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Creating a a Creating Living Landscape Living Cover Photography: Darin Smith Registered Charity no. 209200 no. Charity Registered Web: Web: www.warwickshire-wildlife-trust.org.uk Email: [email protected] Leaflet funded by funded Leaflet Fax: 024 7663 9556 7663 024 Telephone: 024 7630 2912 7630 024 Warwickshire Coventry CV3 3GW CV3 Coventry Brandon Lane Lane Brandon Brandon Marsh Nature Centre Centre Nature Marsh Brandon Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Trust Wildlife Warwickshire Registered Office Registered the address below: address the would like details on practical volunteering, please contact Warwickshire Wildlife Trust at at Trust Wildlife Warwickshire contact please volunteering, practical on details like would If you would like more information on how you can help care for the environment or or environment the for care help can you how on information more like would you If Get Involved! Involved! Get partner organisations: partner The Partnership is led by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and supported by the following following the by supported and Trust Wildlife Warwickshire by led is Partnership The working with organisations, landowners and local communities. local and landowners organisations, with working a wetland landscape rich in wildlife and accessible to all to accessible and wildlife in rich landscape wetland a , by by , create to is vision The Warwickshire Birmingham and Tamworth. Tamworth. and Birmingham Tame Valley Tame scale conservation and restoration throughout a 95km² area of the Tame Valley between between Valley Tame the of area 95km² a throughout restoration and conservation scale In 2005, the Tame Valley Wetlands Partnership was established to help deliver landscape landscape deliver help to established was Partnership Wetlands Valley Tame the 2005, In The Tame Valley Wetlands Partnership Partnership Wetlands Valley Tame The The Wildlife Landscape of the the of Landscape Wildlife The The Tame Valley A Focus on Whitacre Heath Nature Reserve The River Tame is 100km long and the largest tributary of the River Trent. It starts in the Whitacre Heath Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is a key site within the Tame Black Country and continues eastwards through Birmingham, before changing direction Valley. Lying on the floodplain, the reserve comprises a mosaic of habitats including at Water Orton and flowing north through Tamworth. It has a number of important shallow pools, wet grassland and wet woodland. tributaries, the most significant of which are the rivers Rea, Cole, Blythe and Anker. This Interesting plants include the southern marsh orchid, blue fleabane and pink purslane, leaflet focuses on the River Tame between Birmingham and Tamworth, in north-west but the reason for the site’s SSSI status is for its breeding water birds, including little grebe, Warwickshire. tufted duck and teal, which can be spotted from Scrape Hide and Main Pool Hide. Waders Before the industrial revolution, the River Tame meandered slowly through broad such as lapwing, redshank, and both common and jack snipe also visit and can sometimes be landscapes of wildlife-rich marshes, reeds and pastures. The area was known for its seen from Flashes Hide. Other frequently seen birds include great spotted woodpeckers and breeding wildfowl and large over-wintering populations of migrating birds and waders. kingfishers, as well as a variety of warblers, finches, tits and thrushes. During the industrial revolution, the Tame Valley changed completely – natural floodplain Over one thousand species of invertebrate have been recorded on the reserve. These include and woodland was replaced by agriculture, industry and housing. Gravel extraction locally important butterflies such as small heath and white-letter hairstreak, and dazzling occurred along much of the River Tame and by the 1980s the river was polluted, damselflies and dragonflies such as the emperor dragonfly and broad-bodied chaser. engineered and cut-off from its floodplain. Birmingham Road John Carter Darin Smith Gary Farmer Gary Farmer Gary Farmer Northern Fish Pool P KEY Pastures Woodland Trail Bird Hides Road Toad Pool Wet Water Frog Pool Grassland River Pool Grassland Trail marker P Car Park Main Pool Marsh Marigold Southern Marsh Orchid White-letter Hairstreak Broad-bodied Chaser Common Frog Caltha palustris Dactylorhiza praetermissa Satyrium w-album Libellula depressa Rana temporaria Please note: Dogs are not allowed on this site to prevent disturbance to ground nesting birds. Today, there is a very different landscape to be enjoyed by nearly two million people who live close to the River Tame. Despite the historical damage, the river is now cleaner and the old gravel working sites, which once blighted the landscape, now help