- The Three Crowns -
Catching the 935 from Walsall town centre, I alight on Sutton Road by Walsall Garden Centre and the Three Crowns. Since closing as a pub, the latter landmark seems to be moving through increasing stages of dereliction after becoming instead the base for one of those hand car wash enterprises that seem to spring up everywhere these days.
- Cuckoos Nook -
Racking up the reserves is the order of the day and the first one to be crossed off my bingo card is Cuckoos Nook, an ancient woodland said to be over 400 years old. A public footpath opposite Moat Farm takes me across crop fields and into the secluded shade provided by tree species such as holly, birch and oak.
- The Dingle -
The trail through Cuckoos Nook brings me directly into The Dingle, another important wildlife habitat where ash, beech and hawthorn can be found. The combined reserve straddles a geological fault line, one side of which (Cuckoos Nook) offers acidic soils with underlying coal seams whereas the other (The Dingle) is alkaline in nature due to the presence of limestone. Keeping an eye out for Beacon Way markers, I note the course of the Longwood Brook looking relatively dry following a prolonged spell of fine weather.
- Former Hay Head Branch Canal -
Leaving The Dingle, the Beacon Way veers off into nearby Hay Head Wood where I'm especially keen to investigate any traces of the former canal arm that once served the area's limeworks. I soon happen across a clump of bricks that look suspiciously like old bridge remains, followed by the course of the canal itself with the section still in water but definitely being reclaimed by nature. Before long I emerge on Longwood Lane at what I assume is the site of Hay Head Bridge - beyond this point the arm is in use as a private moorings accessed from Longwood Junction.
- Aldridge Airport -
Transport (or rather aviation) heritage is also to the fore with my next target as I proceed onto the playing fields of Aldridge Airport. From the 1930s to 1956 this was the site of the Walsall Aerodrome but nowadays is a public open space with an activity centre, bowling green and tennis courts (plus portakabin toilets for D9s with a special interest in such matters).
- Top Hangar -
One interesting feature of the former airfield is Top Hangar, a building that nowadays is used as a venue for events such as craft fairs. The main access to both the hangar and the park more generally is via a driveway off Bosty Lane, a road I now join for a direct route into Rushall passing a farm shop and the White House pub.
- Rushall Community Centre -
Rushall has cropped up fairly regularly during my Monday Mission series but has an established photo pedigree in the WME archives stretching right back to my earliest digital camera outings back in 2002. It's still nice though to root out things I haven't encountered before though, with examples this time around being Rushall Community Centre (on Springfields) and the local cricket club (off Pelsall Lane).
- Former Railway at Goscote Valley -
I'd been promising myself a closer look at Goscote Valley since April's Aldridge mission so it was time to pick up where I left off a few months ago. Taking Station Road towards Coalpool, I find the linear walkway that marks the South Staffordshire Line railway which used to link Lichfield, Walsall, Dudley and Stourbridge. Indeed, (as the streetname suggests) Rushall had its own station on the line somewhere close to the spot where I join the footpath.
- Mill Lane Nature Reserve -
If I'd have headed north I could have explored through towards Pelsall but that can wait for another mission. Instead I bear south with the Ford Brook for close company, passing around the eastern edges of Ryecroft Cemetery but staying firmly beyond the railings on this occasion. I've one final bingo location in mind, this being Mill Lane Nature Reserve where the pools and damp meadows are apparently popular with mating toads. Cecil Street is my route through The Butts as I go full circle back to Walsall town, and with my full card of nature reserves marked up I can confirm this is another mission most definitely completed. House!!
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