Willow Pool

 


Two. Willow Pool
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The River Rea, at the lowest recess of the valley, once served Wychall Reservoir. It was constructed to provide water for Wychall Mill, which lost water from the Rea when the canals were local built. Today, it is overgrown and rewilded with marsh plants and willows.

The ancient boundary route is easy to follow over the Rea and along Popes Lane, but this ease comes to an abrupt end at the junction with Wychall Lane. This routeway once hooked its toe around Wychall Farm, with the straighter line of the parish boundary continuing south. Even on maps from the 1930s this south-leading line was described as a "footpath", but as one following the boundary line, it would have been a very ancient footpath indeed. The footpath survived the construction of the 1960s and 1970s housing estate - sandwiched between a row of six high rises and an estate of smaller houses. Some of the high rises and streets were named after Worcestershire villages, a common nod to rural charm as the estates filled Northfield's own farm land.

All were knocked down and replaced in the early 2000s. The old footpath, and the old boundary line it represented, were ignored, and the new houses placed on top.


Photographs by Jen Dixon
From the Arden Archive