Bradwell Wood preservation project

Local artist Chris Oldham introduces you to an ancient oak wood that you might never have noticed

BRADWELL Wood is an Ancient Oak Woodland on your very doorstep. Set in two valleys, it looks out over Westport Lake from its place on the Hill. Bradwell Woods are a Grade 1 site of Biological Interest, which means its plants and trees are the most important type to save.
A map from 1117 shows it was once a much larger forest that stretched for 30 miles south to beyond Stafford and was part of the Royal Hunting Estate and provider of oak for shipbuilding.

Bradwell Wood’s big moment came in 1690 when two brothers from Holland discovered that the red iron rich clay from the hills made teapots that didn’t break when filled with boiling water. The first British made teapot was born. Chinese imported teapots became a thing of the past; these new ‘Brown Betty’ teapots were a big hit.

Josiah Wedgwood saw an opportunity and the Potteries were born. Burslem rightly became the Mother Town as it was closest to the raw materials, the red clay and the coal that outcrops right next to it in Bradwell Wood and the Chatterley estate. Brown Betty teapots are still made today from the very same local red clay.

Today the wood is regenerating itself; clay extraction still goes on, but the majority of the site is wild and overgrown with brambles creeping over several of the footpaths and walks through the woods. The trees are mixed deciduous broadleaf, mostly oak. A new tarmac path has improved access; this now connects the old route from the canal to Parkhouse Industrial Estate at the top of the valley.

Pollution from the estate and landfill has damaged the streams that run into two large pools, but these too are slowly recovering, with more species of birds than ever returning and being supported by the broad range of habitats found in the valley. You can find: coot, little grebe, mallards, herons and even kingfisher, as well as woodpeckers and smaller birds in the canopy.

As an artist I began working in the woods in 1990s, first taking pictures and then learning sculpture with the materials of the forest. The council has reduced the pollution, which has improved the terrain, but the oily past still lies hidden in the mud, and incidents still happen that threaten the delicate ecology of the land and water.

My dream is to turn the woods into a place where walkers and families can ride bicycles and enjoy the fresh air and trees. A place where environmental artists can teach schools, teenagers and adults how to make art and crafts from the things that the wood provides and create a gallery of natural sculptures and artworks living in an ancient oak wood. Visitors will always find something new to look at or discover, and the art will slowly be absorbed by the natural woodland processes.

The pollution can be permanently fixed too, with an eco water treatment system made of reeds and willows to absorb the nastiness and re-oxygenate the pools for the fish and birdlife. There are few fish at the moment, a sign of very low oxygen levels in the water.

To achieve the dream of restoring the woods to a local nature reserve and sculpture park, we need help from people who would like to come and work for a few hours in the fresh air, with professional conservation people, on projects to clear the paths and restore the walks and views through the wood. Then we can start making the art and sorting out the pollution and even a plant nursery for local species. The gene pool of local plants goes back over 1,000 years, and this could reintroduce native plants to areas where they have been lost across the whole city.

A group called ‘Friends of Bradwell Woods’ will soon be set up to help move the ideas and projects forward and give a place for the community to meet and enjoy taking care of our environment and our Staffordshire version of the rainforest.

If you are interested in becoming part of the friends group and taking part in the conservation or art projects in the woods, then please send an expression of interest to chris@willowarts.co.uk and we will send you details of how you or your group can be involved in restoring this historic wooded valley in our city. And next time you see all the trees along the A500, remember if it wasn’t for the clay in them ancient woods, this city and all of us might not be here.

Words and images by Chris Oldham, WillowArts.co.uk