Yorks Wood is a Local Nature Reserve in Kingshurst,

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is an ancient wood of predominantly

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

trees. The River Cole is located south of the wood and located within Kingfisher Country Park.

History

The first mention of the wood is in 1456. It was stated as being owned by the Mountford family and being located within Kingshurst Park. The wood received its current name in the 19th century and by the 1920s, it was under the ownership of the

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

movement. In the 1970s, the fields surrounding the wood were sold to make way for housing development. The wood was preserved in the 1960s when the Kingshurst Hall Estate was completed so that it could act as a buffer between the estate and other nearby estates.''The Town Planning Review'', page 30, volume 26 (April 1955-January 1956), University of Liverpool Department of Civic Design Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council bought the wood in 1984 and designated it as a Local Nature Reserve in 1991.

Nature

During May, the floor of the wood is covered in bluebells and towards the closing of the year,

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

can be seen. During spring, wood anemone, and celandine are located in different parts of the forest. The wood is home to various species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s, such as spotted

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

s and

sparrowhawk Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the subfamily Accipitrinae The Accipitrinae are the Family (biology), subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks. The subfamily contains 73 s ...

s, which breed throughout the year there. The most common species of trees found growing within the wood are

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

and

. Ash and

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

trees are found within the wood along with invasive species such as

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning . Species of otherwise unrelated trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', a ...

. As sycamore trees do not support as much wildlife as the native tree species, its presence is controlled.

References

{{Coord, 52.49151, N, 1.75966, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Solihull Local Nature Reserves in the West Midlands (county)