Working to protect and enhance the Lickey Hills and their environs
Lickey Hills Society Committee members met Tim Shields and Liam Parkes from the Black Country Living Museum to discuss the Rednal tram tracks. They were impressed with the overall condition of the tracks and recommended keeping the site well drained. So we will investigate installing a soakaway and we will also, need to have a twice yearly work party to keep the tracks clear. Our thanks to Tim and Liam for their advice. Members may remember that we have a grant from the Midland Adult Education Union, part of which we will use for an information board about the history of trams to the Lickeys. Information and photographs for this board, or volunteers to help with the work parties are always welcome.
Law practice Eversheds Sutherland who have an office in Colmore Row have made a donation of £500 to the Lickey Hills Society. The money will be used to purchase 2 Tree Poppers for use by the Lickey Ranger team and volunteers for the extraction of unwanted scrub, woody plants and trees. They will be especially useful tools for the ongoing Heathland Management Programme. There are three sizes of tree poppers for removing stems of different diameters. The Rangers have indicated that they would like one large and one medium sized popper. The poppers have to be imported from Canada and LHS has agreed to make up any shortfall in funding.
Eversheds Sutherland are planning a volunteer day when they will use the poppers.
Inspired by the recent Heritage Lottery Funded (HLF) project Hidden First World War Heritage of the Lickey Hills local resident Chris Burwood has created a diorama of the Bilberry Hill Gun Proof Range as it might have been during the First World War. The 1/72 scale model was constructed using information gathered by the HLF project team during 2017 and 2018.
The Bilberry Hill Gun Proof Range was built towards the end of the First World War (late 1917), under the direction of the Ministry of Munitions, to carry out the inspection testing of repaired 4.5" howitzer field guns and 18-pdr carriages. The guns and carriages were returned from the battlefields in Europe and repaired at the Austin Motor factory in nearby Longbridge.
The diorama was on display at the recent Lickey Hills History Society Heritage Open Weekend at the Country Park and proved to be a very popular exhibit. It is now on long-term loan to the Lickey Hills Rangers and has been installed in the Lickey Hills Visitor Centre.
© 2024 The Lickey Hills Society