Fibbersley - Foundation Traditional Geocache
The GeoTracker: cache not being replaced in correct location
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Series of 9 caches that take you on a circular walk around Fibbersley Nature Reserve.
Fibbersley is one of Walsall's finest wetland sites. You'll find it in Willenhall, on the western edge of the borough, close to the boundary with Wolverhampton. Car parking is available off Noose Lane, next to Willenhall Memorial Park. You'll find a network of pools of various sizes, which are home to a variety of aquatic life, from insects like diving beetles and dragonflies, to amphibians.
A hundred years ago, the sites and sounds here would have been those of heavy industry, in particular iron and steel work. Coal mines, foundaries and canals dominated the whole area.
The deep mines here closed at the end of the nineteenth century, to be replaced with clay and sand quarries. From 1872 to 1931 a railway line crossed the site and carried passengers and freight between Walsall and Wolverhampton. This ran east to west, whilst a mineral line ran north to south to carry coal and clay etc. When it opened in 1887, the Bentley canal linked the area with the regional canal netwrok.
Today, at first glance there is little evidence of this industrial activity. However, on site there are disused railway tracks, ponds on the site of capped mineshafts, and flooded quarry pits. Broom now flouises on the coal spoil mounds which divide the wildflower meadows from the marshes.
The site has now become so important for wildlife and the people of the area, that it has been declared a Local Nature Reserve which should ensure its protection for years to come.
Placed with the kind permission of Senior Countryside Ranger - Walsall Council Countryside Services.
FTF *** Baggiewhite ***
STF *** Dibboid, Blokiebloke, Witch24, Emillia & a0004uk ***
TTF *** One True Buzzard & Dinkydonk ***
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vafvqr