I spy with my little eye…….
The over tipped foundry sand carbuncle that resides next to Rattlechain lagoon and which was once home to Rattlechain brickworks may be many things, but it offers a cracking view of the surrounding vista over towards Rowley Regis and Dudley. In this post I thought I’d take a look at some of the noticeable landmarks going in a clockwise direction.
The Rowley Hills
The Rowley Hills– consisting of Turner’s Hill, Bury Hill, Portway Hill and Darby’s Hill- all no stranger to exploitation for minerals and then dire waste disposal schemes. This type of greened area creation from such industrial devastation is a good example of how the former brickworks tip should be used- for rewilding, and not some housing scheme “garden city” shit in the sky. It is already rich for butterflies and other fauna and compliments Sheepwash Nature Reserve as a nature corridor.
The radio masts on Turner’s Hill, the highest point in the West Midlands county, with an altitude of 269 metres (883 ft) above sea level, are pretty ugly, but are landmarks visible from every angle, and this is the one from the mound.
Trinity- The three churches of Dudley
Though I’m certainly not standing on consecrated ground 😆 panning West I can see three holy temples that have stood there for a combined set of centuries, and a view which Samuel Barnett and others would also have known all those years ago from atop the brickworks.
The first of the trio of Grade II listed constructions in view is The Kates Hill St John’s Church.
The graveyard is notable as the resting place of local legend “The Tipton Slasher” , boxer William Perry.
Further across the horizon the two central churches , or “Top church” and “bottom church”.
The former on the left is officially known as “St Thomas and St Luke” and was rebuilt in the early 19th Century.
The bottom church is known as St Edmund and has another rebuilt history with the current building completed in 1724.
A much more modern feature of the large Tesco visible.
A fourth Church St James’s, of similar design to St John’s at Eve Hill is obscured by the tree canopy.
Dudley Castle and Zoo chairlifts.
Everyone in the West Midlands has probably visited this site in their lifetime, and though I am no fan of zoos, the iconic castle is part of the fibre of the area. The chair lifts date from 1958. Following archaeological investigations, the castle is also credited to have the world’s oldest rubber johnnies, albeit without the rubber. Nearby Tipton is of course also famous as the place where God’s underpants were found. 😆
The Showcase cinema and Castlegate.
It is what it says on the tin. This cinema opened in 2001 and is part of the Castlegate retail and business park, a part of which stands on what was once the Dudley cricket and football ground. This site would be notable when a cache of AW bombs turned up which were disposed of in rattlechain lagoon.
Rattlechain lagoon!
Of course, we need no introduction here with the view of the former pit, divided into two lagoons with the creation of a causeway path. A prime example of how appearances can be deceptive, and I have spent many an hour looking across here at ailing birds and trying to spot dead ones back in the day. What a shit hole.
The Autobase Industrial Estate
This site has a parallel history to rattlechain lagoon which I have looked at HERE.
The Autobase replaced the former London Steel works after the wretched conman Duport Group had left the scene. The main users today appear to be Clarkes Transport and more recently Comex 2000.
Sheepwash Nature Reserve and pylons.
You can read more about Sheepwash and the desire to protect it on our sister website HERE. The Summer trees may well mask out views of the site, but it is there, the pylons providing a more unwelcome view however. You can read about the story of how the orange bird diverters viewable across the span came to be HERE.
And so to the greenery around and behind me, supporting a a variety of wildlife. I would rather look at this any day than what it looked like a few years ago, and hope it will not be turned black again.
#STOP THE GARDEN CITY