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The Shire Country Park comprises the Millstream Way, following the
course of the River Cole between Yardley Wood and Small Heath, the Chinn
Brook Recreation Ground, Coxmoor Woods and a number of satellite sites
including Moseley Bog LNR.
The Park contains wetlands,
grasslands, woodland and heath supporting a wealth of animal and plant
life on the doorsteps of Yardley Wood, Billesley, Springfield, Sparkhill
and Small Heath.
Trittiford Pool is a good site for bat watching
during late spring and summer and the pool supports breeding wildfowl
including Swans, Great Crested Grebes and Coots. Nearby Scribers Lane
SINC is a diverse site with mixed broadleaf woodland containing wet
flushes and ditches, a disused millrace and a wetland scrape. Over the
past few years there have been reports of Otter, Water Vole and Water
Rail in this area.
Many local people support the work of the
Rangers by helping at events and work days and full training, with
formal, nationally recognised qualifications, can be obtained with
Bournville College, which has linked with the Shire Country Park to offer
places on its environmental conservation course. The course will give
students the opportunity to gain a wide range of practical and
theoretical skills within the field of conservation. If you are
interested why not find out more information about the NVQ Level II in
Environmental Conservation
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The Millstream Way
Rangers Office
Sarehole Mill Museum
Cole Bank Road
Moseley
Birmingham
B14 0BD
Tel: 0121 702 2739
Email:
shire.country.park@birmingham.gov.uk
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The Millstream Way is part of The Shire Country Park. The Country Park
includes the following sites:
Scribers Lane SINC
Trittiford
Mill Pool
The Dingles
Chinn Brook Recreation Ground
Sarehole
Mill Recreation Ground
Moseley Bog LNR
Burbury Brickworks
The John Morris Jones Walk Way
Cocksmoor BMX
Wildlife and Biodiversity
Butterflies, foxes, water voles and bats may be seen. Bird lovers can spot
Kingfishers, Sparrowhawks, all three British species of Woodpecker, a
variety of Warblers in the Summer and Redwings and Fieldfares in the
Winter months within a mile or so of the city centre.
The River
Cole runs through the Shire Country Park and is rich in fish and
invertebrate life, providing a good food supply for exploring otters,
which have been seen on the Blythe nearby. Artificial holts have been
constructed in the river banks.
Trees supporting the wildlife include willows, alders and mature oaks. A
wide range of wild flowers are abundant and in spring, lesser celandine,
wild garlic, wood anemone and bluebells flourish.
One ford is
still in use along the walkway. Sites of disused fords are seen on John
Morris Jones Walk Way and by Four Arches Bridge at The Dingles.
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The Shire Country Park Rangers are based at
Sarehole Mill and work with local people and groups such as the River Cole
and Chinn Brook Conservation Group, Moseley Bog Conservation Group and
the Burbury Brickworks PLNR Conservation Group. Other local volunteers
help to manage and preserve the environment along the river walkway.
Events such as walks, talks and rural crafts and children's activities are
held throughout the year. The
Rangers also work closely with local
schools .
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The internationally celebrated author
J.R.R Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892. Tolkien and his brother
spent their childhood in Birmingham with their widowed mother. They
first lived in the hamlet of Sarehole, which Tolkien said were the
happiest years of his youth. Sarehole is said to have been the model for
The Shire, home to the hobbits.
Every year the Tolkien Weekend is
held at Sarehole Recreation Ground and
Moseley Bog Local Nature Reserve part of the Shire Country Park. 2005
commemorated the 50th anniversary of the release of The Lord of the
Rings.
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Ronald and his brother spent many hours playing around
Sarehole Mill and being chased away by the miller's son. The Mill features
in The Hobbit when Bilbo Baggins runs "as fast as his furry feet could
carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water and then
on for a mile or more."
In the 1960s Tolkien contributed to
a public appeal to restore the mill which had become dilapidated. It is
now a museum and is the only surviving water mill in the City's
ownership.
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Now a
Local Nature Reserve, Moseley Bog was an ideal place for Tolkien's
childhood adventures. It is an ancient place with Bronze Age burnt mounds
and a mill pool, probably a storage pool for Sarehole Mill. The bog is
recalled in Tolkien's description of the Old Forest, last of the
primeval wild woods where Tom Bombadil lived.
There is no
lighting along the Millstream Way so planning for daylight is important.
Walkers are reminded to wear suitable clothing and footwear and to respect
private property and wildlife. Sections of the route are not suitable
for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
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