Woodgate Valley Country Park is a

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...

within the

Bartley Green Bartley Green is a residential suburban area and electoral ward in Birmingham, England, south west of the city centre. The ward is part of the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency and is represented in parliament by Labour Co-operative MP Preet Gil ...

and Quinton districts of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. It is the third largest Birmingham Country Park after Sutton Park and

Lickey Hills Country Park Lickey Hills Country Park is a country park in England. It is 10 miles (16 kilometres) south west of Birmingham and 24 miles (39 kilometres) north east of Worcester. The park is situated just south of Rednal and close to Barnt Green. It is hal ...

. The park is maintained as a

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

but also has farm animals.

History

The Country Park was set up in 1984, having previously been

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

land with

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

s and larger farms. It comprises some and is on land previously threatened by urban development. The disused

Lapal Tunnel The Lapal Tunnel (old spelling Lappal Tunnel) is a disused canal tunnel on the five mile dry section of the Dudley No. 2 Canal in the West Midlands, England. It takes its name from the settlement of Lapal. History The narrow brick-lined tunn ...

of the Dudley No 2 canal passes just south of Hole Farm, north of the visitor centre and on through the South Woodgate housing estate. The tunnel opened in 1798 and was closed to traffic in 1926. Spoil heaps provide visible reminders of the tunnel's construction.

Wild life

The park is maintained with varied wild life habitats. There are

hedgerow A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

s and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

, plus Bourn Brook. More than 80

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of bird, including

marsh harrier The marsh harriers are birds of prey of the harrier subfamily. They are medium-sized raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. They are found almost worldwide, excluding ...

long-eared owl The long-eared owl (''Asio otus''), also known as the northern long-eared owlOlsen, P.D. & Marks, J.S. (2019). ''Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)''. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook o ...

and

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

; and 250 species of plants including

common bluebell ''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' (formerly ''Endymion non-scriptus'' or ''Scilla non-scripta'') is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is k ...

foxglove ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shap ...

s and

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both contin ...

, have been recorded, as have

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and various species of dragonflies including red admiral and

small tortoiseshell The small tortoiseshell (''Aglais urticae'') is a colourful Eurasian butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Adults feed on nectar and may hibernate over winter; in warmer climates they may have two broods in a season. While the dorsal surface of th ...

. Many plants grow in the damp meadows. In 2008

muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

deer were sighted by local residents.

Facilities

Visitors go for a leisurely walk, observe wildlife, walk the dog or ride horses and get away from the noise, traffic and buildings of the city. Visitor Centre, Woodgate Valley Country Park - geograph

Visitor Centre, Woodgate Valley Country Park - geograph

A parkrun has been held in the Country Park since August 2021, with 100-200 runners typically participating every Saturday morning. Woodgate Valley Urban Farm exists as a self-supporting private charitable company. The adjacent Hole Farm Trekking Centre is run by the City Council and caters for

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, Driving (horse), driving, and Equestrian vaulting, vaulting ...

across a range of ages and abilities. Rangers based in the Visitor Centre provide recreational and educational activities such as a wild food walk. The Visitor Centre has a café and information displays, and a play area for children and picnic area are just outside. National Express West Midlands bus route no. 23 stops near the main entrance on Clapgate Lane.

References

External links

Woodgate Valley Country Park info from Birmingham City CouncilWoodgate Valley Urban Farm websitePhotos of Woodgate Valley Country Park and surrounding area on geograph
{{Birmingham parks Parks and open spaces in Birmingham, West Midlands Country parks in Birmingham, West Midlands Woodgate Valley Country Park (Birmingham) Nature reserves in Birmingham, West Midlands City farms in England