Share memories of special beauty spot

Black Country beauty spot memories are being sought for a travelling exhibition.

Grade I listed Leasowes Park is being restored to its former glory with the recreation of the Beechwater dam and cascade falls as well as pools and cascades at Virgil's Grove.

The Friends of Leasowes group wants people to share snapshots and stories of visits to the Halesowen attraction. It has a £5,500 Awards for All grant for the Past, Present, Future project to create an exhibition to take to schools, shopping centres and care homes.

Group chairman Marianne Diller said: "We are looking for people's memories of the park as well as what they think about it today and what they are hoping it will be like in the future." A box has been placed in the park visitor centre for people to drop off stories, photographs, poems and other memorabilia.

The site was laid out by farmer poet William Shenstone between 1743 and 1763 and it is the only Grade I listed landscape in the West Midlands.

Shenstone, born at the Leasowes in 1714, took over the estate in the early 1740's and began introducing pools and cascades into natural waterways. Although The Leasowes was famous in his lifetime, its reputation increased after his death. Over the years there have been many changes such as the loss of a large number of the trees.

One of the most dramatic was the construction of the Dudley No 2 Canal in 1792 which blocked some views across Halesowen.

The Leasowes Miniature Railway opened in 1990 and operates along the canal towpath. It is the Shenstone era current owner Dudley Council aims to recreate thanks to a £1.3million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded 10 years ago. Old etchings and writings were used.