It may not look like much, but this circular 'feature' is the site of a World War II listening post. Just beyond, about 15 meters away, is a V shaped ditch which was a gun emplacement housing three anti-aircraft guns, and behind me is a round doughnut shape that used to hold a spot light. The listeners would locate the incoming aircraft by sound and pass the information to the team on the spot light which would enable them to pick out the targets for the gunners. A line of barrage balloons would force the planes up into the correct height to be in range for the shell fuses from larger guns further back.
This site, now hidden deep in the Lickey woods, was once open fields and is one of a line of similar sites that were placed to protect Birmingham and the Austin plant from air attacks from the south.
