Wom Brook Blog

British Summer Time (BST) officially began this morning-the clocks went forward an hour, and some of us made do with an hour’s less sleep. According to an article on the BBC News website, those of us who are larks, and are categorised as ‘morning’ people might initially feel tired for the next day or two, because of the loss of the hour’s sleep!

Irrespective of these facts, these Wombourne residents were keeping to their usual routine of walking (or running as the person further down the path is doing) along the Railway Walk or beside the Brook.

Snowdrops - the first signs of Spring?

This morning’s drizzle-damp walk along the Brook and up onto the Railway Walk was brightened considerably by the sighting of a snowdrop (see above picture)-is this the first sign of Spring? It is hard to be lulled into a false sense of security about the possible onset of warmer weather-I can still recall talking part in the Annual 24 hour RNLI race at Himley Sailing Club in May one year, and being unable to drink a bottle of water which had been lying near the centreboard casing-it was frozen!

Rather disappointingly, last Saturday’s meeting at Wombourne Leisure Centre was very poorly attended. However, a number of points were discussed relating to taking steps towards achieving Green Flag Award status for the Railway Walk.

In pursuing this award, it is hoped that the profile of the Walk would be raised, with the view to further developing the overall conservation plan for the area, as well as increasing awareness of the history, flora and fauna associated with this important habitat.

A further meeting is planned, when members of the Friends of Wom Brook will add their support to this venture. It was agreed to feature the Railway Walk in future within this blog, as both the Wom Brook and the Railway Walk are interrelated geographically.

Baggeridge Country Park have contacted the Friends of Wom Brook, with regard to holding a meeting with regular walkers and recreational users of the Kingswinford Railway Walk.

The Park authority, also part of South Staffordshire District Council, are responsible for the management, conservation and development of the Railway Walk, and are currently investigating upgrading the Walk to LNR (Local Nature Reserve Status), and along the way, obtaining the Green Flag award.
The Green Flag Award is administered by the Civic Trust, an urban environment charity

An open meeting will be held at the Wombourne Leisure Centre on Saturday 18th March at 11:30 a.m., to discuss taking these ideas forward, particularly with regard to providing information and interpretation along the Walk.

..various sticklebacks, fresh water shrimps, and a seemingly unidentifiable caterpillar-like creature that seemed to be happily swimming about in the brook!

In order to identify the majority of these creatures, as well as drawing upon the expertise of the local park ranger, there were members of the local naturalists group, and one biologist on hand!

Today, the Friends of Wom Brook group met at the Gravel Hill picnic area site. This wasn’t the monthly Saturday morning clean-up session usually seen-instead some of the village’s younger residents joined members of the Friends group, along with one of the local country park rangers to search for evidence of aquatic animal life in the Brook.

Today’s event was part of the ongoing monitoring process that is designed to ascertain whether the water quality of the Brook is good enough to support life. It is hoped that this morning’s survey will be the first in a number that should become regular scheduled events over the space of the year, and should hopefully provide a picture of what wildlife inhabits the brook during the four seasons.

Regular walkers and visitors to the Brook Walk which joins the Railway Walk will have observed the changes that have gradually been brought about out of necessity to the above gateway.

All three photographs are of the same gateway, which has gradually had to be replaced due to vandalism. In the final photograph (3), you may just notice the remains of the disabled access gate, (left of picture) which was smashed one weekend in the Autumn.

In an ideal world, we probably wouldn’t need many gates, so why is there one at this location, when originally the pathway was open?

Motorbikers and horse riders were starting to use this as an access point for the village, and were deemed by the local district council, and local walkers as presenting a hazard to those of us on foot. Additionally damage was occurring to both footpaths and grassed areas from hooves and tyres.

This month’s committee meeting is scheduled to take place in the Council Chambers, Wombourne at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 7th March.

As the 2005/6 winter draws to a close with a flourish (or should that be a flurry) of snow showers and frosty nights, Wombourne woke to yet another morning of snow and ice.

Walking along the Brook-although picturesque, was not without its risks-snow had obscured ice, causing a number of early morning walkers to slide unexpectedly.

The above photo was taken looking south along the Railway Walk, where it crosses the Brook-almost out of picture in the left foreground is the footpath leading to the centre of the village.