Middleton Lakes RSPB reserve
| Middleton Lakes | |
|---|---|
| Location | Middleton, Warwickshire, England |
| Coordinates | 52°35′19″N 1°42′14″W / 52.5885°N 1.7038°WCoordinates: 52°35′19″N 1°42′14″W / 52.5885°N 1.7038°W |
| Area | 160 hectares (400 acres) |
| Created | 19 May 2011 |
| Operated by | RSPB |
| Website | www |
Middleton Lakes RSPB reserve is a 160 hectares (400 acres) nature reserve, formally opened on 19 May 2011, created and run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at Middleton, Warwickshire, England, just south of Tamworth. The Northern part of the reserve lies in Staffordshire, yet the reserve is only a few minutes from the outskirts of Birmingham.
Much of the site was, until its acquisition by the RSPB in 2007, a gravel quarry, operated by Hanson Aggregates. The site was formerly referred to, in birding literature, as Fishers Mill- (Warwickshire), Drayton Bassett- (Staffordshire) and Dosthill- (to the East) -Lakes, -Pools, -Pits or -Gravel Pits.
The reserve lies to the rear of Middleton Hall, whose catering and toilet facilities are available to reserve visitors. The River Tame flows Northwards through the reserve, some miles downstream from RSPB Sandwell Valley and not far from the West Midland Bird Club's Ladywalk Reserve and Kingsbury Water Park. The water ends up, via the Trent and Humber, in the North Sea.
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal runs through the reserve, West of the river and roughly parallel to it. It separates the flooded and re-modelled former gravel pits to the East from an area of ancient woodland and former agricultural fields. The canal is crossed by Fishers Mill Bridge, on the county border. A public bridleway also runs through the Western half of the reserve, roughly East-West, as does a stream, Langley Brook, which rises in Sutton Coldfield and flows into the Tame on the reserve.
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