Some 27 years ago, a group concerned with protecting the flora and fauna of Sheepwash was set up by a group of volunteers. Over that course of time people have come and gone, particularly in Sandwell Council, but one thing has remained constant in that this organisation has always prioritised The Sandwell Valley ahead of the poorer Tipton cousin in terms of management and upkeep. You can see this visually and it is irrefutable given the number of staff that work in West Bromwich compared to the token visits that now take place in Great Bridge.

For many years certain councillors in the Great bridge ward, with the exception of Fred Perry did absolutely nothing to promote or campaign for this to improve, and so the rot continued with the only employee on site eventually being axed due to long term ill health. No replacement was ever put in place, and you cannot keep blaming “the cuts” as a political excuse, because it is rubbish. It is rubbish because SMBC has instead pumped tax payers money into using the Valley as an events umbrella for all types of political, music and sporting spectacles whilst charging for parking. It has failed to ever manage angling, anti social behaviour and failed to enact bye laws necessary to protect the nature reserve sites.

Indeed it is clear to see where they have invested their money in Green flag formal parks, with many smaller sites never getting anything at all. Sheepwash has made do for many years with patchwork maintenance, mainly putting plasters over the criminal damage caused by local scum who set out to destroy anything that cannot be tied down. They are a minority, and yet are never dealt with with the full force of the law available.

In terms of what a “friends of” group is, we were one of the first in the borough and have always been critical of Sandwell council and never shilled on their behalf, in fact council officers will tell you that. We are not paid any money from Sandwell Council, do not control their budgets, and nor do we decide what they spend their money on. We would like to make this clear as certain individuals have made up lies that we do on social media, and we are not going to stand for that. Any individual purporting such will be excluded from our facebook page and permanently blocked, as is our right. We may feed wildlife on the site, but we are not going to feed the trolls.

POOR GOVERNANCE

We would also like to make it clear that we are constantly on the back of Sandwell Council about the poor maintenance of the site, emailing local councillors and officers and reporting issues via the quite useless “my Sandwell” portal. This takes volunteer time, and some of us have jobs to do as well, as carers, as well as other volunteer work outside of the specific area. If you criticise us without any knowledge or comprehension of what goes on and is not constantly self promoted via social media, well basically, the second word is “off”.

In the last week pictures of five individuals lighting fires have been sent to the council and the police by us, and it is up to them what action they take. It would be helpful of course if the council did not leave piles of freshly cut grass behind and turned it into bales as they used to. It is unclear as to why the council appear to not have a bale machine anymore or why they have not purchased one as a useful piece of frontline infrastructure.

mindless scum

One issue constantly being raised is the blocked John’s Lane tunnel- head of highways Robin Weare not having the courtesy to ever reply despite us being asked to contact him by a planning policy officer at the council, and nor it seems does he respond to councillors that we have made aware of this situation many times. That is, they have also failed to take this matter up to resolution and we would ask why?

In terms of Sandwell Council, they have over the last two years attempted to make groups sign up to an agreement that it itself has failed to uphold, treating volunteers with total contempt, childish diktats and failed communication from officers it claims are “busy”, This joke is underlined by the fact that there are just two countryside rangers employed by the council to manage all of the nature reserves and who are usually not on duty at the same time. Contrast this with the number of office based managers in parks and you see a total failure of Governance in what the priorities should be in a department. It is both an longstanding directorship failure, and a longstanding political and councillor failure to change this blinkered money wasting model.

Take for example a well publicised via The Sandwell skidder blog purchase of a 50+ year old banger coffee wagon allegedly approved by the former director  controlling parks for Lightwood’s Park which cost a reputed £39,000. We are sure that this could have been used to buy instead a machine that bales the cut grass. It isn’t rocket science is it? Coffee and cakes in the South of the borough are obviously more important to them.

