Tudor Grange Park
Encyclopedia
Tudor Grange Park is located in Solihull
, West Midlands. The Park is located very close to the town centre, within easy walking distance, and is adjacent to the local train station and Leisure Centre, Tudor Grange Leisure Centre. It is described by the council as an informal recreation area with a stream dissecting the park, and holds some major events such as the Solihull Carnival.
The Park was bought by the Council in 1946, formerly being farmland belonging to the Bird Family, of Bird's Custard
fame, who lived at Tudor Grange, which is now part of the adjacent Solihull College
.
As well as providing for a well-equipped children's play area, a skate park was built in 2003. There is also a cycle track and pitch and putt course at the south west ends of the site.
s, duck
s, moorhen
s and coot
s.
The cycle track was built with the help of a £400,000 grant from Sport England’s community club development. The track was championed by a former Olympic silver medallist Harry Reynolds
, who is also a member of Solihull Cycling Club. The track is formed as a 1km figure of eight circuit, and was designed in conjunction with the British Cycling and Solihull Cycling Clubs to ensure the materials and layout provided a challenging circuit for professional training and racing, yet still providing a recreational cycling facility for the local and wider community.
Other improvements included for a refurbishment of the children's play area; new hard landscaping, footpaths and better lighting; CCTV cameras; outdoor gym equipment including a rowing machine, support bars and wall bars ; improvements to the stream and lake including new bridges; and new planting and landscaping including for semi-mature native oak
, birch
, alder
, black poplar
, and other native woodland trees and ornamental shrubs.
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
, West Midlands. The Park is located very close to the town centre, within easy walking distance, and is adjacent to the local train station and Leisure Centre, Tudor Grange Leisure Centre. It is described by the council as an informal recreation area with a stream dissecting the park, and holds some major events such as the Solihull Carnival.
The Park was bought by the Council in 1946, formerly being farmland belonging to the Bird Family, of Bird's Custard
Bird's Custard
Bird's Custard is the original version of what is known generically as custard powder. It is a cornflour -based powder which thickens to form a custard-like sauce when mixed with milk and heated to a sufficient temperature...
fame, who lived at Tudor Grange, which is now part of the adjacent Solihull College
Solihull College
Solihull College, formerly known as the 'Solihull College of Technology', is a further education college located in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, which is part of the West Midlands conurbation, in the United Kingdom...
.
As well as providing for a well-equipped children's play area, a skate park was built in 2003. There is also a cycle track and pitch and putt course at the south west ends of the site.
Nature
The site benefits from a stream, the Alder Brook, which fills a small lake providing a valuable haven for many wildfowl, including for geese, swanSwan
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
s, duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
s, moorhen
Moorhen
Moorhens, sometimes called marsh hens, are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Gallinula....
s and coot
Coot
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and, unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water...
s.
2008 Park Improvements
A number of improvements were undertaken by Solihull Council in 2008, as part of a £1,000,000 redevelopment of the park.The cycle track was built with the help of a £400,000 grant from Sport England’s community club development. The track was championed by a former Olympic silver medallist Harry Reynolds
Harry Reynolds (cyclist)
Harry Reynolds , known as the Balbriggan Flyer, was the first Irishman to win the world championship in cycling. He accomplished this at the 1896 ICA Track Cycling World Championships in Copenhagen....
, who is also a member of Solihull Cycling Club. The track is formed as a 1km figure of eight circuit, and was designed in conjunction with the British Cycling and Solihull Cycling Clubs to ensure the materials and layout provided a challenging circuit for professional training and racing, yet still providing a recreational cycling facility for the local and wider community.
Other improvements included for a refurbishment of the children's play area; new hard landscaping, footpaths and better lighting; CCTV cameras; outdoor gym equipment including a rowing machine, support bars and wall bars ; improvements to the stream and lake including new bridges; and new planting and landscaping including for semi-mature native oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
, alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, black poplar
Black Poplar
Populus nigra, the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section Aigeiros of the genus Populus, native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa....
, and other native woodland trees and ornamental shrubs.
Maps
- http://www.solihull.gov.uk/Attachments/tudorgrangeparkimprovements.pdf pdf map of the park