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Spennells Valley

Forests and woodlands of WorcestershireKidderminsterLocal Nature Reserves in Worcestershire
Hoo Brook, Spennells Valley Nature Reserve, Spennells, Kidderminster (geograph 3379825)
Hoo Brook, Spennells Valley Nature Reserve, Spennells, Kidderminster (geograph 3379825)

Spennells Valley is a local nature reserve in south-east Kidderminster, in Worcestershire, England.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Spennells Valley (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Spennells Valley
Bittern Wood Road, Wyre Forest Aggborough

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Wikipedia: Spennells ValleyContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.371944444444 ° E -2.2361111111111 °
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Address

Spennells Valley Nature Reserve

Bittern Wood Road
DY10 4EG Wyre Forest, Aggborough
England, United Kingdom
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Hoo Brook, Spennells Valley Nature Reserve, Spennells, Kidderminster (geograph 3379825)
Hoo Brook, Spennells Valley Nature Reserve, Spennells, Kidderminster (geograph 3379825)
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Nearby Places

Summerfield Research Station

The Summerfield Research Station is a development and production site for solid rocket motors in the United Kingdom officially formed on 1 September 1951 by the Ministry of Supply. It was set up on the grounds of a former World War II munitions factory just south of Kidderminster, southwest of Birmingham. It opened on 1 January 1952 and remains in use as of 2020. Previous UK rocket motors, like those on the RP-3, used Cordite as their propellant, formed into a solid using various binders and then moulded into cylinders with internal cavities to control the rate of burn. While the US adopted the UK concept of shaped cavities, the UK adopted the US double-base powder, which was the basis for contemporary US rocket designs and offered higher energy. The combination of these two features formed the basis for military rockets until the introduction of aluminum-boosted propellants in the 1960s. Since its formation, the site has produced rocket motors for many UK weapons systems. Among its early successes was a motor design for the Sea Slug missile, which allowed that design to switch from a liquid fuel rocket, considered a hazard on ships. Other successes include the motors for Vigilant, Swingfire, MILAN, Thunderbird, Seacat, Sea Dart, Sea Wolf and Sea Skua. Over the years, solid rocket design was centralized at Summerfield, taking on employees from the Rocket Propulsion Establishment and the Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment at the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills as those establishments closed. Summerfield was initially run by Imperial Chemical Industries, but in 1975 it was handed off to their subsidiary, Imperial Metal Industries (IMI) to become IMI Summerfield. The division was purchased by British Aerospace in 1998 and over the next few years changed name several times until BAe merged the division with the French firm Celerg to form Roxel. Today the site is officially known as Roxel (UK Rocket Motors) Limited.

Caldwall Castle
Caldwall Castle

Caldwall Castle, also spelt Caldwell Castle and now known as Caldwall Tower, is a former manor house in the town of Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England and only a single tower remains today. It is a Grade II* listed building. The layout of Caldwall Castle, a courtyard with four surrounding towers, was likely similar to that of Stokesay Castle in Shropshire.The first structure was built during the fourteenth century, between c. 1335 and 1347, by Sir Hugh de Cokesay and Caldwall Castle was owned by the Cokesay family until it was passed to the Wyntour family in 1498. Under the Wyntours, the manor house was rebuilt sometime during the early fifteenth or sixteenth century and the present structure, known as Caldwall Tower, also dates to this time. The Wyntour family eventually sold Caldwall Castle in 1589 to the de Clare family. Around 1690, a three-storey brick built structure was built to connect the surviving tower to the north-west side and the entire building was renovated during the seventeenth century.The manor house was passed to the Jeffrey family in 1777 and it was acquired by George Turton in 1864; when he died in 1897, the Corporation of Kidderminster took control of the estate and used it for many different purposes, such as a school of domestic science, government offices, the municipal fire station and an air raid protection headquarters, before Caldwall Castle was left derelict until it was demolished in 1961, leaving only the surviving tower standing. In 1990, the tower was sold to Richard and Nely Davies and it is now used as a private residence. Richard Davies has also since extensively restored the tower.