| Woodgate Valley Country Park | |
|---|---|
 Path and bridge | |
 | |
| Location | Bartley Green/Quinton, Birmingham, England |
| Coordinates | 52°26′53″N1°59′46″W / 52.448°N 1.996°W |
| Area | 450 acres (180 ha) |
| Operated by | Birmingham City Council |
Woodgate Valley Country Park is a country park within the Bartley Green and Quinton districts of Birmingham. [1] It is the third largest Birmingham Country Park after Sutton Park and Lickey Hills Country Park. The park is maintained as a wildlife habitat but also has farm animals.
The Country Park was set up in 1984, having previously been rural land with smallholdings and larger farms. The farms were in the ownership of Birmingham Corporation by 1953 but public access was not allowed in order to protect crops and livestock. Paul Cadbury mooted the idea of opening up the valley by providing marked trails for walkers, tracks for horseriding and stabling for horses, picnic sites and car parking. He also proposed damming a section of the Bourn Brook for fishing and allowing children freedom to paddle in the shallows. [2] The city council's Parks Committee viewed the proposal favourably but said there was a problem financing the necessary fencing. In response chocolate firm Cadbury's, of which Paul Cadbury was vice-chairman and managing director offered to donate £3,500 towards the cost. [3] In July 1956, the Public Works Committee unanimously decided not to build on the Woodgate Valley. [4] A decade later the Council put forward a proposal to develop 150 acres of the 600-acre Woodgate Valley farmland for 2,000 homes. [5] By 1976, on the northern side of the valley the Simmonds Drive/Highfield Lane housing development had been built and on the southern side had arisen the South Woodgate estate of mixed council and private housing. [6] All the Birmingham Corporation farms disappeared, though Hole Farm is remembered in the name of a horse riding and trekking centre.
The park comprises some 450 acres (180 ha) and is on land previously threatened by urban development. The disused Lapal Tunnel of the Dudley No 2 canal passes just south of Hole Farm, north of the visitor centre and on through the South Woodgate housing estate. The tunnel opened in 1798 and was closed to traffic in 1926. Spoil heaps provide visible reminders of the tunnel's construction. [7]
The park is maintained with varied wild life habitats. There are hedgerows, meadows and woodland, plus Bourn Brook. More than 80 species of bird, including marsh harrier, long-eared owl and kingfisher; and 250 species of plants including common bluebells, foxgloves and honeysuckle, have been recorded, as have butterflies and various species of dragonflies including red admiral and small tortoiseshell. [8] Many plants grow in the damp meadows. In 2008 muntjac deer were sighted by local residents. [9]
Woodgate Valley Country Park stretches for about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) along the line of the Bourne Brook, from Woodgate on the city's western boundary to the B4121 road between Quinton and California. Visitors go for a leisurely walk, observe wildlife, walk the dog or ride horses and get away from the noise, traffic and buildings of the city. A parkrun has been held in the Country Park since August 2021, [10] with 100-200 runners typically participating every Saturday morning.
Woodgate Valley Urban Farm exists as a self-supporting private charitable company. [11] The adjacent Hole Farm Trekking Centre is run by the City Council and caters for horse riding across a range of ages and abilities. [12] Rangers based in the Visitor Centre provide recreational and educational activities such as a wild food walk. The Visitor Centre has a café and information displays, and a play area for children and picnic area are just outside. [13]
National Express West Midlands bus route no. 23 stops near the main entrance on Clapgate Lane. [14]
West Midlands is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the larger West Midlands region of England. A landlocked county, it is bordered by Staffordshire to the north and west, Worcestershire to the south, and is surrounded by Warwickshire to the east. The largest settlement is the city of Birmingham.
St Neots is a town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is 18 miles (29 km) west of Cambridge. The areas of Eynesbury, Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon form part of the town.
The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of International Territorial Level for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. The region consists of the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. The region has seven cities; Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Worcester.
Sutton Park is a large urban park located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. Most of the park is a national nature reserve; large parts are also a scheduled monument. Sutton Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United Kingdom. The park covers more than 2,400 acres (970 ha) according to one source, or 2,200 acres (900 ha) according to another. It consists of a mix of heathland, wetlands and marshes, seven lakes, extensive ancient woodlands, several restaurants, a private 18-hole golf course on its western edge and a municipal golf course to the south, a donkey sanctuary, children's playgrounds and a visitors' centre. There is no entrance charge to the Park, however there is a parking charge for cars on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer. A wide range of leisure activities are undertaken in the park including dog walking, pony trekking, bike riding and kite flying and there are areas to fly model aeroplanes and helicopters. Additionally, a railway line runs through the park.
