A mysterious walk in the fog

Despite freezing fog and bone-chilling cold, the members of the Willenhall Healthy Walks Group set out for Willenhall Woods yesterday afternoon. This turned out to be a magical experience: the deep stillness of the misty woods caused us to tap into a vein of childhood reminiscence. For some of us, Narnia sprang to mind, and we half expected Mr Tumnus to come strolling along the path. Others imagined themselves creeping through the Wildwood of the Wind in the Willows, looking out for the entrance to Mr Badger's subterranean home. There was definitely a special atmosphere in the Woods that afternoon: how lucky we are to have this ancient, spiritual place right on our doorstep.

The Hagard Christmas Fete: Gateway to the festive season

The first day of December saw a jolly gathering at the Hagard Community Space for the annual Christmas Fete: a great way to start the festive season. There were craft stalls, tombola tables with some lovely gifts, delicious cakes and biscuits and a magical Santa's Grotto.



Setting up at the beginning of the event

The Wind Band performs

 Musical entertainment was provided by the Coventry Youth Wind Band, run by the Performing Arts Service. This talented group played a selection of carols and favourite Christmas tunes. Santa took the baton at one point, and made a good job of conducting the band.




Santa's got rhythm


The music students of Ernesford Grange School took their turn on the stage, and after performing some of their songs, they led the audience in a hearty rendition of 'The Fairytale of New York' and Slade's 'Merry Christmas'. This isn't the first time I have enjoyed community singing in Willenhall: maybe Gareth Malone should come along and organise us into a choir, as when we are in full voice we are very good indeed.

The ever-changing Sowe Valley: from a trickle to a torrent

After a period of torrential rain, it's always a thrill to go and look at the flooded Sowe. The transformation is amazing, from a small river not much wider in places than a brook, to a wide sheet of water alive with birds. Pictures can't really do it justice: it's as much about the sound of the water rushing and gurgling under bridges, the scream of the gulls, the plaintive pipe of the moorhen, the aquaplaning of a skein of geese as they land. There's a dank, marshy smell in the air, and the wind blowing across the temporary lake feels laden with moisture.

The golf course, Ernesford Grange

Willows with their feet wet

Taken from the Brookstray, Ernesford Grange



The 'oxbow' by the Brookstray path, completely flooded

It's interesting to be able to observe such widespread flooding from a relatively safe vantage point, though standing on the bridges makes me realise how treacherous the River Sowe can be when in full spate. So far, householders in Ernesford Grange and Willenhall have not been directly threatened by the rising of the water, but on reflection, it has to flow somewhere. The Sowe runs into the Avon, which has its confluence with the Severn at Tewkesbury: the volume of the water must be phenomenal by this time.

We are fortunate to be living in a green area, a designated flood plain which can never be built on. We can observe a landscape which is never the same two days running, and be n touch with the power of nature only a few yards away from our doorstep.

Happy Birthday, Sowe Valley Project – and here’s to another year!

Despite howling gales and torrential rain, there was a real spirit of celebration at the Hagard on November 22nd, as a large number of people gathered for the third birthday of the Sowe Valley Project.

 Present at the party were Stephen Trotter, Chief Executive of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and Peter Loat the Grants Officer for Natural England.

 Anna Squires, the Sowe Valley Co-ordinator of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, announced some very good news. Thanks to Natural England and the Big Lottery, funding has been secured for another year.

 There were cheers all round, as the project has made a significant difference to the Sowe Valley. Volunteers have cleared the river bed of shopping trolleys and other accumulated debris. The invasive Himalayan Balsam has been removed from the river bank, and native species have been planted in its place. There has also been a creative spin-off, which inspired several murals around the area, as well as the beautiful tapestry now hanging on the wall of the Hagard. This was made by members of the Willenhall Craft Group and specially dedicated to two sadly missed members of the community, Meto Lakha and John Russell.

The continuation of the Sowe Valley project gives us so much to look forward to in 2013. We are lucky to have this large tract of open space right on our doorstep: the work of Anna Squires and Lucy Hawker, the Training and Education Officer, has helped to enhance our environment and make us aware of the variety of plants and wild creatures in our area. So here’s to another year of riverside strolls, bat walks, clearing and planting and generally getting out and about in the beautiful green corridor of the Sowe Valley.





The Peace Walk: Celebrating 800 years of worship in Willenhall

At 11am on a bright, chilly November morning, members of St John the Divine congregation and the Willenhall Local History Group met outside the Library, ready to set off on a Peace Walk.

Ouside the Library

 The aim of this walk, part of the two-day Peace Festival in Willenhall, was to pass by the various places of worship in our locality, and reflect on Willenhall's historic role as a place of peace, shelter and acceptance. We set out along Remembrance Road, where we encountered Paula wrestling with some self-setting tree roots in the flowerbed by the Hagard car park. (Bulbs and hardy perennials have now been planted there as part of the Peace Festival.)

