Preserving Our Land

Keeping good the land in one form or another and holding on to it, in one way or another, have been clear objectives throughout history - at least until relatively recently. Our first photo may possibly have been taken with a very early camera at a seventh century Anglo Saxon village at West Stowe in Suffolk. On the other hand a more likely explanation is that the village is an excellent re-creation and the individual posing alongside the dwelling is an impostor! The threats that are faced, large and small, past, present and future, are not disconnected and I’d like to explore some of the linkages between them in this article.
Earlier in the year I was in contact with a local resident living in Brooklands Road, Hall Green, in connection with the commemoration of membership of the Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps, who carried out immensely valuable work for the country during the wartime years. Pictures of posters that had been reproduced in the press around the same time are evocative of the period and two of the images are presented here. It is hard to overstate the value of the work that these women so willingly undertook.
With this in mind, and following a discussion with members of the Hall Green Preservation Group about wartime events and places that suffered bombing in Hall Green, I recalled some time ago being given a photograph by a resident who still lives in Robin Hood Lane. While, by all appearances, it is not connected with Women’s Land Army activity, the unusual picture does show a harvest being gathered in Hall Green! The photograph is of the Moorlands in Sherwood Road, which was formerly the home of the late and much lamented Moor Green Football Club. The elderly resident and his family had a long and enjoyable connection with the club. His photograph shows the field producing what looks like a very good crop.
These days, for different but very strong environmental and local reasons, we need to ensure that we keep and look after all of the green land that we have left. And I do mean all of the green belt. There are plenty of genuinely brownfield sites (not including, as the government still insists in doing, peoples gardens in mature suburbs) large and small available, but of course they sometimes need a bit of money spent on remediation works. Who knows, with the ominous and painful trend in food prices, we may need some of it to be flexible in use - as once was the Moorlands!
This includes the small amount of official open space that we have in Hall Green (such as Marion Way Park), allotments (as in Scribers Lane and Baldwins Lane and nearby in Springfield as shown in the photograph) established gardens, green spaces enclosed between roads (such as the very large area between Cubley Road and Green Road that we are trying to save from developers), front gardens, central reservations and areas bordering the highway. Some of the latter have historic associations - for example the medieval hedges that are one of the oldest remaining features in our area. One of the hedges, in Webb Lane, is shown in the photo. Another historic location is the medieval ridge and furrow part of The Dingles.
One apparent threat to our land is the growing number of slab and tarmac front gardens. This practice seems to be gathering pace. It adds to run-off and flooding, and the loss of greenery is a minor contribution to climate change. Minor possibly, but potentially not minuscule. My rough guesstimate of the area occupied by front ‘gardens’ in Birmingham alone is between ten and twenty million square yards. And of course, the remorseless advance of tarmac and slabs is having an altogether adverse effect on the green and pleasant character of Hall Green.
And climate change (for which there is overwhelming evidence, some councillors’ views notwithstanding) threatens low-lying areas bordering both rivers and the sea. In my view it is greatly to be regretted that a decision appears to have been taken to stop defending previously reclaimed land in East Anglia and elsewhere from the sea. Could it be that this is yet another instance of money being set above all else to the status of an idol in our benighted times?
Back on the problem of the small-scale desertification of former front gardens, there have for some time been much less damaging ways to accommodate a vehicle within the curtilage of a property - such as having two paved strips in an attractive setting. Some imaginative designs are available and it is important that what is not paved is green rather than simply being porous. And it is not simply cars that are the concern. I spend a lot of time walking round Hall Green and elsewhere in the city (frequently with leaflets in hand!) and there are many front deserts that never see a vehicle. We face a ‘can’t be bothered’ problem as well as car-parking issue.
All the land that we still have that is green is worth protecting. Accordingly, Birmingham City Council is right to take all possible steps resist this wretched Government’s crass and repeated attempts to force through a massive round of new building (essentially to accommodate dysfunctional and self-centred modern lifestyles and population movements) despite the adverse impact on the green belt. In my opinion, we should be seeking to expand the green belt, reclaiming some areas wherever possible and adjusting our own ways of life, rather than the face of the landscape, accordingly.
So in these times it is land battles of a rather different kind that need to be fought. But persevere we must if we are to preserve all of these good and green areas of land. This would surely be a modern victory well worth digging for!