Fossil fun

Today we went to Wrens Nest Nature reserve in Dudley. It is a classic geological site of exceptional importance. I cannot believe that we didn't know this place was here, less than half an hour from home! It is the site of the Silurian Sea Bed, over 400 million years old! Absolutely stunning.

I think that is Momo right at the top there!

Squashy and Momo had great fun clambering up these hills, scrabbling about and hunting for fossils. 

 Not that you have to do much hunting! They are literally everywhere, almost every stone you pick up has interesting shapes, indentations, imprints and patterns. There were big ones and small ones, we were spoilt for choice what to take home!!

                                                         

The ripple beds were great fun for exploring and testing out our rock climbing abilities! 

We sat half way up on this volcanic sea bed rock to slurp our soup!

There was so much here to see that we decided to come back at the weekend with Daddy and Bigman. Momo had fun dragging them up the 'mountains' too.

 We decided to follow one of the trails this time and we went exploring round to Severn Sisters mine It is an old limestone mine, reportedly the last of its kind. There is plenty of information as you travel round the trail, telling you the history of the mine.
                                        
 Unfortunately there was a collapse in 2001 and they have filled it in temporarily now so the entrance is blocked. But it was still an amazing site to see and to imagine people coming here to work.

We carried on the rest of the trail, it was pretty long for little legs, so Momo hitched a daddy-lift some of it

 there were a lot of steps and hills through the woods so we stopped part way round for a hot cocoa break ;)

  

It was a bit chilly but the sun was peeping through the trees.

Even Daddy enjoyed it, despite us making him walk for MILES!

Wrens Nest is a beautiful place, with such an interesting history and the fossils you can find a such a bonus. There's plenty to learn and it has sparked a bit of interest for Momo. We are planning a visit to Dudley Museum to look at their fossil collections when the weather turns.  I'm rally pleased we have found it and I am sure we will be back again.  

Home Ed : day 1 Bumble Hole & Warrens Hall

                                

So today we waved Bigman back off to school, Daddy to work and that was it. Although Squashy would have been going back to start year 8 today, Momo probably would have had another week or two before starting reception, but I still decided today would be officially our first day.

We decided to jump in feet first and get straight out to a meet up. Big kids club meet every Wednesday, a club for HE over 8's which Momo would be welcome to. 

So we went to Warrens Hall nature reserve in Dudley. Squashy was happy as he met a boy there who he has spent a day playing with before the school holidays on a trip to a lido. They were like old friends, ran off chatting and playing straightaway, who says Autistic kids can't socialise?! :D And Momo was happy as they brought their dog Buddy, who has since become his new 'best friend'.

Warrens Hall is a beautiful nature Reserve, along a canal and although its lovely and green and peaceful now it was once busy industrial area around the mines. The only evidence of this now is a stunning, imposing old structure. It used to be a steam pump house, the huge tower is quite a sight!

We had fun exploring the ponds and the canal, Momo enjoyed being with the big kids, thinks he can do everything they do, and why not?!

We went and poked our heads a little way into Netherton Tunnel. It looks beautiful, and reminded me of the Island of Sodor from Thomas the Tank Engine!
                              
 It is the longest canal tunnel I have ever seen! We tried walking in a little way, but there was no lighting and it was pitch black when you moved away from the entrance, so we are going to plan another visit and bring torches!
                                    

 After that we decided we were hungry. The other families left, so we settled down next to the pump house for a picnic. While we ate I googled a bit on my phone ( love modern technology!) and researched a bit about the building. Squashy always amazes me with facts that he remembers, he knew it all! It was really interesting to find out the history of it all.

 Then Momo decided to have a go at a bit of photography.

He seems to favour the abstract view...

A cute little self portrait

A couple more of the 'unusual' 

 And then Squashy got fed up, he doesn't like having his photo taken at all.

