Tag: Shire Oak Park

March 30th – The vehicle entrance to Shire Oak Park – which was formerly the main access to the quarry, and the route used by rangers to get into the lower are of the reserve – had the gate damaged and/or stolen about 12 months ago. It was never replaced by Waslall Council’s Greenspaces team, instead being haphazardly blocked with three light planks nailed between the gateposts.

A couple of weeks ago, the one remaining plank was smashed by a truck reversing through it, which then proceeded to flytip a large quantity of refuse.

This is the state of the ‘repair’, one good tug and those planks will be off. The previous, broken one still lies cast asunder in the ditch by the fence.

I support the Greenspaces team and have fought their corner many times. But come on, this is piss-poor.

This really needs sorting properly. If it had been fixed properly previously, the council probably wouldn’t have had to pay for the rubbish removal of the previous week, either.

March 16th – For what was once an old sand and gravel quarry that’s had minimal post-industrial landscaping, Shire Oak Park is a beautiful place, Down by the frog pool at the north hollow, in the golden hour reflected of the very red, red sand soil was gorgeous. It is of course, sandy here – and the stratified sandstone reveals the geology beautifully, but there is also greenery and wildlife. Not just the frogs croaking in the pool, but birds calling and foxes stalking in the scrub. The whole place feels beautifully secluded, and is complex enough to explore and get lost in for a while.

Shire Oak Park is not just a hidden gem of Brownhills, but of the Midlands in general.

October 25th – I didn’t come home until darkness had fallen, and coming up the Chester Road I felt like trying my night riding skills out in Shire Oak Park. I felt like it, then I remembered the stiles I had to get my bike over. And it was raining. It would be muddy. Perhaps not.

I think my night riding skills are probably still a bit rusty for that just yet. Maybe in a week or two…

September 5th – In contrast to the Mango Tree half a mile away, nothing remains of the former Shire Oak transport cafe, informally known locally as ‘Greasy Lil’s’. Derelict and decaying for 25 years, the shell was finally demolished a couple of years ago. The patch of land it sat on stands now as a sandstone outcrop into a disused quarry, reborn as a nature reserve. Controversy has surrounded the planning history of this site for years, situated on a bad, inclined bend on the Chester Road once known as ‘Death Mile’, it’s a bad spot to pull out onto a fast road. Permission was granted some time ago for a development of flats, but nothing materialised. It seems someone has a new plan, as although there are no new planning applications, from the evidence of fresh, clean red sand, someone has clearly been drilling to test the bedrock. Whatever happens,the new residents need a head for heights. There’s a 30 foot drop the other side of that fence…

May 22nd – A wind that wouldn’t take no for an answer, and far too much work to do. A short evening social ride up to Shire Oak Park – a former quarry – was in order. I haven’t been here for at least 12 months. I’m always shocked at how wooded and green it now is, when I was a kid it was a barren sand-hole, long since abandoned by it’s operators. Sad to see that with the dry spring the pools have dried up.