Those tree roots were stubborn- but they did come out in the end

We passed by the Free Church, which is set in a peaceful oasis of green set back from Remembrance Road.

The Free Church, Remembrance Road

After that, we headed upwards to St James Lane, where St Anne's Roman Catholic church is situated in beautiful, well-maintained grounds. Before the church was built in the 1970s, this area was open land with a large, perilous water-filled quarry pit. There were market gardens along the Lane, as well as prefabs (which had all mod cons and were quite popular with the residents)

Walking along St James Lane

The piece of land you see on the picture above, just before the presbytery and church, was once associated with the Shrapnel family. In the 1920s, Gordon, the great-grandson of General Henry Shrapnel, bought the plot and built a detached bungalow there. He constructed it out of concrete blocks, which he cast himself on the spot. There is no sign of the house now: the land was compulsorily purchased for £25 by the council to build prefabs, and now remains uncultivated, a haven for wildlife.

The name 'Shrapnel' has particular resonance at this time of year: General Henry Shrapnel invented the Bursting Bomb and gave his name to flying shards of metal. On a more peaceful note, he also designed a patent corkscrew: a special silver one was presented to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

On Dunsmore Avenue, passing by the side of St Anne's

     We continued our autumnal walk along Dunsmore Avenue: the name of this road recalls the Heath, across which medieval pilgrims  would trudge on their way to the Coventry Priory and Cathedral. At the time of Godiva, in the mid 11th Century, Coventry was an important place of pigrimage, to view holy relics such as the arm of St Augustine of Hippo, the head of St Osburg, and a piece of the True Cross.  

One of the History Group's most significant discoveries was the site of St James' Chapel, which was built around 1130 as a place of rest and prayer for the pilgrims who had crossed Dunsmore Heath on their way to Coventry. Ancient documents dating back to 1183 confirm that the chapel was  the property of Coventry Priory. By overlaying old maps with the street layout of Willenhall, we have located the site of the old chapel, which is on Knightlow Avenue. The plot has never been built on, but the reason for that is mundane rather than mystical: it's the junction point for several drains.





At the site of St James' Chapel

It was time to head back through the estate to St John the Divine,where we admired the new commemorative quilt. This was stitched by local residents as a tribute to their loved ones, including our late Chairman, John  Russell.






Many thanks to the Rev Katrina Scott and the church volunteers for the refreshments which we all enjoyed in the Church Hall after the walk. It was lovely to sit down together, have a cup of tea and a slice of cake and reflect on the words which Katrina had placed on the table:

May there be peace:

Peace between cultures

Peace between races

Peace between nations 

Peace between faiths

The Willenhall Peace Walk 2012: come and join us

As part of our celebrations for Peace Month, the Willenhall Local History Group and the Healthy Walks team are joining forces for a Willenhall Peace Walk.

We are meeting at Willenhall Library, Remembrance Road, at 11am on Friday 9th November.  We'll be taking a gentle stroll around the area, passing by local places of worship and places of historical significance.
The walk will end at around noon, at St John the Divine Church Hall, where we will have refreshments.

All are welcome: the walk is not strenuous and does not involve trekking along muddy paths. So come along and join us.

The Willenhall Healthy Walks Group in action

Willenhall Healthy Walks

Since March this year (in fact I joined on the first day of Spring) every Tuesday afternoon has been dedicated to a ramble through the Willenhall countryside. The aim is health and fitness, under the guidance of our Walks Leader, Rachel. We meet up at 2pm outside Willenhall Library, come rain or shine, and strike out from there in whatever direction the fancy takes us.So far I have managed 22 walks, but there are keen members of the group who have never missed a single one.




Bat boxes in the woods: they have a ladder of mesh so the bats can crawl up to their refuge


These walks have brought home to me just how lucky we are to have so much green space in which to wander freely. The River Sowe contributes so much to our area: it's beautiful, ever-changing, and because of its liability to flood, it guarantees us a large area which can never be built on.

Part of the Seven Arches Viaduct over the Sowe

On rare hot afternoons, we strolled through Willenhall Woods, where we came across a very strange carving on a tree stump, which really intrigued us.




A mysterious character


We have really got to know the secret paths and remote spots where the noise of the traffic seems very far away and you could imagine yourself in deep countryside. We've watched the seasons change, as buds became blossom and the berries ripened. Now we're into Autumn, and I for one am looking forward to wrapping up warm and seeing what our wonderful landscape has to offer as the days shorten and the year turns.

So why not come and join us? 2pm, outside Willenhall Library, next Tuesday? It's a date!