A woodland in waiting. A piece of history.

A community's pride and joy. Help us double the size of one of our most treasured woods.

Let's create a new haven for people and wildlife

To the west of Birmingham, near Bromsgrove, a piece of history is waiting to be re-awakened.

The land for sale borders Pepper Wood - an ancient and hugely valuable community woodland and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which we were lucky enough to buy in the early 1980s.

If we can raise the money we can, through a combination of natural regeneration and carefully thought out tree planting, establish a new wooded landscape, linking to Pepper directly along its northern boundary and creating 250 acres of continuous, resilient native woodland.

Where wildlife can thrive

The incredible views from the top of the Pepper Wood extension across to the Malvern Hills will be retained, with the open glades we are keeping serving as valuable hunting grounds for barn owls and kestrels.

Where people are at its heart

The wood will be a beautiful space for people to enjoy within easy reach of Birmingham and close to a population of three million across the West Midlands. It also has a close relationship with its local community and is still coppiced, worked and carefully managed today by the Pepper Wood Community Woodland Group.

Where hidden history remains

A large swathe of the Pepper Wood extension is famed locally as the location of a Second World War starfish. Starfish sites were large-scale night-time decoys created during the Blitz to simulate burning British cities. The aim was to divert German night bombers from their intended targets in this case Birmingham - so they would hit the countryside instead. The structure was watched over by a lone volunteer who would watch the skies and set light to the fake city at the appropriate moment.