I have always known Warley Woods in Smethwick since I was a young child. It was a relatively short distance from our house, and my Mom used to take me and my sister there for walks where we would see squirrels scurrying up the tall trees. Thinking about it now, I suppose this may well be one of those things in life which got me hooked on nature and wildlife.
Warley Woods has a lot of history, and it is predominately made up of beech trees (Common Beech – Fagus sylvatica). They rise tall like giants into the sky, but a couple of other trees have stretched outwards with huge limbs which look like they want to give you a welcome hug – trees hugging the tree huggers lol! Anyway, one of these beech trees was a veteran beech, maybe over 200 years old at the time the photo was taken back in 2010. That is the one with the moss laden branch in the image below. Sadly, on the 19th August 2013, this huge monumental beech was felled after it had died.
Photographs taken June 2010. Warley Woods, Smethwick.
Nature Journeys 