Yorks Wood is a Local Nature Reserve in

Kingshurst Kingshurst is a post-war housing estate and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands. It lies about east of Birmingham city centre. Smith's Wood borders it to the north and east, Fordbridge to the south and th ...

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 Blyth ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is an ancient wood of predominantly

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 ...

trees. The River Cole is located south of the wood and located within

Kingfisher Country Park Kingfisher Country Park is a country park situated in East Birmingham and the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in England. Initially designated as Project Kingfisher by Birmingham City Council, the park was formally declared a country park in Ju ...

History

The first mention of the wood is in 1456. It was stated as being owned by the Mountford family and being located within Kingshurst Park. The wood received its current name in the 19th century and by the 1920s, it was under the ownership of the Scout movement. In the 1970s, the fields surrounding the wood were sold to make way for housing development. The wood was preserved in the 1960s when the Kingshurst Hall Estate was completed so that it could act as a buffer between the estate and other nearby estates.''The Town Planning Review'', page 30, volume 26 (April 1955-January 1956), University of Liverpool Department of Civic Design Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council bought the wood in 1984 and designated it as a Local Nature Reserve in 1991.

Nature

During May, the floor of the wood is covered in bluebells and towards the closing of the year,

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

can be seen. During spring, wood anemone, and celandine are located in different parts of the forest. The wood is home to various species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, such as spotted

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

s and

sparrowhawk Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it f ...

s, which breed throughout the year there. The most common species of trees found growing within the wood are

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 ...

and

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

and

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

trees are found within the wood along with invasive species such as

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...

. As sycamore trees do not support as much wildlife as the native tree species, its presence is controlled.

References

{{Coord, 52.49151, N, 1.75966, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Solihull Local Nature Reserves in the West Midlands (county)