Sandwell Valley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sandwell Valley is an area of green belt in the West Midlands of England, on the border of Birmingham and West Bromwich, with Walsall at its northern end.

It is a valley on the River Tame, West Midlands. 2,000 acres (8 km²) are owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, with the RSPB leasing 25 acres as RSPB Sandwell Valley nature reserve. The Valley contains Forge Mill Farm and Sandwell Park Farm, both of which are operated by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council as educational facilities - the former using modern farming techniques, the latter with a walled garden and rare breeds of farm animals, one of 16 farm parks approved nationally by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Sots hole is a local nature reserve within Sandwell valley. In an effort to protect and restore the reserve, a group of local people joined together in November 2005 and formed the Friends of Sot’s Hole.

The earliest evidence of people in Sandwell Valley is in the form of flint tools from the Mesolithic period, but evidence of later periods is also present in the landscape, including the site of Sandwell Hall (home of the Earls of Dartmouth) and Priory. Exhibitions at Sandwell Park Farm tell the story of the people who lived here.

The M5 motorway bisects the Valley, with the intersection between it and the M6 (considered Junction 8 of the M6) at the northern end, and junction 1 of the M5 to the South. The latter junction surrounds a surviving gatehouse from the hall..

Information on what's happening can be found at Sandwell Council's Sandwell Valley website

The Valley's fauna and flora are studied by the Sandwell Valley Naturalists' Club (SandNats).

Adjacent areas include Great Barr, Hamstead and Handsworth Wood.