Volunteer days with the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country start again this month. If you would like to to take part, meet new people, make new friends, get fit and help us to maintain this fabulous wildlife site on your doorstep, feel free to come along. We meet just inside St Brades Close, off Tower Road at 10:00am. All our days for 2024 are listed below.
Tools and tea and coffee are provided by the Wildlife Trust, we have spare gloves but you may wish to bring your own. Please bring your own lunch.
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Friday 26th April 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Saturday 11th & Friday 24th May 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Saturday 8th & Friday 28th June 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Saturday 13th & Friday 26th July 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Saturday 10th & Friday 23rd August 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Saturday 14th & Friday 27th September 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Saturday 12th & Friday 25th October 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Saturday 9th & Friday 22nd November 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway hill, Saturday 14th December 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
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.
Gorse Shieldbug Piezodurus lituratus Portway Hill by Mark Webster 28.04.2023Gorse Shieldbug Piezodurus lituratus Portway Hill by Mark Webster 28.04.2023Green Winged Orchid Anacamptis morio Portway Hill 09.05.2023
A group photograph of the officials from UNESCO and others during the revalidation visit to the Portway Hill site on 20th July.
UNESCO revalidation visit to Portway Hill 20.07.2023
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.
Dave and Bob flailing PROW with Tracmaster 27.06.2023
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…
Volunteer days with the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country start again in April. If you would like to take part, meet new people, make new friends, get fit, and help to maintain this fantastic wildlife site here on your doorstep, feel free to come along. We meet just inside St Brades Close, off Tower Road at 10:00am. All volunteer days for 2022 are listed below and on our Events page.
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 22nd April 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 14th May 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 27th May 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 24th June 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 9th July 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 22nd July 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 26th August 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 10th September 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 23rd September 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 28th October 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 12th November 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 25th November 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 23rd December 2022, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment, and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. No need to book, just turn up!
Now that lockdown restrictions have started to be relaxed, volunteer days are back! Under government guidelines we will be working to the rule of 6, so 5 volunteers for now until restrictions change. Anyone wishing to attend a volunteers day on Portway Hill should register with Natalie Norton beforehand on 07713487405, or at natalie.n@bbcwildlife.org.uk to check that there are places available. Hopefully, this rule of six will change as we move further into the season.
All volunteer days for 2021 are listed below and on our Events page.
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 10th April 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 23rd April 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 8th May 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 28th May 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 12th June 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
TBC –Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 25th June 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
TBC – Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 10th July 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 23rd July 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 14th August 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 27th August 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 11th September 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 24th September 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 9th October 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 22nd October 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 13th November 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Friday 26th November 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
Conservation volunteer day, Portway Hill, Saturday 11th December 2021, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Join the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country at Portway Hill for a fun day out meeting new people, helping the environment and learning new skills. Meet on St Brades Close; ensure you are dressed appropriately for the forecast weather conditions, and wear sturdy footwear. You will need to bring along a packed lunch but tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. No need to book, just turn up!
On the 10th of July this year, the Black Country became a UNESCO Global Geopark. This prestigious UN status has been awarded in recognition of the Black Country’s internationally important geology stretching back 428 million years, and its cultural heritage; inextricably linked to the area’s geology, this reveals the significant part the Black Country played in the industrial revolution. More than 40 geosites within the geopark have been chosen to tell its story, including the rock face on the Wildlife Trust’s Portway Hill reserve (geosite 23). Click here to read the full story!
Of course, because of the pandemic and the restrictions imposed by lockdown, we haven’t had much to report in 2020 in the way of events. However the hills remain an important oasis where people can spend much-needed time outdoors, and nature has been getting on with things regardless of the virus. Here is a selection of fantastic photos from Mike Poulton taken over the past few months, showing the varied and beautiful life to be found in the Rowley Hills.
A huge amount of rubbish has recently been dumped on Turners Hill in what appears to have been a single incident. This article in the Express & Star gives the full details; the photos have to be seen to believe the scale of this disgusting incident. Clearing the rubbish is likely to take some time due to issues around ownership of the land and the sheer scale of the fly tipping.
If you know anything about this incident or saw anything, please report it to the police by dialling 101. Thank you.
Friends of Rowley Hills 