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One of the many falling banks

Sandwiched between the A449 Kidderminster Road and an embankment on its northern side, Norton Covert is a basin-like area of trees, hills and sand dunes.

In recent years, the quarter mile stretch of woodland – famed locally for its varied wildlife and appealing walks – has been subject to huge levels of wind and rain erosion.

Pathways have withered away, dozens of trees have collapsed and the northern embankment has diminished. Landslides have damaged the only path that runs along the top of the far side on the edge that runs parallel to a 200 foot drop.

A huge tree collapses in the Covert

The Friends

Determined not to let the woods fall any further into decline, The Friends of Norton Covert was set up in response to the continued environmental changes.

Tony Creed, Chairman of the Friends, organises regular meetings in an attempt to plan strategies for maintaining the woods.

"We decided it was time to do something," he explains. "The Covert means a lot to the local community. It's a former sand quarry and was actually used as a firing range during the Second World War.

"The Covert is actually owned by Dudley Council but it's proven very hard to get them interested. It seems to be a very complicated set-up there to get anything done in terms of maintenance. That's why we set up this group."

John looking down the bank

A spokesperson for Dudley Council said:

"We own the site and carry out all high priority works there such as those works on dead, dying and dangerous trees. While we don't have a fixed tree maintenance works schedule there we do carry out a variety of works at the site.

"These have recently included the installation of fencing and clearing of trees last month."

Hands-on work

John Edwards has done a lot of hands-on work for the Friends Of Norton Covert.

John's reinforcement

"The main thing really was to try and hault the decline of the pathway that runs across the top level of the woods," he explains. "At one point it had withered away so much you couldn't walk on it – and this was on the edge of a 200 foot drop. So I helped make a new route around.

"We've put up bat boxes and owl boxes as well as built reinforcements to hault the land slides. A big problem is the number of trees that are collapsing. Huge trees have fallen across the pathways and aren't getting replaced. There are dozens you can see now on the edge of the bank that are on the brink of falling.

"We've all done this in our spare time. Any materials used have either been donated by local businesses – such as the fence that now runs parallel to the A449 – or are things we've cobbled together."

Collapsed trees

New members

The Friends of Norton Covert continue to rely on the help of local people to preserve that landscape of the wood. They are actively looking for new members.

"We have regular meetings and also organise litter picking events to tidy up the woods. We have documented over 21 species of birds in the Covert so it's a key area for Wildlife.

"We'd love to see Norton Covert end up as a Nature Reserve."

If you like to join The Friends of Norton Covert, call Tony Creed on 01384 372 945.