithic period, but evidence of later periods is also present in the landscape, including the site of Sandwell Hall (home of the Earls of Dartmouth) and Sandwell Priory ruins (still evident today). Exhibitions at Sandwell Park Farm tell the story of the people who lived here.

The M5 motorway bisects the Country Park, with the intersection between it and the M6 (considered Junction 8 of the M6) at the northern end, and junction 1 of the M5 to the south. The latter junction surrounds a surviving gatehouse from the hall. The Birmingham-Walsall Line, part of the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837, runs through the northern end of the valley, with Hamstead railway station being the nearest. The former Newton Road railway station having closed some years ago.

The highest point of Sandwell Valley is in Birmingham and is known as Hill Top, where the remains of a World War II gun emplacement can still be found there.

The Country Park's fauna and flora are studied by the Sandwell Valley Naturalists' Club (SandNats).

Every Saturday morning at 9.00am, the country park hosts a parkrun, a free, weekly timed 5 km run. [1]

Adjacent areas include Great Barr, Hamstead and Handsworth Wood.

Coordinates

Map all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap
Point Coordinates
(links to map & photo sources)
Notes
M5/M6 junction 52°32′53″N1°57′58″W / 52.548°N 1.966°W / 52.548; -1.966 (M5/M6 junction)
Newton Road railway station 52°32′24″N1°57′51″W / 52.5400°N 1.9641°W / 52.5400; -1.9641 (Newton Road railway station)
Railway crosses river 52°32′10″N1°57′26″W / 52.536045°N 1.957101°W / 52.536045; -1.957101 (Railway crosses river)
Forge Mill Farm 52°31′59″N1°57′34″W / 52.533180°N 1.959515°W / 52.533180; -1.959515 (Forge Mill Farm)
RSPB Visitors' Centre 52°31′59″N1°57′00″W / 52.533114°N 1.949998°W / 52.533114; -1.949998 (RSPB Visitors' Centre)
Hamstead railway station 52°31′48″N1°55′41″W / 52.530°N 1.928°W / 52.530; -1.928 (Hamstead railway station)
Sot's Hole NR 52°31′45″N1°59′01″W / 52.529185°N 1.983494°W / 52.529185; -1.983494 (Sot's Hole NR)
Sandwell Park Farm 52°31′16″N1°58′22″W / 52.521183°N 1.972786°W / 52.521183; -1.972786 (Sandwell Park Farm)
Gun emplacement 52°31′11″N1°57′05″W / 52.519591°N 1.951500°W / 52.519591; -1.951500 (Gun emplacement)
M5 junction 1 52°30′43″N1°58′30″W / 52.512°N 1.975°W / 52.512; -1.975 (M5 junction 1)
Gatehouse 52°30′42″N1°58′27″W / 52.511601°N 1.974109°W / 52.511601; -1.974109 (Gatehouse)
Sandwell Priory 52°31′11″N1°57′53″W / 52.5198°N 1.9648°W / 52.5198; -1.9648 (Sandwell Priory)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tipton</span> Town in the West Midlands, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve</span> Nature reserve in the United Kingdom

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandwell</span> Metropolitan borough in England

Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council defines the borough as the six amalgamated towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich. Rowley Regis includes the towns of Blackheath and Cradley Heath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oldbury, West Midlands</span> Town in West Midlands, England

Oldbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It is the administrative centre of the borough. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 13,606, while the 2017 population of the wider built-up area was estimated at 25,488. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, which defines Oldbury Town as consisting of the wards of Bristnall, Langley, Oldbury, and Old Warley, gave the population as 50,641 in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Tame, West Midlands</span> River in the West Midlands of England

The River Tame is a river in 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandwell Valley Country Park</span>

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.

Great Barr is now a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as Perry Barr, which is still the name of an adjacent Birmingham district. Other areas known as Great Barr are in the Metropolitan Boroughs of Walsall and Sandwell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry Hall Park</span>

Perry Hall Park or Perry Hall Country Park, and previously Perry Hall Playing Fields, is a park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, at grid reference SP059918. It was in Staffordshire until 1928. The site is protected by Fields in Trust through a legal "Deed of Dedication" safeguarding the future of the space as public recreation land for future generations to enjoy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamstead railway station</span> 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 Chase Line, part of the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by West Midlands Trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tame Bridge Parkway railway station</span> Railway station in the West Midlands, England

Tame Bridge Parkway is a railway station in the north of the borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England, close to the boundary with Walsall. The station is operated by West Midlands Railway. It is situated on the Chase Line 9 miles (14 km) north of Birmingham New Street, part of the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamstead, West Midlands</span> Human settlement in England

Hamstead is an area straddling the border of Birmingham and Sandwell, England, between Handsworth Wood and Great Barr, and adjacent to the Sandwell Valley area of West Bromwich. Hamstead Colliery was worked from the 19th century to the 1960s, with much housing built for the miners. Today the area is still referred to as Hamstead Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lodmoor</span> Park in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tame Valley Canal</span>

The Tame Valley Canal is a relatively late (1844) canal in the West Midlands of England. It forms part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. It takes its name from the roughly-parallel River Tame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rushall Junction</span> Canal junction

Rushall Junction is the southern limit of the Rushall Canal where it meets the Tame Valley Canal in the West Midlands, England. It opened in 1847, when the Rushall Canal was built to create connections between the Birmingham Canal Navigations system and the Wyrley and Essington Canal, following the amalgamation of the two companies in 1840.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newton Road railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Newton Road railway station was a station of the London and North Western Railway in Sandwell between West Bromwich and Great Barr, England. It lay between Hamstead and the later Tame Bridge Parkway stations on what is now known as the Chase Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forge Mill Lake</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sot's Hole Local Nature Reserve</span>

Sot's Hole is a local nature reserve in West Midlands, England. It is on the west side of Sandwell Valley, and north-east of West Bromwich.

References

  1. "Home | Sandwell Valley parkrun | Sandwell Valley parkrun".

52°31′16″N1°58′22″W / 52.521183°N 1.972786°W / 52.521183; -1.972786 (Sandwell Valley - nominal location)