One of our main projects in 2023 was to expose a long lost section of old drystone walling on the Portway Hill site, some of it which hadn’t seen the light of day for probably more than 150 years! This stretch of drystone walling was one of the old field boundaries before the days of quarrying and mining, and since exposing it we have received some really positive comments from local people who regularly walk the site.

We’ve also established a good relationship with Dudley Golf Club and were taken on a tour of the course by Grounds Manager Stewart Marshall. He lives locally and is very interested in the wildlife found on the course and is currently constructing and erecting bird and bat boxes on trees in various places. One of his ambitions is to open up at least one of the choked-up ponds on the site.

For the City Nature Challenge 2023 we held recording sessions on both the golf course, and on the Portway Hill site, and came up with a very long list of species, which included a few surprises.

A group photograph of the officials from UNESCO and others during the revalidation visit to the Portway Hill site on 20th July.

The Tracmaster and flail in use, and the result. Without this machine, donated to us by the Trust, most of the tracks across the hillside would have been lost to vegetation during the exceptionally wet summer.  

Mark Webster’s fantastic discovery of Otiorhynchus ligustici weevil on the Portway Hill site. This was the 1st UK sighting since 1993 and only the 12th UK records since 1835. All important visits and outstanding discoveries like this need to be documented to help protect the site.

More news, updates and future activities from the Friends will be coming soon…