Tudor Grange Park is a park located in
Solihull
Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...
, West Midlands, England. The Park is located very close to the town centre, within easy walking distance, and is adjacent to the local train station and Leisure Centre, ''Tudor Grange Leisure Centre''. It is described by the council as an informal recreation area with a stream dissecting the park, and holds some major events such as the Solihull Carnival.
The Park was bought by the Council in 1946, formerly being farmland belonging to the Bird Family, of
Bird's Custard
Bird's Custard is the brand name for the original powdered, egg-free imitation custard powder, now owned by Premier Foods. Custard powder and instant custard powder are the generic product names for similar and competing products. The product ...
fame, who lived at ''Tudor Grange'', which is now part of the adjacent
Solihull College
Solihull College & University Centre, formerly called Solihull Technical College, is a further education college located in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands, England. The College has two main campuses; the Blossomfield ...
.
[
As well as providing for a children's play area, a skate park was built in 2003. There is also a cycle track and pitch and putt course at the south west end of the site.
]
Nature
The site benefits from a stream, the ''Alder Brook'', which fills a small lake providing a valuable haven for many wildfowl, including for geese
A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...
, swan
Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...
s, duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...
s, moorhen
Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus ''Gallinula'', Latin for "little hen".
They are close relatives of coots. They are of ...
s and coot
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually ...
s.
2008 Park Improvements
A number of improvements were undertaken by Solihull Council in 2008, as part of a £1,000,000 redevelopment of the park.[ The track was championed by a former Olympic silver medallist Harry Reynolds, who is also a member of Solihull Cycling Club. The track is formed as a 1 km figure of eight circuit, and was designed in conjunction with the British Cycling and Solihull Cycling Clubs ''to ensure the materials and layout provided a challenging circuit for professional training and racing, yet still providing a recreational cycling facility for the local and wider community''.][
Other improvements included for a refurbishment of the children's play area; new hard landscaping, footpaths and better lighting; CCTV cameras; outdoor gym equipment including a rowing machine, support bars and wall bars ; improvements to the stream and lake including new bridges; and new planting and landscaping including for semi-mature native ]oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
, birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
, alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
, black poplar
''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref>
...
, and other native woodland trees and ornamental shrubs.
Maps
pdf map of the park
References
{{reflist
Solihull
Parks and open spaces in the West Midlands (county)