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Newhall Valley Country Park

M

Mark Tooze

master brummie
New Hall Valley Country Park is a country park located in New Hall Valley between Walmley and Sutton Coldfield. It is the first new country park in the UK for over a decade. Created with funding raised from the release of land for the New Hall Manor Estate development and formally opened on 29 August 2005.

The park covers over 160 acres of designated green belt land to the south east of Sutton Park, including ancient woodland, historic wetland grazing meadows, former farmland, and part of Plants Brook. It borders on a number of privately owned buildings including the 17th century Grade II listed New Hall Mill, Vesey House, New Hall Hotel and Bishop Walsh School.

Bits of the park are wild and pretty much untouched:-
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Super photos Mark. It’s a nice park that, I cycle through it, coming off the Fazley Canal and cutting across to Pype Hays park, then Penns Hall Hotel and on to Sutton Park. There is a nice route back into Birmingham via Kingstanding and the lakes. I much prefer these rewilded parks
 
wonderful photos mark...i am sure i have been past this park...trouble is i now have mobility issues..going on what you have seen would it be difficult to get around on a mobility scooter or using a walking stick..

lyn
 
Hi Lyn - mobility access is fine - there is a good path from Wylde Green Road end to Reddicap end - car parks at both ends and 2 entrances off Ebrook Rd - there is also a boardwalk in the middle of the park which is accessible by scooter for about half its length. Footpath entrances from other points too - details on map below:-
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My wife's uncle regularly goes down the valley on his scooter.
 
many thanks mark...i have saved that map for ref...just noticed there is a water mill there

lyn
 
Fantastic photographs Mark. The Egret is soooooo naughty, not only fishing without a licence but also catching and eating a fish on the Endangered Species List, In all of my years of fishing ive only ever seen one in real life. A distinctive little fish call A Bullhead, or Millers Thumb. Thank you for the information and wonderful photographs.
Mark Tooze said:
Walking the dogs yesterday I caught one of the "locals" fishing without a licence:-
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Note the string of water between the two halves of its beak/bill as it eats it:-
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Then the Egret was off to look for more:-
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Click to expand...
 
Thank you Harry - I did not know what type of fish it was - I've seen plenty of trout in the Ebrook over the years but these smaller fish are harder to see. Went through photos again and found a couple more:-
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And then he was REALLY naughty and caught another one, although these photos are not so good as it was getting dark by then:-
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When we left he was still fishing.....
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He certainly is a good fisherman, sorting out the Bullheads hiding under the stones and rocks, and coming out to eat in the early morning or evenings. Great photos of a bird in our midst that many have not heard of let alone seen (I haven't in this country !
but i have seen a photo of one in Pype Hayes park by me)
 
Currently we see 3 Egrets regularly in Newhall Valley - I walk our dogs down these most evenings after work and they are nearly always around. Apart from common birds like pigeons, robins, magpies, blackbirds, tits, etc, we also see Herons regularly, and occasionally Kingfishers, Pheasants and Muntjack Deer. Even saw a woodpecker once! Loads of bats in the twilight, owls in the evening and lots of birds of prey too over by New Hall hotel. Rainbow trout in the Ebrook. and a flock of green Parakeets who nest by the boardwalk! For train lovers you get everything from occasional steam trains to nuclear waste trains. Loads of apple, plum, pear and damson trees and sloe bushes for late season scrumping. And at the top end you have a superb clear view over the western horizon - this is where I took some of the "parade of planets" shots from in the "From Our Gardens 2025" thread.
M

Post in thread 'From Our Gardens 2025'

Slightly better view last night -Mercury was just about visible but too dim in the twilight to photograph - but we can see Mars / Jupiter / Venus in a line from top left to bottom right, with Orion in the picture as well:-
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And now for the out-take - £$%^&* aeroplane got in the shot:-
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  • Appreciate
In short - its a hidden gem!
 
New Hall Valley is Sutton Coldfield's second jewel in nature's crown hundreds of years after Sutton Park. It's amazing that it's been created, both formally and naturally in less than thirty years. Of course, the natural part, Ebrook and Plantsbrook were always there to be developed but those of us who live locally have had the pleasure of watching it develop over those relatively few years. I think it's been created sympathetically and without imposition on the local population and environment. We are so fortunate to have the facility on our doorstep. My hope is that it remains tidy and free of indiscriminate littering which is a perennial problem with so many beauty spots. Thanks to Mark Tooze for the wonderful photographs but will you ask the herons to keep fishing in the brook and refrain from visiting the local garden ponds, including mine.
 
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