We have attended the parks friends of parks forum meetings , where you rarely get any questions answered, minutes months later or not at all and claims that things would be sent out the next week, which seldom are. The level of criticism of SMBC we can tell you amongst other friends of groups is well known to the council and is almost universal in terms of what has been taking place over the last two years. Clearly, this model has run its course and is no longer viable, if it ever was. The vast majority of friends groups have members well into retirement age and no younger active volunteers to undertake physical work. It has however over the last four years become apparent that many SMBC and Serco staff are averse to physical work that would endanger their inflated sense of self preservation and “elf and safety”.

Take for example arguments between parks and Shirko to clear items dumped on Sheepwash at entrance points and within the site, particularly needles dumped by junky “rough sleeper” scum.

One exception to the public sector malaise has been Diane Gilbert, who we would like to thank for sorting the fly tipping mess out at many entrances on Sheepwash that were left there by said departments of the council and the private contractor.

Of course , as well as reporting matters, we have also planted wild flowers, paid for by ourselves and not by Sandwell council. It’s time this site was treated more like a nature reserve with those values, and not a second rate country park.

There are a couple of good Youtube videos from the Midlands Outdoors channel which explore Sheepwash and the surrounding Canal and Rattlechain lagoon area. Be sure to give that channel a subscribe and like.

Obviously locals will venture over here every day, to walk their dogs, go to work or for exercise, but these videos offer a newby’s experience to the area and a genuine unbiased commentary on what he sees. Using drone footage, subtle music and a gentle narration, it captures a moment of reflection about the industrial past and the changing face of nature within it.

Some links to complement the videos can be seen below under each.

First a visit to Sheepwash entering at John’s Lane. The “derelict house” is of course connected to the former farm and currently houses two businesses.

♥The bird flight diverters, and the story of how those were added by National Grid can be read HERE. 

♥ The overview history of the site can be read HERE. 

♥The story of the two brickworks once occupying the site can be read HERE. 

♥The Haines branch canal story is HERE. 

♥ The transformation of the site from industrial to nature reserve recovery is discussed HERE. 

The next video explores more of Sheepwash, but also Rattlechain lagoon and connecting BCN mainline.

There is considerable history and controversy surrounding the white phosphorus chemical waste dump of the former Albright and Wilson. 

♠ Further sightings and discussion of The Netherton tunnel can be read HERE. 

♠ The Rattlechain brickworks story can be read HERE. 

♠ Historic pictures/maps and discussion of the Rattlechain brickworks/lagoon are HERE. 

♠ This can be read in conjunction with how John’s Lane has changed HERE. 

♠ Discussion of the two tunnels into Sheepwash can be found HERE. 

♠ An overview of someone who carried Albright and Wilson’s toxic waste by canal barge from their Langley factory can be read HERE

♠ An updated “what’s left” of this “toxic trail” journey is HERE. 

♠ Some of the views from the hill overlooking Rattlechain lagoon are discussed HERE. 

♠ The issue of white phosphorus poisoning wildfowl on the lagoon, and the story of how campaigners had to take on this muti-national company can be read HERE. 

♠ These birds were found to be being systemically poisoned, see HERE and HERE by the waste chemical contained in this lake. 

♠The Friends of Sheepwash remain committed to campaigning against building any houses on or adjacent to this contaminated land which directly threatens the nature reserve and connected wildlife. 

On 22nd November The Friends of Sheepwash Local Nature Reserve and volunteers will be planting wild flower bulbs in an area of the reserve near to the main entrance in Sheepwash Lane.

The event will be led by Sandwell’s Countryside Rangers, and we also hope to be joined by Litterwatch on the day between 10 am-12pm in a litter pick in the vicinity.

The Friends of Sheepwash have purchased 500 bulbs, with 100 each of the species

English Bluebells    Hyacinthoides non-scripta 

Common Snowdrops  Galanthus nivalis

Snakeshead Fritillary    Fritillaria meleagris

Wild Daffodil      Narcissus pseudonarcissus:

Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa

We need help in this Autumn planting trial event to see how they fair on the site, and hopefully the area will look brighter between February- May next year and increase biodiversity for pollinators.

