Seth Somers was the son of an industrialist and he decided that the house, known as the Grange, that he had lived in at various times should be put to a good purpose, he decided that the 25 acre site should be split with 14 acres be made over as a public park and recreation site for all time and the house and remaining land in the hands of Trustees would become a Sports and Social Club.
Why was the park closed on the 2nd January each year? I emailed the Trust and received a kind reply to my question.
' Seth Somers Park is private land and the way of protecting its right of way to the public is to lock the gates for one day a year, the Trust chose the 2nd January as families love to walk on New Years Day the 1st.'
Now that is good news for local Birders who wish to get out and begin their listing for the year on New Years Day in numerous 'local' areas!
......................
I have now visited the park twice, once with snow/slush on the ground and the visit on Sunday (11th) in sunshine for the most part.
Bird species seen on my first visit were in no particular order:
Blue & Great Tit, L T Tit, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Song & Mistle Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Siskin, Fieldfare, Redwing, Stock Dove, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Common Buzzard x3.
On my second visit the highlights were numerous Blackbirds, Redwings and Great and Blue Tits. L T Tits, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker x2, Green woodpecker heard only, a Kingfisher that took flight along the brook, though not seen by me unfortunately. A Kestrel and 6 Common Buzzards circling above were the remaining highlights! Unfortunately I didn't connect with any Hawfinches that I see are still being reported there.
The Pine trees were at times producing dust clouds of pollen when disturbed by squirrels, birds and me shaking a branch or two! Lovely to see Lesser Celandine in flower, Spring is trying to spring!
Good to have a new area to explore throughout the changing seasons.
NB .....Permissive footpath – this footpath takes you over private land and isn’t a right of way. The landowner has granted permission for the route to be used by the public but they also have the right to withdraw that permission if they choose. The path will often be closed for one day a year in order to protect the landowner against any future claims of continuous public right of way. The date(s) the path is closed for should be well signed in the area.
This information was taken from https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2011/08/rights-of-way/
Sometimes I think that birds like Hawfinch and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker don't really exist and have been dreamed up as a marketing tool to sell more binoculars! I've heard of the one-day rule before but don't know anywhere where it's still enforced.
ReplyDeleteHa ha!
DeleteI have seen both species, the latter only once but not at the location in this post!
PS: By the way,binoculars were needed.;-)
There's some odd litle rules and by laws kicking around aren't there. Why on earth being open 365 days a year should threaten access rights is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI have made an addition to my post that will answer your question Si.
DeleteHi Pam. Great post! We only live ten minutes away and only discovered the place in the last two weeks after seeing the Hawfinch reports on the bird forums. Still haven't explored it properly, but will certainly do so after reading this.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Tom
Hi Tom, Thank you for your comment. It will be a good area to keep an eye on! There are public footpaths that lead off from the brook area that will take you to the Uffmoor and Romsley areas.
ReplyDelete