Oldbury is an industrial Black Country town in Sandwell at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, historically important for chemical and glass manufacturing. The Birmingham Main Line Canal passes through the town at Titford Pools, one of the highest navigable points on the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and the towpath banks carry elder, hawthorn and bramble alongside the still water; the Warley Woods parkland to the south provides lime and sycamore forage and a tranquil green space in contrast to the surrounding manufacturing townscape.
Collectors attend swarms along the Birmingham Main Line Canal towpath and the Titford Pools nature margins, in the lime and sycamore of Warley Woods and the neighbouring Lightwoods Park, on the eaves and chimney stacks of the older terraced streets around Pound Road and Church Street, and in the garden borders of the inter-war housing estates on the Brandhall and Langley Mill fringe.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
B13 8QG· approx. 9 km
Visit websiteDY9 7PU· approx. 11 km
Visit websiteB74 2YT· approx. 13 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Spring is carried on blossoming garden cherry, blackthorn and horse chestnut in parks like Sutton, Lickey Hills and Cannon Hill. Urban limes — both small-leaved and hybrid — dominate the June flow, especially along the old tram and canal routes. Bramble is universal on allotments and towpaths, and rosebay willowherb flushes the brownfield and rail corridors through July. The Clent and Waseley Hills give a useful edge of hill forage to colonies in the southern fringe, and ivy closes a long urban season.
More on beekeeping in West MidlandsReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
