Lilleshall to officially be named local nature reserve
Sparrow hawks, buzzards, wrens, finches and woodpeckers are all common sights at Telford's newest local nature reserve (LNR).
Lilleshall Hill is the next to be an officially adopted LNR, bringing the total across the borough up to 16.
The five hectare site is set to be officially adopted by Telford & Wrekin Council at its cabinet meeting on March 14.
Councillor John Minor, cabinet member for leisure, green spaces and parks said: “This really is fantastic news. Not many people realise that for a relatively short walk, the views from the top of Lilleshall Hill stretch to Grinshill, Hawkstone Ridge and the Welsh hills around Wrexham.
"To the west the Wrekin, Telford, Haughmond Hill and the Welsh mountains, with the Berwens and the Oswestry range to the north-west.
“The wildlife habitat will be protected ensuring people can enjoy the area well into the future, creating a haven for wildlife.
“I would encourage everyone to explore this island of green, rising from the flat north Shropshire plain – it’s beautiful and on clear nights is great for stargazing and bat watching.”
Trees and gorse cover the lower slopes of Lilleshall Hill, while the top remains bare. The hill rises 132m high with a 21m high monument sitting on top, erected in memory of George Granville Leveson Gower, the first Duke of Sutherland in 1839.
The site can be accessed by foot with limited parking outside Lilleshall Primary School, top of Limekiln Lane.
There will be a Friends of Lilleshall Hill working party on Saturday with volunteers helping to maintain the site. Anybody interested in getting involved should email lilleshallparishcouncil@gmail.com to get involved.
Lilleshall Hill will bring the total size of Telford's LNR spaces to just under 520 hectares, or around 370 football pitches of protected nature reserve alone, not including parks, green guarantee sites and other green spaces.
