Dosthill Park (owned by TBC)

Originally part of a country estate Dosthill Park was declared a Local Nature Reserve in 2010. The Dosthill Park Wildlife Group aim to manage and improve large areas of valuable wildlife habitat including woodland, grassland, a network of ditches and watercourses and a stretch of riverside habitat on the River Tame.

Highlights

• Venture down to the riverside meadow for a stunning view of Middleton Lakes, an RSPB site home to a wide array of wildlife

• Explore the variety of habitats at this site and admire the collection of magnificent parkland trees, including common lime, chestnut, oak and beech

Habitats of Dosthill

Dosthill Park is approximately 12 hectares and is divided into four compartments for the current management plan.

Compartment 1 contains the eastern brook, which is fed by run-off from the Cottage Farm Estate and the A51, and subsequently takes a great deal of grey water during periods of heavy rainfall.   The central section of the site, compartment 2, is dominated by unimproved neutral grassland with pockets of hedgerows and areas of parkland woodland.   Compartment 3 lies to the west and borders a stretch of the River Tame. It comprises marshy grassland, wet woodland, broad-leaf plantation woodland and the western brook fed by run-off from surrounding fields.

The riverside meadow lies to the west of compartments 1, 2 and 3.  It comprises an area of unimproved grassland with bordering hedgerows and drains to the south and east and the River Tame to the North.  The network of streams and drains in this compartment provide a valuable habitat for wetland species such as meadowsweet, cuckooflower and marsh marigold.

Building on the ‘small-scale’ work

Success has come to the group through the Heritage Lottery Fund in the shape of £50,000. The successful project aims to build on some of the ‘small scale’ work the volunteer group have undertaken in the park over the past year or more.

A series of scrapes and ponds were dug earlier in the year to improve the site's wetland habitat and to attract an array of dragonfly and amphibian species.   The group also plan to build on the diversity of the meadow on the western side of the park by selective re-introduction of species by planting and hay strewing.  They hope to implement a programme of ‘restorative management’, cutting the meadow and removing the cuttings once each year.

Access and interpretation will soon be improved within the park. The highlight of this will be a proposed ‘wetland boardwalk’, running though a scenic area of wetland and woodland in the park.

Why not get involved?

Practical conservation tasks are held at Dosthill Park LNR on the first Sunday of each month from 10am – 1pm. Meet in the car park opposite the Dorcas Centre, off Blackwood Road.

If you would like to get involved, please contact Dosthill Park Wildlife Group or “Wild about Tamworth” Project Officer Lindsey Bates on 01827 59912 or 07970 067711.