Friday Photo: Lickey Hills

Today’s Friday photo was taken at the Lickey Hills, which has been a designated Country Park since 1971.

In Norman times, the Lickey Hills formed part of the royal Manor of Bromsgrove, the area was stocked full of deer and rabbits and was used as a royal hunting reserve. The Manor was sold in 1682 to the Earl of Plymouth whose family owned and managed the land for the next 250 years. In 1888 the Birmingham Society for the Preservation of Open Spaces raised enough money to purchase Rednal Hill and handed it to the City in trust so that the area could remain open to the public. They also arranged for Pinfield Wood and Bilberry Hill to be leased on a peppercorn (nominal) rent. Finally the City purchased Cofton Hill, Lickey Warren and Pinfield Wood in 1920 and the Rose Hill Estate from the Cadbury family in 1923, meaning free public access to the hills was secured. The extension of the Birmingham tram lines down the Bristol road from the city centre meant that the Lickey Hills became a traditional day out for families in the Birmingham area, the tram tracks from the old Rednal terminus are still visible on Lickey Road.