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 Woodgate & the Valley History Group

We are a small, friendly dedicated group. We research three old villages/hamlets that are on the edge of The Woodgate Valley Country Park in Birmingham. These villages are Woodgate, Moor Street and California. The main industries in these villages were Nail making, farming and brick making and there is plenty of evidence of these industries that still remain today. We also research the Lapal Canal and Tunnel which ran below ground straight through Woodgate Valley via Lapal-Moor Street and on to California.

The area, once part of Worcestershire, was on the boundaries of Shropshire and Staffordshire and was the most North West tip of the ancient parish of Northfield.  Amalgamated into Birmingham in 1911, it is now the south west edge of the city and is mostly swallowed up into the district known as Bartley Green.

As well as the three villages we work with the City Archaeologist, Mike Hodder, to help raise peoples awareness of the historical importance of the Woodgate Valley Country Park with its Medieval burnt mounds, moated sites, claypits and possible brick and tile kiln sites.

The aim of our group is to gather as much information as we can about our area and to share it with as many people as possible to preserve the history for future generations.