First steps taken on new path

Three pathways have been created in the 25 acres in Dudley by volunteer group Friends of Alder Coppice after they were awarded a £2,000 grant from the People's Lottery Fund??

With the money, they bought tools including billhooks and bow saws along with high visibility jackets which were used while creating the paths and will be used to maintain the woodlands in the years to come.

It took over 12 months to decide and make the routes in the woodland which were previously overgrown and muddy. One resident even got lost in them while trying to take a short cut.

Simon Biggs, 59, chairman of Friends of Alder Coppice said: "I had to battle my way around the woods and other dog owners said how nice the green space would be if we could actually get around them.

"One member of the group even said she was trying to take a short cut through and even got lost- the paths were really that bad."

The shortest of the three routes is 750m, while the medium is around 1,000m and the longest is 1.5km.

Woodchips were put down on the paths to prevent them from being muddy and markers were put in place to guide walkers through without getting lost.

The Friends of Alder Coppice, which has been going for three years, is made up of 12 active members.

The group have previously won two Green Spaces Volunteer Awards from Dudley Council for their work in 2014 and 2016.

While Dudley Council owns the land, they have given the group permission to improve it and they have already though up plans for the future.

He added: "These are very much the first steps. It is the end of the first project and it has been fantastic, I am absolutely delighted but we have more plans.

"We hope that children use the area for rope swings and dens plus we want to encourage families with young children to come out, older people use it for walking and dog owners to walk their pets.

"It is woodland for everyone- it is a wonderful environment to be in."

In the future, they will introduce bird and bat boxes as well as create habitat piles to encourage hedgehogs and other small mammals.

The group are always welcoming new members of all ages and anyone interested in joining has been invited to their meetings on the first Saturday of each month at 10am at the Swallowfields Road entrance.

Under 16s would need to go with their parents.