DOWN TO EARTH in The City

Hill Top, at the western edge of Birmingham, bordering the Sandwell Valley Country Park. An intriguing and ancient broad green lane runs SE to NW, passing the old farmsteads of 'Hill Top' and 'The Uplands'. The track is hollowed, hence holloway Hill Top today (top) 1890 (below) The holloway looks like an ancient green road running south-east to north-west, and many of the field lines either side are the same today as in 1890. The old farmsteads of 'The Uplands' and 'Hill Top' can be located, with clusters of trees emanating from the hedge line From the 1890's map below it looks as if The Uplands is a landscaped estate with an avenue of trees laid out to the north of the house. A much larger building than nearby Hill Top Farm and complete with stables and other out buildings. Hill top Farm from the 1950's Hill Top Nature Reserve     A wonderful and essentially green expanse of unwritten and untold history, c