Friends of Alder Coppice Local Nature Reserve

09/01/2026

Our Wet Woodland is wet again and both the new scrapes/ponds are full again. Part of the woodland paths are running with water with lots of surrounding ponding which is how it should be this time of year. The main paths we try keep accessible all year round are fine with appropriate footwear.
It's still as peaceful and beautiful as ever. 🙏

17/05/2025

I was in the woods this morning to both walk the dog and also clear some branches. A number we’re just sticking slightly into path ‘space’ so just needed the ends taking off. On the blue route we had a tree down. It was just about within the capacity of a bow saw to deal with but still quite heavy.
Having negotiated some people on the bath just by the fallen tree, I got off my mobility scooter and proceeded to cut up the fallen branches as best I could to clear the path and prevent people trampling bluebells.
During the whole time it took me to remove this blockage from the path, the teenage boy (15ish) with his mum, played with his phone and I was ignored. Since when was it ok to ignore the old disabled bloke because you were playing on your phone? I dread to think what my own parents reaction would have been if I had been that teenager. And a word of thanks as they passed, now able to proceed unhindered, ……………… what do you think!

03/07/2024

SADLY, THIS SITE IS NO LONGER OPERATING DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL
Please find us at our new Friends of Alder Coppice Local Nature Reserve Group

13/06/2024

The bluebells and wild garlic might have finished but there’s lots of colours to be seen in the woods.
The foxgloves are doing really well with the extra light and are providing the bees with an extra, and abundant, source of nectar.
You can also see purple ragged robin, yellow buttercups, white and pale pink bramble and lush greens of all shades and textures. Not forgetting the fungi which are still around.
Enjoy Springwatch on the BBC? Why not take a look at what’s on your doorstep?

29/05/2024

We currently have an exciting Arts project taking place in Alder Coppice as you can see below. Included is a wonderful recording of the dawn chorus within our woodland - it’s well worth a listen (open the link below and scroll down to find it). Our thanks go to Helen Garbett (Art) and Bill Laybourne (sound) for working with us to create this wonderful project.

Alder Coppice, described as a semi-natural wet woodland in Sedgley, West Midlands is an ancient place. It is an unfixed, transient, ever changing landscape, seasonally wet, sometimes waterlogged and boggy and at other times dried out, dusty and cracked. Alder, willow and birch trees grow well here....

24/05/2024

During the early morning meeting to listen to the dawn chorus, one of our friends and members recorded the chorus so everyone could enjoy it. Helen Garbett and Bill Laybourne of Workshop 24 are using Alder Coppice for an exciting new project. Enjoy and watch this space for more.

Alder Coppice, described as a semi-natural wet woodland in Sedgley, West Midlands is an ancient place. It is an unfixed, transient, ever changing landscape, seasonally wet, sometimes waterlogged and boggy and at other times dried out, dusty and cracked. Alder, willow and birch trees grow well here....

22/04/2024

We don’t have these in Alder Coppice but I thought you might like to see purple and violet bluebells as well as the usual blue and rarer albino white. These were spotted at Baggeridge Country Park.

21/04/2024

The team have been working hard in often difficult circumstances to make paths passable. The yellow route used to be our driest path but sadly, now seems to be one of the wettest. We will keep improving the paths so you can enjoy this stunning woodland.

20/04/2024

The woods are drying up reasonably well, although some paths remain muddy. The bluebells are looking lovely as always and are joined by stitchwort, wood anemone, crab apple blossom, wild garlic and a wonderful future display of foxgloves. The areas of grass are also a lush green.

20/04/2024

Just been in the woods (Saturday 20th April) and it’s now lunch time. Everywhere you look new life is busting out. Not just new this season but plants we have not seen for a long time in the woods. You want to know about the paths though - well, it seems almost as quickly as they descend into swamp status, they also return to passable and good in parts. It’s true there are quite a few patches of path that are very muddy. Most of these can be avoided by careful navigation. The majority of pathway is fine and dry.

The bluebells are wonderful with new patches where bramble has been cleared and returning patches of old bluebells not seen for a while. Yes some of the ground disturbed by ash dieback tree removal has lost its bluebell cover but it has been replaced by lush green grass, ferns, white stitch wort flowers in profusion and everywhere - foxgloves! I’ve spotted one patch of foxgloves which covers an area about 8 to 10 square meters, others are dotted throughout the woodland. When these flower it will look magnificent and of course in autumn when they set seed, we. An look forward to even more foxgloves next year. It seems the extra light entering the woodland has stimulated all sorts of things to grow. And of course, there is now not the same competition for water and space as well.

One of our best paths, the yellow route between Northway and Swallowfields and the fastest way between the two is now a quagmire. We have some drainage in place but the tree removal has caused real problems to this path. We are discussing what to do for the best. Some of the paths we have already ‘logged’ are doing very well but this method is time consuming, heaved on natural resources and very hard work . It seems one of our best paths has become one of the worst - watch this space for improvements.

29/03/2024

Could I wish all Friends of Alder Coppice LNR volunteers, wherever you are, a very Happy Easter and hopefully a drier one. Simon Biggs Chair.