 But I did talk him into one more to keep Momo happy :)

Then I had a bit of a play too, i really enjoy taking photos, I have recently started to play about with different angles and taking pictures of things other than my boys.

                                                
 Momo thought this looked like a face :O

 Then we went for a walk down the canal. Here the nature reserve joins Bumble Hole conservation area. I love that name! It was very pretty with lots of photo opportunities.

There is a little island in the middle of the canal that was once a toll station for the boats coming in and out carrying the materials from the mines.

They have a sweet little visitor centre with lots of information about the area, there is a little model of what It would have looked like with all the mining and industrial buildings, Momo especially liked that. And a lovely display of the cute canal art.

                                                        
It really is such a beautiful place. We were so lucky with the pleasant weather too, glorious sunshine, big fluffy clouds in a perfect blue sky. I cant fail to be happy on a day like this :)

On the way back to the car we even managed a spot of blackberry foraging to make a crumble when we get home.

I feel so so lucky to be on this journey with my two youngest boys. I would love for Bigman to join us too, but he is happy at school so I have to respect that. But I am very excited for the future and all the adventures we are going to have, people we will met and things we will learn. ONE LUCKY MAMA.

                                                          

Very dark and very long!

We met up with some other local HE'rs for a bit of a dark adventure this week! 

This is Netherton Tunnel in Dudley. It runs along the canal from Windmill End right underneath the middle of the town to Dudley Port for a whopping 2776m! Almost 3km! We had a nosey in it a couple of weeks ago but as there is no lightning we decided to come back with torches and do it properly. 

So armed with glowsticks, head lamps and a powerful light off we went. 

Squashy ran off ahead with his friends to try and keep up with a boat that passed us (taking the good torch!) and everyone else had longer legs than Momo so it ended up just me and him, in the pitch black with just a head torch and a packet of gingerbread men! He did great though, he Is such a brave adventurer. Another boat passed too, the Centurian. It was a bit spooky as it approached.

 It looked lovely and cosy inside and the driver waved a cheery hello to Momo. It got pretty eerie down there after that passed, there were big air shafts every so often then created a huge circular green pool of light on the water, otherwise the water looked like black tar, and pretty still. 

There was a big section right in the middle where they recently completed some repairs, so here the walls were completely smooth. The rest of it was the original Victorian brickwork, pretty cool to see that 150+ year old work. 

Thankfully after about an hour the end was in sight! Squashy had come back to look for us too so we had a real torch!

Poor Momo's legs were tired by this point and he asked for upups so he spent about the last 15 minutes snuggling up in the sling, you can just about see him here behind me with the glowsticks on! 

That was a game, getting him on my back in that narrow little towpath scared I would fling him into the canal! I bet it was comical to watch, then I had to put my back pack on my front, and try to keep the head lamp in the right place to look out for the lake-sized puddles! Talk about extreme babywearing! But it was really lovely, he rarely goes in a sling now, and when he does he always wants Daddy to carry him, so it was a lovely rare treat to have a bit of a snuggly upups :)

We made it out the other end and thankfully hubby was picking us up so we didn't have to walk back through, I'm not sure I could have made it with Momo in my back! 

Squashy got home and did a fact sheet about it and a bit of a description of what it had been like. It is over 150 years old, is one of very few tunnels to have a tow path on both sides and so is wider than most, which meant there was no need for 'legging' the boat through the tunnel. It was the last tunnel of its kind to be built. It is also supposedly haunted! Im glad he didnt tell me that until afterwards!

 It was certainly an adventure. I'd like to do it on a boat next time, maybe we'd keep our feet dry then!

Autism West Midlands winner!

Today we won a competition! Autism West Midlands asked for happy, funny or heartwarming stories and photos, so I shared this one of Squashy with a few words and they chose us as a winner! 

I am really pleased, as for us and so many other families, autism is a huge part of everyday life so really anything we can do to contribute to autism awareness is fantastic. And so far this has been seen by almost 150 people on the AWM fb page!