Kinver Edge: £175k project revealed to create tourism trail marking 100th anniversary

The sandstone ridge and heath near Stourbridge is popular with visitors largely for its Holy Austin rock houses which were inhabited until the 1960s and can now be toured.

But the Edge is also home to an Iron Age Hill Fort, woodland walks, exposed red sandstone and orchards.

The proposed Centenary Pathway will join all these features with a three and a half mile accessible trail circling the site, which will be created largely by improving existing routes.

Bosses at the National Trust have launched a fundraising campaign in a bid to cover the £175,000 costs.

Helen Selkirk, visitor experience officer, said: "The idea is to improve access for all users. The surface of the pathway will be multi-use friendly in that it will be suitable for wheel, hooves or feet.

"Most of the proposed pathway follows existing trails and in those areas there will be some engineering to reduce the gradient by following the contours of the hills.

"Other parts of the centenary pathway will be created new. In all it will be a substantial loop."

Kinver Edge was gifted to the National Trust in 1917 by the Lee family who wanted the site to be enjoyed as a place of leisure and recreation by people from the Black Country and beyond.

Bosses see the pathway scheme as continuing the tradition of conservation and access.

The funding campaign has already attracted nearly £30,000 via a JustGiving page and other donations have been made in person by visitors to the site.

This will pay for multi-access gates and additional resting spots at steeper points of the trail which will be installed in the coming weeks.

Bosses hope to start work on the path itself this winter targeting areas most in need of improvement first. The rest of the pathway will be created "as and when" funding becomes available.

It is also proposed to create improved signage so that visitors are aware of the degree of difficulty for different parts of the pathway.

Further projects and events are in the pipeline as part of the site's centenary celebrations with details being made available later in the autumn.

As well as protecting and improving the heathland the National Trust has also been carrying out an ambitious restoration project on the former site of an aging conifer plantation. It hopes this newly cleared area may provided nesting opportunities for rarities such as Nightjars that have been absent from Kinver Edge for many years and it will provide increased habitat for all reptile species on site.

The heathland of Kinver Edge is the product of years of human presence and management.

Generations of people have grazed their animals there and felled the trees for firewood and tools such as besom brooms.

This clearance has allowed heather to flourish, so it can continue to clear the trees each year and make room for heathland plants.

The best way to manage the heath sensitively is to graze it with cattle.

The trust use a herd of English Longhorn cows who chomp on the bracken, bramble and tree leaves and help to release the heather seeds with their trampling.

By moving around they naturally create a 'mosaic' of different habitats across the landscape, which is ideal for wildlife.

It also fells encroaching trees each year from October to March, stopping in spring so as not to disturb nesting birds.

Some of the felled wood is sold to raise money for conservation work, some is used for events such as making bug hotels, and the rest is burnt to ensure it doesn't add nutrients to this low-nutrient habitat.

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kinveredge or alternatively donations can be made by sending a text message to 70070, with the message KINV53 amount.