£120k repairs at blaze-hit beauty spot

Repair work costing £120,000 is under way at a Black Country beauty spot which was devastated by fire just a month ago.

The blaze ripped through part of the visitor centre at the Sandwell Valley RSPB nature reserve, which is located off Tanhouse Lane, Great Barr, on March 27. But today, staff and volunteers are well on their way to restoring the beauty spot to its former glory with staff busy working on a new pond, picnic area and car park.

RSPB site manager Lee Copplestone said: "It's a new beginning for us, in a way. It may not be by choice but we are hoping we can make the centre even better than it has been. We have a great team of volunteers and with them we are taking our chance to improve the look and technology on site."

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

The new pond is rimmed with sandstone recycled from Shropshire and will be surrounded by vibrant-coloured pond plants towards the end of May to avoid a possible frost. And the planned picnic area will sit alongside the centre.

Access for the disabled has been improved around the whole site as paths which lead to the lakeside hide have been widened to two metres each. Volunteers on site are meanwhile trying to couple these practical changes by beautifying the grounds of the reserve with native species of flowers.

Paula Chapman, an on-site gardening volunteer, said: "In the beds near the entrance we will have forget-me-nots, bluebells and purpurous flowers because their berries are so colourful in red and orange.

"And we are going to have a bed of perennials and shrubs next to the picnic area."

Mr Copplestone, 51, said: "We are trying to use plant life from the area. I suppose you might call it sympathetic planting."

Staff also envisage a meadow-style garden covered with wild flowers, heather and gorse and bordered by bulbs.