Pictures courtesy of Jake Yeadon
The sudden (brief) appearance of summer at the beginning of the month ensured a great turn out of 23 people and assorted furry friends for the Keep The Green Wedge Green Walk on May 7th. The walk was led by Halesowen author Trevor Antill, designer of The Monarch's Way long distance footpath. Trevor briefly described the path's background to the walkers gathered at the Leasowes Car Park starting point before setting off:-
The walk began by leaving Leasowes via the main entrance to cross Mucklows Hill. Once on the Coombeswood side, the party entered the Green Wedge via the public footpath crossing the lower edge. A quarter of a mile of green leafy walking Northwards along the Dudley No 2 canal towpath followed, accompanied by the singsong tones of Chiffchaffs and the sweet-sad song of Willow Warblers that clearly approved of the sunny weather. The end of this section brought the walkers to Coombs Bridge, and the first of the distinctive Monarch's Way waymarkers (below). The logo is composed of the symbols of the oak tree at Boscobel in which the king hid from his pursuers, the Prince of Wales crown and the ship which finally carried the king to safety in France.
After crossing Coombs Bridge (and so leaving the Monarch's Way again) the walk continued Northwards along the canal towpath towards Gorsty Hill. The far bank of the canal along this stretch still shows plenty of evidence of the network of factory tunnels which were originally part of the now demolished Stewarts and Lloyds tubeworks. The tubeworks dominated the Coombeswood area for over 100 years before nationalisation in 1967 and subsequent closure, being a major local employer. In its heyday the products from the factory were exported all over the world, and included the famous "Pipe Line Under The Ocean" (P.L.U.T.O) tubes laid across the seabed of the English Channel to provide fuel for the allied D-Day landing forces during World War II. The remains of the works now eerily suggest a lower level of entrances and factory tunnels still running at some subterranean depth beneath the featureless grey warehouses currently occupying the former site of the tubeworks.
The walkers continued on to the Coombs Wood Canal Tunnel Southern entrance, where the canal crosses beneath Gorsty Hill. At this point the party turned onto Gorsty Hill to rejoin the Monarch's Way which leaves the canal to climb the few hundred yards up the hill to the Coombeswood Green Wedge entrance in Ambrose Way.
After reentering the Green Wedge where the tip meets Gorsty Hill, the party began to follow the Monarch's Way waymarker signs south again, along the lower edge. This part of the path has recently been cleared of a build-up of dense vegetation by volunteers, so it is heartily recommended that anyone out for a stroll bend their steps along this section. Besides being much safer to use and more accessible than before, the more use that the section gets, the less chance there is that the vegetation problem will return.
The party stopped at the sound of fast running water from a culverted spring on its way to join the Stour (below). This prompted Trevor to explain his concerns about St Modwen proposals to relocate Coombs Wood Cricket And Social Club on the hillside above the Monarch's Way: firstly, the creation of the huge platform proposed to support the relocated pitches could well alter the local water table, swamping the path and making it impassable; secondly. the presence of such a structure would constitute a fundamental alteration to the character and geology of the hillside, destroying views across a Heritage Landscape designated area and threatening wildlife habitat.
During the walk Trevor talked about why, when designing the path, he decided to divert it across the Coombeswood Green Wedge, rather than choosing to continue it in a straight line across the Dudley No 2 canal towpath. The reason was that after crossing the length of the industrialised Black Country by canal, he considered that long distance walkers deserved to be treated to the fantastic Coombeswood views across Halesowen, Clent and the countryside beyond. The evidence for the wisdom of Trevor's decision was plain to see (below).
Moving on across the wedge the party passed near to areas designated as Sites Of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) which include important Skylark breeding habitat.
The route lay parallel to the designated Ancient Forest which grows on the slopes of Spring Hill (below). The forest is verified to have remained in its current undisturbed state for the last 1000 years.
Approaching Mucklow Hill once again the Monarch's Way takes a sharp left turn uphill through the sunken green lanes which pass between the sheep pastures of Pottery Farm. The lanes are believed to date back to the medieval period and would once have been the main route into Halesowen town for wagons coming from Birmingham and Quinton. Traffic would pass through Coombeswood on its way to cross the bridge over the Stour at the bottom of Furnace Hill before entering Halesowen. The crossing over the river at the bottom of Mucklows Hill which is taken for granted today did not exist until relatively recent times. The characteristic u-shaped "sunken" profile of the path would probably have been caused by the weight and wear of the passage of many generations of heavily laden horse drawn wagons.
Sunset approached as the walk drew to a close. Thanks once again to all that attended this delightful and thought-provoking stroll through a precious area of open green space that must be preserved for the benefit of future generations.
