The Express & Star recently featured an article about Mark and Lisa Edge who run a sanctuary at their Wednesfield home for unwanted or injured crows, ravens, magpies and rooks and have 37 birds in their care.

Watch the video above and read more here.

After a record number of entries the annual Wolverhampton Homes Garden Competition was a celebration of the hard-working men, women and children of Wolverhampton who make the city a more pleasant place to live.

The winners were announced last night (Wednesday 22 September) in a ceremony held in the Mayor’s Parlour at Wolverhampton City Council Civic Centre and included 4 winners from Wednesfield:

Mr A Pountney (Wednesfield) – Overall & Garden Winner
Lee Hewitt (Wednesfield) – Bronze
Alan Pardoe (Ashmore Park) – Bronze
P Singh (Wednesfield) – Highly Commended

Mayor Councillor Malcolm Gwinnett, who gave out the awards with Chair of Wolverhampton Homes Sue Roberts, said: “Wolverhampton Homes and Wolverhampton City Council share a common value to make our city a more pleasant place for all of us to live. I understand that the standard of entries was higher than ever before which is testament to the effort put into them.”

Judge Paul Duffy of Continental Landscapes said that it was an incredibly hard job to choose the winners.

For a full list of winners, visit the Wolverhampton Homes website.

Stone plaques have been erected to celebrate the heritage of one Wolverhampton’s most popular green spaces.

And they also mark the completion of the £2m makeover of Wednesfield Park and King George V Playing Fields carried out by Wolverhampton City Council and British Waterways.

The stone lion and unicorn plaques, which now sit proudly on either side of the Amos Lane entrance gates, represent heraldic figures from the royal coat of arms of King George V, in whose memory the playing fields were created 1937.

Wolverhampton sculptor Malcolm Sier, who specialises in original monumental masonry, carved the figures using fine grain Italian limestone. They replace the original artificial stone pair which had been badly damaged by weathering during their 80 years on site.

Councillor Matt Holdcroft, Wolverhampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, said: “The city council and British Waterways have been investing heavily in both Wednesfield Park and King George V Playing Fields over the last few years.

“The installation of these fantastic carvings mark the culmination of the renovation work, and they – as well as the other improvements which have been made – are well worth a look next time you visit the area.

“The park has something for everyone, from a fantastic facility for skaters and BMX bikers and a hugely popular fitness trail to magnificent floral displays and some brilliant public artwork to enjoy.”

Malcolm added: “I was delighted to be asked to produce such an important piece of sculpture and regard it as an honour to celebrate the park as our heritage and its continuing significance to us all.”

The improvement work at Wednesfield Park and King George V Playing Fields has included the construction of Wednesfield Plaza, a unique facility for skate boarding, in-line skating and BMX bikes, improvements to the children’s play area, the restoration of the multi-use games area and the installation of an outdoor fitness trail.

Other work has included the creation and resurfacing of footpaths around the park, tree and shrub planting and maintenance, the provision of extra seating and refuse bins and the replacement of boundary railings and gates.

In 2009, the new Trap-Makers Bridge over the Wyrley and Essington Canal opened, improving access between the park and the centre of Wednesfield, while the installation of the plaques marks the completion of the renovation to the gateway to the playing fields on Amos Lane.

The improvement programme attracted funding from both the European Regional Development Fund and the Safer Stronger Communities Fund.

Photos courtesy of Wolverhampton City Council.

We’ve just spotted in the Essington Fruit Farm Newsletter:

At last the pick-your-own season has started!

We have lots of lovely strawberries, the recent rains have swollen them nicely and plenty are now ripening up. Other fruit crops will soon follow: gooseberries may be picked now but will benefit from a week or two to grow some more, raspberries and currants should be ready by the end of the month.

We also have lots of fresh vegetables ready now: cabbage and broccoli are ready at the moment, with caulis not far behind. We have beetroot, lettuce and sugar peas ready now, with traditional garden peas coming on shortly. Spinach is just starting.

Log on to our website to see our Summer Newsletter!

We look forward to seeing you regularly as you make the most of summer on the farm.

Best wishes from,

Richard, Mary and Will
Essington Fruit Farm

Older tenants of Wolverhampton Homes are being urged to take advantage of a new gardening service, called the Tidy Garden Scheme, launched this week.

The new gardening service is launched in partnership with grounds maintenance supplier Continental Landscapes and will cost £7 a week.

In the spring and summer, the service will include fortnightly lawn mowing and twice yearly hedge cutting. During the autumn and winter months, the gardener will visit monthly to prune shrubs, edge lawns, weed and generally tidy up.

Tenants were heavily involved with choosing Continental Landscapes as the grounds maintenance contractor. They specifically requested that a payable gardening service be set up for those people who have difficulty maintaining their gardens.

Mark Henderson, Director of Housing, said: “Wolverhampton Homes is delighted that we have been able to offer the Tidy Garden Scheme after tenants and leaseholders told us they wanted it.

“Well-tended gardens can have a real positive impact on the feel of an area and we hope residents will take up this service.”

Communal gardens will continue to receive a gardening service covered by the service charge.

Tenants and leaseholders with private gardens are now being asked to let Wolverhampton Homes know if they are interested in the service. Priority will be given to older customers at first, but it may be extended further, if it is successful.

For more information on the Tidy Garden Scheme and to register interest call Wolverhampton Homes on 01902 556789.

(Information taken from Dash24.com)

The blog post not only contains a detailed history of the Canal and it’s origins, but also includes ‘then and now’ photos of the Canal from 1992 before much of the re-development work in the area began.

One such photo shows the Wednesfield Junction (next to the Nickelodeon Pub) shortly before the pub and Bentley Bridge Retail Park were built.

Visit Captain Ahab’s blog for part one and part two of his fascinating article.

There’s been lots of Wv11 news in the last week or so – here’s a round up…

Comic Relief fraudster spared jail
Express & Star – 13th November 2009

Cat’s teeth shattered by gun thugs
Express & Star – 13th November 2009

Lifeguard cleared over swimming pool drowning of Walsall father
This Is Walsall Online – 16th November 2009

Priory Group care home celebrates new dementia unit
Private Healthcare – 16th November 2009

Pride on the cards for troops facing Taliban
Express & Star – 18th November 2009

Cream of club scene celebrating awards
Express & Star – 18th November 2009

Screaming fans get taste of Twilight
Express & Star – 21st November 2009

We were recently sent a Tweet on Twitter (or perhaps it was a Chirp!?) by the West Midlands Bird Club asking us if any of our readers had spotted any interesting birds.

The club, who’s Twitter profile says they have been “Serving birdwatchers & ornithologists in the four English counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the Metropolitan West Midlands since 1929″ are asking people to report details of birds they have seen in the region.

To find out how to report your findings, visit the Club’s website.

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