Steven Hodgkinson has recently joined the new Wildlife Trusts Black Country Living Landscape project. The project aims to enable greater awareness of, access to and engagement with the region’s natural environment by much of the Black Country’s population while at the same time protecting and enhancing the area’s rich biodiversity.

Steven offers a free service for groups like ours and can help to organise events, give guided walks, talks, activities and encourage a wider group participation. The aim of the project is to engage communities with their green spaces and is driven by groups needs. He is helping the Friends of Dartmouth Park to produce a book for children which will include all aspects of the park's trees, plants and wildlife. He is also working with Sheepwash Nature Reserve, Priory Woods, the Mill Pool Project.

On the left Steven showing the buds on a tree in the park which means spring is definitely on the way.

Harold Bolter CBE
The Friends of Dartmouth Park have recruited several new members in 2010, including Harold and Sheila Bolter, who originally came from West Bromwich, but now live in Cheshire. In his recently published autobiography Harold tells of his beginnings, in what he refers to as a slum, in Beeches Road, opposite Dartmouth Park, and how the park played an important role in his early years.

Harold went on to become a journalist with the Birmingham Post and then Industrial Editor of the Financial Times, before becoming the public face of British Nuclear Fuels and later a main board director. His time at BNFL, however, ended in very difficult circumstances.

'The Tenth Child' is an interesting and enjoyable read in the chapters referring to West Bromwich, and becomes a fascinating account in later chapters of life at the top and how it felt to be in the news instead of writing it.

'The Tenth Child' is available in all good bookshops