Beaconwood and the Winsel

Beaconwood and The Winsel by Sylvia Davies

Beaconwood and The Winsel by Sylvia Davies

11ha
Dog on a lead
Volunteer Group
A woodland with a great variety of wildlife and beautiful carpets of bluebells each spring.

Location

North end of Birmingham Road, 1 mile from north-east junction of the M5
Rubery
B61 0QD
A static map of Beaconwood and the Winsel

Know before you go

Size
11 hectares
P

Parking information

The entrance is near Lydiate Ash, 3 miles north of Bromsgrove, at the end of the cul-de-sac of Old Birmingham Road, Take the public footpath along the metalled track going north and enter the reserve through a gate after c20 yards.

Walking trails

A visit could be combined with a visit to the Lickey Hills Country Park. The wood is not far from the North Worcestershire Path.

Access

There is a circular path (earth) and steps; some paths on slopes and will be muddy and slippery when wet.

Dogs

On a lead

When to visit

Opening times

Dawn to dusk

Best time to visit

All year

About the reserve

These beautiful woods on the edge of Birmingham are renowned for their stunning shows of bluebells each spring but there’s more to these 11 hectares than bluebells!

Part of the National Trust’s Chadwich Estate, they’re managed by WWT and are great for walking in all year round.  They lie on the northwest spur of the Lickey Hills - Beaconwood was cleared and replanted with oaks about 120 years ago whereas plantations on the Winsel date from around 1930. 

Spring is great for woodland flowers whereas a walk following a sprinkling of snow in winter is magical. Entering via a gate from the public footpath off the old A38, you’ll walk up the forester’s track passing beech and turkey oaks with an understorey of holly.  As you walk the trees become more varied with whitebeam, cherry, sweet chestnut and mature conifers on the north slope.  The Great Oak, planted as the marker oak at the junction of three forestry compartments, is around 250 years old.

The heavy leaf canopy and dense bracken provide ideal cover for a range of wildlife.  Pied flycatchers, buzzards, kestrels, sparrow hawks, tawny and little owls, great spotted woodpeckers, tree creepers and  other woodland birds can be found here. Volunteers keep an eye on the wildlife through the summer months, helping to ensure they have the peace and quiet to breed and raise their young.

Contact us

Tom Watkins
Contact number: 01905 754919

Environmental designation

Local Wildlife Site (LWS)

Location map

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