New Lilleshall Hill nature reserve set to be designated
Lilleshall Hill is set to become the next to be officially adopted local nature reserve in Telford and Wrekin bringing the total number to 16.
Sparrow hawks, buzzards, wrens, finches and woodpeckers are all common sights around the latest area of the borough to be designated a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) by Telford & Wrekin Council.
Lilleshall Hill is set to become the next to be officially adopted LNR, eventually bringing the total number of reserves in Telford to 16.
The new LNR, is planned to be officially adopted by Telford & Wrekin Council at its cabinet meeting on Thursday, March 14 and will add just under five hectares.
This brings the total to just under 520 hectares – that’s around 370 football pitches of protected nature reserve alone, not including parks, green guarantee sites and other green spaces.
Councillor John Minor, cabinet member for leisure, green spaces and parks said: “This really is fantastic news. Not many people realise that for a relatively short walk, the views from the top of Lilleshall Hill stretch to Grinshill, Hawkstone Ridge and the Welsh hills around Wrexham.
To the west the Wrekin, Telford, Haughmond Hill near Shrewsbury and the Welsh mountains, with the and the Oswestry range to the north-west.
“The wildlife habitat will be protected ensuring people can enjoy the area well into the future, creating a haven for wildlife.
“I would encourage everyone to explore this island of green, rising from the flat North Shropshire Plain – it’s beautiful and on clear nights is great for stargazing and bat watching.”
Trees and gorse cover the lower slopes while the top remains bare and the hill rises 132m high with a 21m high monument sitting on top, erected in memory of George Granville Leveson Gower, the first Duke of Sutherland in 1839.
The site can be accessed by foot with limited parking outside Lilleshall Primary School, top of Limekiln Lane (TF10 9EZ).
There will be a Friends of Lilleshall Hill working party on Saturday, March 9 with volunteers helping to maintain the site. Email lilleshallparishcouncil@gmail.com to get involved.