All equipment will be supplied on the day, but the rangers advise volunteers to wear suitable clothing and footwear in case of adverse weather or ground conditions. Please support this event if you can.

A guide to planting can be read below, but instruction will be given on the day.

Bulb-Planting-Instructions

Sheepwash is a Local Nature Reserve, and we want to keep it that way as a friends of group.

I deliberately chose to use the word “protect” in the domain name for this website, and not “The Friends of Sheepwash” as I believe that the site and its designation to be more important than a group of people who use the name. There will never be any promotion of individuals or their business interests and nor are we here to promote the interests of Sandwell council- this is about the history of the site, and a celebration of what has been achieved, and a campaign to keep it from being turned into something else.

As an “urban park” the site was not protected, from development, from external users and from individuals within the council itself; it wasn’t that long ago that some bright spark was talking about creating a nine hole golf course- no thanks, not then, not now, not ever!

It is also recognised that green space within Sandwell is coming under widespread attack from development, attack because politicians are using the term “brownfield land” to describe areas that have re-wilded which could become local nature reserves like sheepwash instead of more monopoly box houses to line the pockets of the construction industry.

You only have to look at the former Black Country plan to see the proposals of how many houses have been prescribed in the Lower Tividale area that borders Sheepwash to see that Sheepwash is under pressure from multiple sides, including the wildlife corridor of the canal.

We made representations at every stage of that plan, and have again in the Sandwell plan, opposing these development proposals, and talk of “garden cities” and anything else to window dress such developments will be opposed at every stage of the planning process to protect sheepwash.

There have also been other sites such as the Londonderry Playing fields, ripped up to build the aquatics centre, and the axe hanging over Lion Farm Playing Fields, and the highly controversial Brandhall Golf course development where it was clear that the majority of local people responding were against those plans.

Even though we have sort answers as to rumoured car parks on Sheepwash and have voiced our total opposition to such schemes, there are individuals who used to be in Sandwell Council who appear to have pushed this agenda privately outside of our group, and we would say to them, you have no business case to use tax payers money in this way, are pushing something which evidentially attracts anti social behaviour on every other Sandwell open space site where there are car parks, and go against the council’s own “climate emergency” and air quality agenda when the majority of site users visit the site by foot- which is to be encouraged is it not?

Let us also see how Sandwell Valley has eroded over the last 20 years from a nature reserve status into a “country park” free for all where competing uses, multi events and mass gatherings of people including disposable barbeques and swimming with dogs in swan pool are now the norm there every weekend. We will never want to see any of this at Sheepwash, and we wish to “protect” it from anyone who does.

And let us also raise the issue of how we as a friends group found out that Sheepwash had no bye-laws, when someone in Sandwell council failed to enact them when the site became a nature reserve in 2001, despite written evidence from officers at that time that this would be a formality!

In this regard, we use the term “protect” with good purpose and intention, and reserve our own counsel on what to call this website, thank you very much!

As for The Friends group, I wish to carry on the work of previous Chairs, Geoff Williams, Malcolm Beckley, Fred Perry and Chris Adams in recognising that Sheepwash is a resource to be used for education and to protect and preserve nature first and foremost, and where conflicts of interest arise, the needs of wildlife will take priority- as per our constitution.

Some individuals who have never even attended any of our meetings have previously bad mouthed us via social media and have no idea as to the hundreds of hours put in by campaigning, rescuing wildlife, reporting incidents and giving statements, to dealing with pollution incidents. Not everything we do has to be a self publicity photo opportunity or rolling progress report and much of the time it is just left to a couple of individuals who do more than moan.

We will continue to press with your support a site that is welcoming and has the facilities and fair share of the cash that it deserves. We will always hold the council to account and not stop campaigning to keep Sheepwash a place where wildlife can thrive and is protected.

Ian Carroll. Chair The Friends of Sheepwash Local Nature Reserve.