We’ve just added lots of new volunteering dates to our website – the first one is this Saturday! Have a look at our Events page for all the details. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people and see the wildlife that can be found on the reserve. Hope to see you at a volunteer day on the hills soon!
Join us and the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country this Saturday 26th February for our final Awards For All Lottery-funded event, a guided walk taking in some of the Rowley Hills’ great views across the Black Country. The walk will start from St Brades Close at 10:00am (see our Events page for a map) and will begin by heading over to the viewpoint above the Wildlife Trust’s Portway Hill nature reserve. From there we will go on to several other great locations high up in the hills, where you can enjoy fantastic views over the cityscapes of Birmingham & the Black Country. Walking boots or other sturdy footwear are a must for this walk, as the terrain is uneven and may be slippery in places. Wrap up warm and bring a flask with a warm drink if you like – the walk should last just over three hours and covers about 5 miles; we will be stopping at one of the viewpoints for a rest about halfway. This a family friendly event; dogs are allowed, however they must be on a lead at all times. The event is free but donations are always welcome to support the work of the Wildlife Trust. We hope to see you there!
This Saturday we have another exciting Lottery-funded event for you – something we’ve been wanting to do for a while, a guided walk through the Netherton Tunnel and Bumble Hole Nature Reserve. It’s the perfect way to make a healthy start to your new year! The walk will start from Regent Road Co-op car park and will take in the Netherton Tunnel, its ventilation system (the pepper pots) and Bumble Hole nature reserve. The tunnel is very dark with wet footpaths so bring a torch and sturdy footwear. The walk should last just over three hours and covers about 5 miles; we will stop at the Bumble Hole visitor centre for a tea or coffee at the halfway point. This a family friendly event; dogs are allowed, however they must be on a lead at all times. This event is free but donations are always welcome. You will also receive a certificate at the end of the walk to prove that you’ve walked through the Netherton Tunnel! For more information, please visit the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country website.
We also have a couple of conservation volunteering days coming up too, on the 6th and 21st January. Check out our Events page for further information.
Netherton Tunnel entrance (image © Brian Clift via Creative Commons)
Our hard-working volunteers were out on Portway Hill once again at the weekend. They had a great day in the unseasonably warm sunshine doing further work to expose the Rowley Rag rock face and improve the path. Here are a few photos of them at work!
Our Lottery-funded Halloween event on Saturday was a great success! Surrounded by autumn colour, staff from the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country and volunteers from Friends of Rowley Hills helped kids to make some very spooky Halloween-themed crafts, including creepy clay models and scary skeletons! Below are a few photos from the event. Thanks to everyone who came!
We’ve just added plenty more Lottery-funded new events to our website, including volunteering days for the winter season – we will be continuing to work with the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country on improving Portway Hill’s access, habitats and key features.
The next event in the diary though is this Saturday when there will a free Halloween-themed family fun day at Bury Hill Park, with lots of activities including clay art, creepy crawlies and scary drawings! Come along any time between 11:00am and 3:00pm, and in the meantime check out our Events page to see what else we have planned for the coming months.
We have been busy arranging lots more exciting Lottery-funded events for the coming months. See below, and keep checking our Events page as we’ll be adding further details!
Tomorrow (30th July) the Friends of Rowley Hills and the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country are holding a free family fun day in Bury Hill Park; we hope to see some of you there! Have a go at our amazing treasure hunt – see if you can unravel the secret animal’s name to earn your treasure! You could also have a go at some of the fun crafts for all ages, from clay art to making wildlife headbands. Botanist Mike Poulton will be leading a free guided walk over the Rowley Hills starting at 11:30 am, highlighting some of the fantastic things on the way from butterflies through to mouse-ear wildflowers. You will also be able to meet staff from The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country and members of the Friends of the Rowley Hills to learn how we are working together to improve the hills for wildlife and the community. The Friends of Rowley Hills will have a stall selling cakes and plants too. Please note – the guided walk will not be suitable for buggies or wheelchairs as the walk will be over uneven ground and over the Portway Hill site. Please wear appropriate footwear for the guided walk as the ground is uneven and paths might be slippery if there has been recent rain.
Oxeye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) on bank (image © Mike Poulton)
It’s exciting times here on the Rowley Hills at the moment. On Saturday the Black Country Geological Society held their Geoconservation Day on Portway Hill and were joined by representatives from the Wildlife Trust and Friends of Rowley Hills. The part of the old Blue Rock Quarry site now owned by the Wildlife Trust has superb examples of vertical columnar jointing and spheroidal weathering and the day was spent clearing Brambles and other vegetation from the basalt exposures and consolidating the Public Right of Way that runs through the site.
Later this summer as part of the process for the Black Country’s bid to become a UNESCO Global Geopark, assessors from China and Finland will be conducting an evaluation mission and visiting Portway Hill Quarry along with other Black Country geological sites such as Wren’s Nest National Nature Reserve and Saltwell’s Nature Reserve.
A further Geoconservation day is to be arranged on the Portway Hill site prior to their visit. We’ll keep you posted when this is to take place.
We’ve got loads of great events in the calendar over the next few months and we hope to see you at a few of them. The next one is a litter pick on Portway Hill tomorrow, and hopefully the weather forecast will hold for that! If you’re planning to come to any of our conservation volunteer days, please fill in your name and tick the dates you are coming to in this Doodle poll. There’s no limit to the number of people who can attend, it just gives us an idea of how many to expect!
Rowley Hills map showing paths and access points
Friends of Rowley Hills 