Staffordshire Walks, Baggeridge Country Park (1)

Map taken from the site of the National Library of Scotland

Baggeridge Country Park. The main feature is a large hill of Pit Mounds which has plenty of paths to its summit and a lake named Bag Pool located between the parking grounds and the hill. Baggeridge was originally owned by the Earls of Dudley as part of the Himley Estate and consisted of small farms and ancient woodland along with the parkland of Himley Park. It was later landscaped by Lancelot "Capability" Brown in the 18th century; the landscape is still largely unchanged from the southern boundary up to the Wishing Pools. The whole site remained as landscaped by Brown until 1902 when work began to mine the northern half when pit shafts were sunk and a cast mining operation began. The mine was then nationalized in 1947 and closed down on 1 March 1968. In 1970 the western, central, southern and eastern areas were designated a Country Park with full reclamation on 12 January 1981. The north eastern area became Baggeridge Brick. It was officially opened on 17 June 1983 by Princess Anne.

The brick works at Baggeridge in Sedgley were once part of the Earl of Dudley's Baggeridge Colliery Ltd, producing bricks as a by-product of the mine in 1936. The bricks were manufactured using local Etruria Marl clay from a nearby quarry, and colliery shale. This brick-making enterprise was so sucessful that Baggeridge Brick was made a separate company in 1944. As a new company, it concentrated on producing bricks for the re-building projects that sprang up after the Second World War (1939-1945). The first kiln - a Super Staffordshire continuous kiln - was built in 1956, with a further two continuous kilns added over the following two years. During the 1960s and '70s the company went through significant changes and achieved great success. One of the biggest changes came in 1968 when the colliery closed and clay was obtained from a clay pit at nearby Himley. The absence of colliery shale in the manufacturing process caused the bricks to be fired at a higher temperature, producing a much higher quality red engineering brick. The three Super Staffordshire kilns were replaced by rectangular downdraught intermittent kilns in 1978. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a continuous programme of development work specialising in the manufacture of Staffordshire blue bricks. Today (2007), the factory produces facing and engineering bricks, special shaped bricks, paver systems and sculptured bricks, and is still the UK's leading independent brickmaker.

First official record is 1736. Most botanists now consider that the species was a native in the post-glacial England. A small population persists at Tamworth, rediscovered in Broad Meadow by the River Tame in 1958.

A creamy white variation to the previous picture. First official record is 1736. Most botanists now consider that the species was a native in the post-glacial England. A small population persists at Tamworth, rediscovered in Broad Meadow by the River Tame in 1958.

"One of the most ancient native plants, probably surviving the glaciations and flourishing after the last retreat of ice, in a landscape inundated by glacial melt waters. Until about 200 years ago, before extensive drainage of the landscape, the Marsh Marigold must have been the most conspicuous plant of early Spring." Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey (1996)