Dry, sandy areas

To your left are sandy hummocks left after the site was cleared following the closure of Binley Colliery in 1963.  The free draining sands and their associated plants provide a home for some species usually found on sand dunes and heaths.  These include bugs such as Chorosoma schillingii and some ground beetles like Amara convexiuscula.  Many types of non-stinging bees and wasps dig their burrows here although they may feed on nectar from plants elsewhere on the site.  The mining bee, Andrena humilis, feeds on the hawkweeds and the nomad bee, Nomada flavopicta, likes yellow flowered ragwort.

The Silt Lagoons

Follow the path around to your right and you will see a marshy area on your left.  This has formed in the hollows left by the old silt lagoons from the colliery.  They have been colonised by reeds, sedges and rushes.  The area needs to be managed by regular cutting of the reed, otherwise trees such as sallow and alder will gradually take over.

The wet areas all over the site attract soldierflies, hoverflies and snail killing flies either foraging for food or as breeding sites.  There are as many as seventeen different soldierflies which is an unusually high number.

If you want a shorter route, turn right and then left on to the red trail over the boardwalk.

Dry woodland

At the far south of the site, close to the railway, you will notice that the woodland is much drier, with oak and some ash, rowan, crab apple and sycamore but little sallow.

The scrub understorey includes guelder rose, blackthorn and bramble.  You may hear, or even see, the green woodpecker in this more mature woodland.  Listen for its familiar 'yaffle' sound.  You will see piles of logs that have been left to rot to provide development sites for some invertebrates.  For example, the larvae of the cranefly, Limonia inusta, feed on fungi like Merulius found on decaying wood.

Acid grassland

Notice how the edge of the woodland has been cut back in a scolloped shape.  This is to encourage the acid grassland.  The piles of brash left at the edge are to encourage grass snakes to lay their eggs and the log piles provide a nesting site for certain bees and wasps.

The areas of grassland on your right are home to the pink and purple southern marsh and common spotted orchids.  They form delightful splashes of colour in June but their numbers vary from year to year.

Bare ground

The areas of bare ground on your left are slowly being colonised by a selection of grasses and other plants, especially those that do not like competition such as the biting stonecrop and sheep's fescue.  The bare areas in between will continue to be important nest sites for burrowing wasps and bees and are a habitat for the ferocious tiger beetle.

At the north end, nearly back to Grange Avenue, you will see the man made pond that has been created to provide an extra water habitat on the site.

Many other areas flood and dry out according to the weather and some species need permanent water in which to live and breed.  Look out over the site and you can see how the levels vary and how the marsh is only in the lowest lying areas.

By-pass boundary

This area next to the by-pass embankment is being managed to maintain open grassland, wet depressions and scattered scrub vegetation.  This will provide a rich habitat for plants and invertebrates.  As you walk along there on your right is a large area of birch and sallow carr.

Walk quietly and listen for bird songs above the noise of the traffic.  You may be able to spot blackbirds, tits and reed buntings.

Rubble Hillocks

The mounds of rubble around the site, especially along the side of the old tarmac road, may look untidy but they support some interesting plants and insects, such as ragwort, knapweed and hoverflies.  In time they will become covered in grasses and will be less obvious like some of the older existing hillocks on the site.

A bumpy site is much better than a flat one.

The Silt Lagoons

The marshy hollows between the path and the A46, eastern by-pass, were once silt lagoons used to settle out the dirt and coal from the water draining from the mine and the spoil heaps.  They played an important role in cleaning up the water before it drained east and south to the river Avon.

Railway Sidings and Coal Storage

The area which is now Claybrookes Marsh was, by the 1940's, used for rail sidings and storage of coal before it was taken off by rail for use across the country and abroad.  Evidence of this can be seen in many parts of the site in the black coal dust in the ground.  In the years following the closure, the rail tracks were removed and the spoil from the pit was regraded and spread over the rest of the site.  After an underground fire due to spontaneous combustion in 1975, over 100,000 tonnes of coal waste were removed.

Recreation Ground

As you walk up the west side of the site, you can look over the fence on your left and see the recreation ground.  The northern part beyond the bend in the fence was originally the Binley Colliery Club Park for miners and their families.  It provided tennis courts, a bowling green, sand pit, swings and slides and in its heyday it was used and enjoyed by the local community.

Housing The houses on Grange Avenue, Binley Avenue and other nearby roads were built in the 1900's and 1920's to provide homes for the miners, many of whom came from other coal mining areas such as South Wales, Scotland and the north east of England.  Some of the roads west of Willenhall Lane were named after long serving miners.  These include William McKee Close after the first works manager who came from Scotland and Bryn Jones Close after a long serving member of the Binley Male Voice Choir.

Binley Colliery The pit first began producing coal in 1911, although the main shaft was sunk two years earlier.  It continued to develop and was at its most productive in the 1950's and was closed in 1963.  Over the succeeding years the buildings were dismantled, some of the coal waste removed and the site became derelict. The pit buildings and the main shafts were on what is now Binley Industrial Estate and the main entrance was off Willenhall Lane and not Grange Avenue as today.  In fact, when the pit first opened it was surrounded by open fields.

Claybrookes Marsh is managed by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust who rely on volunteers from the local community to help with the care of this important nature reserve.  If you would like to get involved please contact the Trust's Reserve Team on 02476 308979.  Or write to Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Brandon Marsh Nature Centre, Coventry CV3 3GW   Registered charity no 209200

Your walk can be extended by either:

• Include a visit to Binley Recreation Ground to the west.  This was once the Miners' Wefare park, complete with a childrens bathing pool, swings, tennis court and a bowling green, and with its own park keeper who would make sure only mining families could use it.  Now it is little more than an open area of grass.
  
• Include a walk under the A46 near the railway, and then to Redland Meadow, Piles Coppice or Brandon Wood.

Good for Dogs rating:

Worth a visit.  Plenty to explore, and Binley Recreation Ground to the west provides a stretch of open grass.  The A46 however is nearby, and care is needed to avoid disturbing the wildlife.

See also: Notice Board