Shire Country Park

Address

Colebank Road, Moseley, Birmingham B13 0BD

Plan your journey

About the park

The Shire Country Park is a local nature reserve south of Birmingham city centre.

The park follows the River Cole Valley for four miles and crosses one of the few remaining fords in the city.

The Park contains wetlands, grasslands, woodland and heath, which all support a wealth of animal and plant life.

The park was named to honour the life and work of J.R.R. Tolkien who lived within its borders as a young child. Tolkien's childhood adventures in the park are said to have inspired some of his later works.

The park includes a number of sites:

• Sarehole Mill Recreation Ground
• Moseley Bog
• Scribers Lane
• Trittiford Mill Pool
• The Dingles
• Chinn Brook Recreation Ground
• Burbury Brickworks
• The John Morris Jones Walk Way

Awards and status

• Local Nature Reserve

Points of interest

• 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.
• Sarehole Mill is a Grade II listed water mill on the River Cole in the Shire Country Park. The Mill was restored in the 1960s and is now run as a museum.

Other features

• Birdlife includes:
  • kingfishers
  • sparrowhawks
  • 3 British species of woodpecker
  • a variety of warblers in the summer
  • redwings and fieldfares in the winter months
• Other wildlife:
  • bats
  • butterflies
  • foxes
  • water voles
• Trees supporting the wildlife include willows, alders and mature oaks.
• Wild flowers are abundant and in spring, lesser celandine, wild garlic, wood anemone and bluebells flourish

Park friends group

Friends of Shire Country Park

For further more information, or to get involved, visit the Shire Country Park Friends group page on Facebook.