In September, Alan Richardson gave news of on-going developments and discoveries at the Lickey Hills Champions sites.  The Lickey Hills Geo-Champions are an example of a Champions group which has been continuously busy and successful since the Group formed in 2011, but some sites have not fared so well. One of these is Callow Hill Quarry in the Wyre Forest, where the original Champions were unable to keep going for various reasons.  The quarry had become neglected, but earlier this year thanks to the initiative of Peter Oliver, a new Champion was found to pick up the threads and take things forward at this wonderful site.

The new Champion is Tony Spall, and he has embraced his new role with great energy and enthusiasm.

Following an initial meeting at the quarry in April, Tony has made great progress.  In his own words: “We have had two vegetation clearance events at Callow Hill, the first with those connected to geological groups and Forestry Commission staff on 19 May, and the second event on 3 October with Environment Agency and Forestry Commission Staff. John Payne kindly organized the work force from the Environment Agency, These 2 events have made quite a difference to the visual appearance of the Quarry site.

Moving forward, I would like to open up and level the quarry floor whilst improving access to the Quarry face but to do this would require machinery. My plan is to encourage management at the Forestry Commission to provide the necessary resources to carry out this work. I am planning also to research the history of the quarry and the use of the stone for building in the area”.

Callow Hill Quarry

This is really encouraging news, and on behalf of the Champions and the EHT I would like to thank Tony for his efforts. You can read more about the quarry, view the panel and Champions leaflet, and see some photos on the Callow Hill Champions page here:

http://ehtchampions.org.uk/ch/worcestershire-sites/callow-hill-quarry/

Better still, go and have a look!  The site is very easy to find, not far from the Wyre Forest Discovery Centre.

Julie Schroder November 2018