Bournville is a model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" village where the sale of alcohol was forbidden. Cadbury's is well known for chocolate products – including a dark chocolate bar branded Bournville. Historically in northern Worcestershire, it is also a ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak and home to the Bournville Centre for Visual Arts. Bournville is known as one of the most desirable areas to live in the UK; research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2003 found that it was "one of the nicest places to live in Britain".
Northfield is a residential area in outer south Birmingham, England, and near the boundary with Worcestershire, which it was historically within. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the wards of Kings Norton, Longbridge, Weoley Castle and the smaller ward of Northfield that includes West Heath and Turves Green.
Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harborne are to the north of the Bourn Brook, which was the former county boundary, and to the south are Weoley, and Bournville. A district committee serves the four wards of Selly Oak, Billesley, Bournville and Brandwood. The same wards form the Birmingham Selly Oak constituency, represented since 2010 by Steve McCabe (Labour). Selly Oak is connected to Birmingham by the Pershore Road (A441) and the Bristol Road (A38). The Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham Cross-City Railway Line run across the Local District Centre.
Kingsbury Water Park is a country park in north Warwickshire, England, not far from Birmingham and lying on the River Tame. It is owned and managed by Warwickshire County Council. It has fifteen lakes situated in over 600 acres (2.4 km2) of country park. It is renowned for its birdlife, and is popular with birdwatchers. It is bordered on the western edge by the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.
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 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.
Bartley Green is a residential suburban area and electoral ward in Birmingham, England, 5 miles (8 km) south west of the city centre. The ward is part of the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency and is represented in parliament by Labour Co-operative MP Preet Gill.
Quinton is a suburb and ward of Birmingham, England, 5 miles (8 km) west of the city centre. Formerly part of Halesowen parish, Quinton became part of Birmingham in 1909. Quinton was a village and the surrounding area was farmland until the 1930s when the first housing estates were developed. Most of the farmland had been built on by 1980 but some countryside remains in the form of Woodgate Valley Country Park. Along with Bartley Green, Harborne and Edgbaston, Quinton is within the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.
Stirchley is a suburb in south-west Birmingham, England.
Lickey Hills Country Park is a country park in England. It is 10 miles south west of Birmingham and 24 miles north east of Worcester. The 524 acres (212 ha) park is situated just south of Rednal and close to Barnt Green. It is half a mile west of Cofton Hackett. It is one of the oldest parks managed by Birmingham City Council. The hills rise to 298 m (978 ft) above sea level at Beacon Hill.
Weoley Castle is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The area is part of the Weoley local authority electoral ward, and also comes under the Northfield local council constituency. The suburb of Weoley Castle is bordered by Selly Oak to the east, Harborne to the north, Bartley Green to the west, and Weoley Hill and Shenley Fields to the south.
Bournbrook is an industrial and residential district in southwest Birmingham, England, in the ward of Bournbrook and Selly Park and the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Selly Oak. Before 2018 it was in Selly Oak Council Ward. Prior to what is commonly termed the Greater Birmingham Act, which came into effect on 9 November 1911, the Bourn Brook watercourse was the North Eastern boundary of Worcestershire, and the area was locally governed by the King's Norton and Northfield Urban District Council.
Woodgate is part of Birmingham, between Bartley Green and Harborne. It is split up into 3 parts, Woodgate Valley South, which is the gateway to Harborne. Woodgate, which is next to Bartley Green, and Woodgate Valley North, often referred as part of Quinton.
Middleton Park is a public park in Middleton, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It covers an area of 630 acres (255.0 ha), nearly a square mile of which 200 acres (80.9 ha) are ancient woodland. There is also a small lake, recreational areas and a former golf course. The reclaimed site of "Middleton Broom" Colliery has been incorporated into the park. By its northern boundary is the South Leeds Stadium, home of rugby league club Hunslet. The Middleton Railway runs between Moor Road, Hunslet and Park Halt railway station. It is also the site of Leeds Urban Bike Park. It is known locally as 'Miggy Park'.
California is a small suburban area of Birmingham, England. It lies 4 miles (6.4 km) south west of Birmingham city centre, near to Woodgate Valley Country Park. It is within Bartley Green ward and the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.
Shorne Wood Country Park is located between Strood and Gravesend, in the English county of Kent. It was once part of a large estate, later passed to the county council to be used as a country park.
