What should I do if I see something wrong? Expand Thank you for caring about Warley Woods and for wanting to help keep it a safe and pleasant place for everyone to visit. We appreciate the support of our visitors in achieving that. If someone is in danger, a crime is in progress, or someone needs an ambulance or there is a significant fire, then please call 999. If it is during our building opening hours then please also call us 0121 429 2440. We will come out to help if we can, or contact a Trustee or volunteer if we cannot leave the building. We have a defibrillator in the shop which anyone, even untrained, can use which can prolong life until the emergency services arrive. If the activity is not a physical emergency but is illegal and antisocial and needs law enforcement please call the police on 101. We also appreciate knowing about this and will help if we can, but Trust staff and volunteers do not have any more legal powers than any other member of the public and we will only be able to talk to the individual. If you see something physically wrong, like flytipping, vandalism, something broken please call in at the Pavilion or telephone us 0121 429 2440. If the Pavilion is closed for the day, there is an answerphone on that line and so we will know about the problem first thing the next morning and shop staff will be able to liaise with groundstaff to get it resolved. We would prefer that you do not use social media or email to report issues like this, as there is no guarantee of social media being monitored, as our Administrators are volunteers and you might send the email to an address which is not seen over the weekend. As our shop has staff in it seven days a week and long summer hours, it really is the best way to get a message to us, so we can deal with the issue promptly. If you want to report a particular issue with a problem dog/owner, then we have a special form for this. We do not have any byelaws or enforcement powers relating to dogs, as these are covered by primary legislation. We do keep records of incidents and will go through the legal channels open to us if we identify a particular dog/owner causing significant nuisance. The form can be accessed here.
What time are the gates locked? Expand Times do vary on different days of the week and with longer and shorter daylight hours. You can always ask our shop staff on 0121 429 2440 what the hours are for today. For general guidance you can see the information here.
Can I hold a family party in the park? Expand We love people to use Warley Woods for all kinds of celebrations and for a normal family outing or picnic no special permission is needed. We like it that people feel the Woods is an extension of their own gardens. But you need to keep to the normal park rules - such as no BBQs, disposing of rubbish, being considerate to other park visitors and not erecting tents etc. Please have a look at our byelaws if you are unsure what is or isn't allowed. Large scale parties though are not allowed without permission. Be aware that sometimes things that start small scale end up being larger, and on some occasions stray into commercial operation where other rules start to apply (and charges). If you are starting to invite people you don't know to join you at your activity - through promotion on facebook for example, then you start to have a duty of care for those people and the activity becomes more of an event. If you are starting to provide games or activities, again it may be best to talk this through with us first. If in doubt, please ask. We have staff on site seven days a week and are always happy to clarify anything or take a message. You can make an enquiry through this online form too.
What is the metal tank alongside the path from Harborne Road into the park? Expand This is the irrigation tank for the golf course and next to it is the pump shed. The golf course greens are watered at night by sprinklers (only when necessary though). Watering at night helps keep the moisture where it should be and not wasted in the heat of the day.
Can we scatter ashes at Warley Woods? Expand Yes you can. We know that Warley Woods is a special place for many people and we understand that people would like to scatter ashes and have a place that they can come back to visit with that memory. We would ask that you talk to us about this before you do so. There are places where ashes should not be scattered. There are also spaces, like on the golf course, where we would need to make special arrangements with you. You should not dig holes to bury ashes. You should also be careful when scattering that you avoid any newly planted trees. These have often been planted in memory of someone and we have had the situation where a family has come back to their tree and found someone else's ashes added to the tree and a flower attached to the stem. They found it very upsetting and we would like to avoid that kind of situation in future. We do not officially allow the leaving of tributes such as flowers, or decorations on benches or trees. We do have people do this and we will generally not remove them until they become unsightly. But we do prefer the park and woodland to be as natural as possible - it is not a cemetery. In particular benches have been provided for people to sit on and while many of our benches have "in memory" type plaques on them, they should remain places that everyone feels that they can sit on without intruding.
Which is the oldest tree in Warley Woods? Expand We have over 4,500 trees in Warley Woods. The oldest area of planting which gives "Woods" its name is the oak trees in the triangle of land at the corner of Barclay Road and Lightwoods Hill. These trees may not look like old oak trees, but they have been coppiced at some point (cut back to their base) which means they have grown their trunks at least twice, if not more. The majority of the planting of the woodland was done after 1795 when the area went from being farmland to designed parkland, for Samuel Galton Junior. A lot of this planting was beech trees. Then during the public park period (1906 onwards) other trees were added, like the trees either side of the driveway. We also have lots of odd specimen trees, as parts of the grounds were used as a tree nursery for Birmingham Council and some of these trees were never transplanted. The oldest trees though are likely to be our yew trees. These are such slow growing trees they don't look that impressive. They are not only slow growing, but long lasting - while trees like beech trees only last a few hundred years. If you would like to know more about our trees - have a look at our tree trail leaflet
Use of drones Expand The use of drones is a complex matter and you need to ensure you are aware of regulations before you consider using a drone in a public place. All drone operators now have to be registered. It is possible to use some drones (lighter weight) in public areas, but it is unlikely a a larger drone can be used safely in a public space and so the Trust does not give general permission for drones to be used. Commercial photography of any kind (this includes wedding photography) needs prior permission of the Trust. Due to the safety issues involved and admin oversight needed from the Trust, it is unlikely the Trust will give permission for commercial photography using drones at the present time.
