Ercall & Granville Walkabout

Message from The Bloggger...
I'm indebted to Keith for this blog post who often strolls up to the lectern to give a dissertation when I'm unable to do so as was the case with the recent walk around The Ercall and Granville Nature Reserves for a review of future work to be carried out by the intrepid Wrekin Forest Volunteers.

So... over to Keith

Close Encounters of a Horsey Kind

The new season for the Wrekin Forest Volunteers opened with a home games at the Ercall followed by a match at what is rapidly becoming our second home pitch at Granville. Both matches were walks around the site.

The Ercall

Some of the volunteers and a couple of rangers and regular walkers of the Ercall met at the car park opposite the Buckatree. We watch dumbstruck as a recycling lorry pulled up at the edge of the car park, emptied its contents onto the side of the road then drove off … more later.

Our first objective was to find the steps up the Ercall to establish their state of repair. We passed along the foothills of the Ercall through vast swathes of bracken and found the steps. They looked pretty good to me. We conquered the steps but not without many stops to admire the view and give Pete many opportunities to impress us with his vast knowledge of the area. We also spotted lots of Earthballs (inedible) and a lovely beetle (as yet unidentified).

The steps? Oh yes! There are 180 (thanks Les) – more than the Rotunda - most were in good order but could benefit from some tlc but a few were rotten and need replacing.

Having made it all the way up the steps we then started to descend. We came to a view point and discussed improvements. I felt sorry for the silver birch in front of the area as the chain saw men amongst us sized it up.

We descended to the bottom then went up again, but not by the main path but by an obscure route through damp woodland at the side of the golf course (one golf ball found). We spied a rather untidy “social meeting” place through the trees. As if by magic, which I am sure it was, plastic bags appeared and the rubbish was collected and subsequently placed in the Buckatree’s skip.

We made our way to Quarry 4 and assessed the amount of willow we would have to clear in the next few months, making sure, of course, that we do not disturb the colony of banded snails that have taken up residence.

Then back to the car park. Some of us took the nostalgic route over Beetle Bridge.

And the recycling – as if by magic, which I am sure it wasn’t, had all been removed. The recycling lorry moves in mysterious ways.

Granville
We met, at the Muxton Lane Car Park, with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Friends of Granville. I apologise to them and to the readers that I cannot recall their names. Pete explained that he had been invited to create an Interpretation Strategy for the site. This would involve things such as identifying the architectural and cultural points of interest, creating interpretation media (such as boards) and heritage trails, celebrating coal mining history in Telford. Unfortunately some of this was lost on me as I was distracted by the antics of numerous Speckled Woods in the trees around the car park – sorry. Fortunately Pete had brought hand-outs – so we did not need to take notes.

We started by walking around the Muxton Bridge pit mound, which borders the car park, then made our away across Marshbook Way to the Freehold Colliery pit mound. This area has become a haven for kids and bikes. In amongst the items of historic interest they had built ramps, precipitous drops and even steps to help their pursuit of biking pleasure. I hope that this can be retained within the “Interpretation Strategy” maybe as an example of later generation adapting the environment to their needs.

At the side of this the path descends gently along what may be an inclined plane as the path at the bottom follows the course of the old tramway. As we were close to Muxton Marsh so, for old times sake, we went to inspect the hedge. This meant getting past the guard horses which are grazing the area until December. Bribed with an apple the horses let us pass. The hedge looks good, but there is still a lot to do.

Let’s stop for lunch the walk leader suggested. It seemed a good idea, the gate was shut and the horses were in the other field. BUT, no sooner had we settled down and tucked into lunch that the horses came through a hole in the future hedge and had us surrounded, demanding to be fed. We beat a hasty retreat. We made for the “Dingy Skipper” bank for a leisurely lunch in the sun.

Our walk eventually took us to the South Eastern tip of the reserve down Grange Lane through an avenue of Japanese Knotweed which looked (sorry to admit this) very attractive bedecked in sprays of little cream flowers. Then we headed back to the Lodge Furnaces and Canal basin, discussing the best way to construct a heritage trail – a series of linked loops looking the best option.

At the furnaces Pete told us that one of our tasks would be to tidy up the area and try and expose more of this industrial site. The chain saw men were licking their lips – all in the interests of public safety and education of course.

We wandered back to the Car Park via the Methodist Chapel and Muxton Bridge Pump House admiring the excellent clearance work that the Friends had undertaken.
We are now all primed to respond to Pete’s call for a get together to discuss how this project is to be pursued.

Keith Fowler

Thanks Keith - as I missed this event I must try and find these steps up The Ercall, especially as it looks as if we'll be working on them!