- Sandwell Valley
Sandwell Valley is an area of green belt in the West Midlands of
England , on the border ofBirmingham andWest Bromwich , withWalsall 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 theRSPB leasing 25 acres asRSPB 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 modernfarm ing techniques, the latter with awalled garden and rare breeds of farm animals, one of 16 farm parks approved nationally by theRare Breeds Survival Trust .Sot's Hole is a local nature reserve at the West Bromwich end of 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 survivinggatehouse from the hall..The Valley's fauna and flora are studied by the "Sandwell Valley Naturalists' Club" ("SandNats").
Adjacent areas include
Great Barr , Hamstead andHandsworth Wood .External links
* [http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/s/sandwellvalley/index.asp RSPB-Sandwell Valley]
* [http://freespace.virgin.net/william.moodie/sandnats.htm SandNats]
* [http://www.sotshole.co.uk Friends of Sots Hole]
* [http://www.laws.sandwell.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/leisure-and-culture/parks-countryside-and-allotments/sandwell-valley/ Sandwell Council's Sandwell Valley website]
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