to form the largest series of interconnected wetlands in the county. The The Tame Valley has a wide variety of habitats that host a rich diversity of wildlife and Ross Rough The Flashes rare species. Home to several of the most important wildlife sites in the Midlands, this Scrape regionally important river corridor is also a vital north-south migration route, providing essential resting and feeding places for hundreds of migrating birds. Due to the area’s existing value and the potential to further improve this through wetland restoration and creation, the Tame Valley is recognised as a key place for large area conservation and partnership working, and part of a ‘Living Landscape’. www.warwickshire-wildlife-trust.org.uk River Tame Creating a a Creating Living Landscape Living Cover Photography: Darin Smith Registered Charity no. 209200 no. Charity Registered Web: Web: www.warwickshire-wildlife-trust.org.uk Email: [email protected] Leaflet funded by funded Leaflet Fax: 024 7663 9556 7663 024 Telephone: 024 7630 2912 7630 024 Warwickshire Coventry CV3 3GW CV3 Coventry Brandon Lane Lane Brandon Brandon Marsh Nature Centre Centre Nature Marsh Brandon Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Trust Wildlife Warwickshire Registered Office Registered the address below: address the would like details on practical volunteering, please contact Warwickshire Wildlife Trust at at Trust Wildlife Warwickshire contact please volunteering, practical on details like would If you would like more information on how you can help care for the environment or or environment the for care help can you how on information more like would you If Get Involved! Involved! Get partner organisations: partner The Partnership is led by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and supported by the following following the by supported and Trust Wildlife Warwickshire by led is Partnership The working with organisations, landowners and local communities. local and landowners organisations, with working a wetland landscape rich in wildlife and accessible to all to accessible and wildlife in rich landscape wetland a , by by , create to is vision The Warwickshire Birmingham and Tamworth. Tamworth. and Birmingham Tame Valley Tame scale conservation and restoration throughout a 95km² area of the Tame Valley between between Valley Tame the of area 95km² a throughout restoration and conservation scale In 2005, the Tame Valley Wetlands Partnership was established to help deliver landscape landscape deliver help to established was Partnership Wetlands Valley Tame the 2005, In The Tame Valley Wetlands Partnership Partnership Wetlands Valley Tame The The Wildlife Landscape of the the of Landscape Wildlife The The Tame Valley A Focus on Whitacre Heath Nature Reserve The River Tame is 100km long and the largest tributary of the River Trent. It starts in the Whitacre Heath Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is a key site within the Tame Black Country and continues eastwards through Birmingham, before changing direction Valley. Lying on the floodplain, the reserve comprises a mosaic of habitats including at Water Orton and flowing north through Tamworth. It has a number of important shallow pools, wet grassland and wet woodland. tributaries, the most significant of which are the rivers Rea, Cole, Blythe and Anker. This Interesting plants include the southern marsh orchid, blue fleabane and pink purslane, leaflet focuses on the River Tame between Birmingham and Tamworth, in north-west but the reason for the site’s SSSI status is for its breeding water birds, including little grebe, Warwickshire. tufted duck and teal, which can be spotted from Scrape Hide and Main Pool Hide. Waders Before the industrial revolution, the River Tame meandered slowly through broad such as lapwing, redshank, and both common and jack snipe also visit and can sometimes be landscapes of wildlife-rich marshes, reeds and pastures. The area was known for its seen from Flashes Hide. Other frequently seen birds include great spotted woodpeckers and breeding wildfowl and large over-wintering populations of migrating birds and waders. kingfishers, as well as a variety of warblers, finches, tits and thrushes. During the industrial revolution, the Tame Valley changed completely – natural floodplain Over one thousand species of invertebrate have been recorded on the reserve. These include and woodland was replaced by agriculture, industry and housing. Gravel extraction locally important butterflies such as small heath and white-letter hairstreak, and dazzling occurred along much of the River Tame and by the 1980s the river was polluted, damselflies and dragonflies such as the emperor dragonfly and broad-bodied chaser. engineered and cut-off from its floodplain. Birmingham Road John Carter Darin Smith Gary Farmer Gary Farmer Gary Farmer Northern