village nestles at the feet of the three hilltops geographically comprising The Lickeys – Rednal Hill, Bilberry Hill and Cofton Hill – are the summits of the Lickey Ridge, a formation of hard quartzite which gives a good view of Birmingham. The Lickey Hills Country Park is west of the village with Bilberry Hill the nearest peak. Landmarks The Upper Bittell reservoir, a flooded gravel pit and a feeder of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, is partly in Cofton parish, and there is also a smaller reservoir which lies to the east of Bilberry Hill and from which the water is conveyed by the little River Arrow to the Lower Bittell reservoir in Alvechurch parish. A monument to 6th Earl of Plymouth (who owned extensive lands at nearby Tardebigge), in the form of a obelisk, is situated behind the trees bordering the old Birmingham road directly opposite the petrol station in Lickey. The inscription reads: To commend to imitation the exemplary private virtues of Other Archer 6th Earl of Plymouth The Lickey Hills Country Park was preserved as a public open space between 1887 and 1933 by the generosity of a number of public-spirited persons, including T Grosvenor Lee, Ivor Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth, and several members of the Cadbury family. In 1919 it was recorded that as many as 20,000 visitors to the hills had been counted on an August Bank Holiday. The current country park was established with the support of the Countryside Commission. Public services Most children in the village attend the nearby Lickey Hills Primary School in Lickey. The school provides nursery and primary facilities for approximately 440 children aged between 3 and 11. Following their primary education most local children move on to Waseley Hills High School in adjacent Rubery. St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School is also attended by some of the local children. Cofton Hackett had a youth club which had reopened since being closed in 1951, and young people also meet at West Heath Village Hall, where they can participate in regular activities including drama, sports and reading, and attend talks by visiting speakers. Notable people King Charles I stayed overnight in the village during the English Civil War. Jonathan Coe's novel The Rotters' Club has scenes set in Cofton Hackett. Pope Benedict XVI said mass for the beatification of Cardinal Newman in Cofton Park on 19 September 2010 during his Papal