Can I have a special tree planted in Warley Woods? Expand We do plant special new trees which could be adopted, or planted in memory, but this only happens once a year in the winter time. We have a waiting list of people who are interested in this and contact them when we have a planting plan for the year ahead. We start from the point of what Warley Woods needs and what budget we have to buy in trees and then we contact the people next on the list (often around December) to see if what we are planting and where is of interest to them. If it is, we ask a minimum of £250 per adoption - which is currently around half the cost of each tree we buy. When we have the planting day, which is always a weekday, we invite families to be involved with the planting if they wish to be. If someone wants to include ashes or something sentimental in the planting hole then we will work with the family on this and make the moment special. If you want to be iadded to our waiting list please let us know by phone 0121 420 1061 or email [email protected] . It doesn't oblige you to take up the offer when get in touch, as you may have decided to do something different while you are waiting. Please be aware though that this may be a while in the future. Please be aware we don't put plaques on or near trees. The only record of adoptions is in our own records and on our website tree map.
Can I have a bench in Warley Woods? Expand At the moment I am afraid the answer is no, as we have all the benches that the site needs. You can find out more about why this is on this page.
Where has the water gone from the valley bottom? Expand There are lines on maps that indicate the route of an occasional stream. It is actually termed "an occasional" stream in Repton's Red Book of his landscape design for the site. Water there has never been a permanent feature there as there is no water source in Warley Woods. The stream forms when there is sufficient heavy rain, that runs down both sides of the valley and takes a while to drain away. There used to be a permanent (but artificially created) pond on site, (thanks to Repton) and this stayed as a feature in the early years of the public park. It was at the Abbey Road gates, and is probably the only piece of flat land in the park. But in the 1920s, when Abbey Road was created, land was used from Warley Woods to widen the lane (Slatchhouse Lane) to a road (Abbey Road) and a culvert for water was taken under this new road. It flows down to Thimblemill Brook. So now we only get a pool after exceedingly heavy rain, that has to take its time to go through the culvert. We are told that it was created by using herringbone bricks as its base and in the drought of the 1970s, the grass cracked around the bricks and the shape of them can be seen. It used to be a very rare pool - just once every few years, but now we see it several times a year.
Can I use a metal detector in Warley Woods? Expand Sorry no. This is something we will not give permission for. This is common policy across Sandwell.
Can I have a campfire or BBQ at Warley Woods Expand I'm afraid not. Warley Woods (and all green spaces in Sandwell) are BBQ free zones. It is just too easy for a spark to cause damage in woodland. We can allow exceptions where there are professional controls in place - for catering stalls and at Forest Play - to enable children to learn about fire safely, but in general the Woods is safer without open flames.
Should I feed wildlife in Warley Woods? Expand We would rather that you didn't leave food on the ground, put food in trees or try to hand feed wildlife. Your intentions may be good, but there may be unconsidered consequences. Food on the ground can be eaten by animals for which it is not suitable or they may be allergic to. This could be wild animals or people's pets. Uneaten food can rot down, go off, encourage increased numbers of species to the point where they become problem numbers. We have had people nail and screw bird feeders to trees, leave whole loaves of bread every day, leave chicken carcasses and leave pumpkins after halloween. None of these things are things we would encourage or give permission for if asked. We do not yet have problems with feeding in our pond, but as we do now have ducks, we don't want the pond to be a place where people put in bread or seeds for the birds. These are not helpful either for the ducks or the pond's gently evolving ecosystem. We have spotted a recent trend of people feeding squirrels by hand. We really would prefer people didn't do this. Warley Woods already has a larger than good for the ecosystem number of squirrels by hectare which leads to signficant damage to our trees and makes it difficult for the young trees we plant to survive to become the large trees we all want to see (grey squirrels were not present when all our current mature trees were planted: they are (in tree terms) very new residents. Supplementary feeding only makes this worse and squirrels are wild animals and can bite. Not something we really want to deal with in the play area in particular. We don't want to be kill joys and we know the joy feeding animals can bring, but we believe Warley Woods already has enough natural food for the animals that can be supported within it and so if you want to feed wildlife, do it within your own garden. Thank you.
Can we put Fairy Doors into the woodland? Expand You are welcome to add Fairy Doors to the Woods. There is a gentle continual loss and renewal of doors and we seem to keep things about right for those who prefer things left natural and those who like the cuteness of fairy residents.
Can I ride a bike in Warley Woods? Expand You are absolutely fine to ride a bike around the park, but not on the golf course. Please just be considerate of other park users with your speed and when sharing paths. Many people enjoy using the woods for their dogs to run free and children to wander and so please be aware of that, and some paths are narrow but enjoy the park as you wish to.
Can we take sticks and branches for personal use? Expand If you are just taking a few, then that is fine. We’d rather people didn’t take masses or be a regular place for picking up things like kindling – but because with the number of log burners in the area, we think the woodland floor could be stripped bare if everyone did it. Having branches, twigs and leaf litter on the woodland floor is all part of our recycling ecosystem for the trees and the wildlife that live there. Please don’t take any logs from the woodland. We put any surplus log sized wood on the car park at Lightwoods Hill then people know it is surplus and can be taken. This stops people just taking what they feel like from wherever!
Direct Debit Management Expand Warley Woods Community Trust uses direct debits for membership payments, regular donations and for monthly golf season tickets. You can set up a direct debit through this website. You can cancel a direct debit through your own bank (app, online or in person) or you can email us and ask us to cancel it for you. It not quite so simple to amend a direct debit and can be easier to cancel the previous one and set up a new one. Or again you can contact us and we can do that for you. Our direct debit management is handled by Go Cardless. Staff at Warley Woods cannot see your bank details unless you provide them to us directly Use [email protected] for any help with direct debits. This email is monitored Monday - Friday.
Ask a Question Expand If you have a question and it isn't answered here, then please use this form to let us know so that we can add the information. Thank you