Walking
in and around Ledbury
Walking
in and around Ledbury
At the beginning of May the bluebells appear after the daffodils, and in some of the smaller woods, these are well worth seeing - The pictures were taken around Hope End and Oyster Hill in the Wellinton Heath area
Walking and Reading with the Masefield Society and Chairman, Peter Carter on Sunday, 25th April 2004 to celebrate the St Georges Day Celebrations in Ledbury
Link to the John Masefield Society
The John Masefield Society was formed in 1992 to stimulate the appreciation of, and interest in, the life and works of John Masefield (Poet Laureate 1930-1967). The Society is based in Ledbury, the Herefordshire market town of his birth, and holds various public events in addition to publishing a journal and occasional papers
| Margy Brace - Registered Guide |
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| Margy is a Registered Guide witht the Heart of England Tourist Board |
Margy
Brace
Tel: 01684 573724 Mobile: 07989 823877 |
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(extracted from
www.thisisworcestershire.co.uk)
Discover some hidden assets
Ledbury was founded around 720, when a church was built close to the intersection
of two important roads.
One of these ran from Bromyard to Gloucester, the other linked Droitwich to Hereford, via Worcester, and may have originated as a saltway.
A settlement grew up around the church and, in 1138, Ledbury received its market charter from King Stephen. It remains a market town today but tourism is important too, with many visitors coming to admire the famous Market House and cobbled Church Lane, which is lined with timber-framed buildings of great charm.
Relatively few of these visitors discover one of Ledbury's less obvious assets - its proximity to woodland. Frith Wood is less than five minutes' walk from the train station and Conigree Wood less than five minutes from High Street. Dog Hill Wood is nearer still - a couple of minutes from the top of Church Lane. Two of these woods feature in this walk while the third, Frith Wood, is an optional extra.
DIRECTIONS
Leave the station, turn right under the railway and soon right again on a footpath signed to Frith Wood. Walk uphill and cross a stile on the right at the top.
Turn right along a track to Knapp Lane. Cross to Dog Hill Wood and turn left on a path along the edge of the wood to the top corner, at the junction of Knapp Lane, Cut Throat Lane and Green Lane.
Turn right on Green Lane, a track running along the outer edge of Dog Hill Wood. At the far end descend beneath a line of yew trees then turn left to a road. Keep going down until you can join a footpath on the left by an ivy-clad wall.
The path leads to the churchyard and another leads out at the far side. Follow this to Worcester Road and turn left for about 120m before crossing to a footpath which leads to Conigree Wood. Once inside, the path forks. Go left and follow the waymarkers through the wood, climbing uphill.
Leave the wood at a gate in the top corner and turn left along a field edge. The path now runs past Dead Woman's Thorn, up Eastnor Hill and then down to Eastnor Church. If in doubt at any point just keep straight on.
Turn right past the church, right at the green and right again on a bridle track heading towards the Eastnor Estate Offices. Keep straight on, past all the buildings, and stay with the track as it bears left towards Bircham's Wood.
Keep left again to go into a field when the track turns right towards a house. Maintain the same direction, still by the edge of the wood.
Before long a gate opens into the next field. Keep close to the left-hand edge at first but gradually move away from it to reach a stile.
Continue across another field, keeping to the dip which runs through the centre and well to the left of Woolpits Farm. A stile at the far side gives access to Clencher's Mill Wood. Walk through then turn right along a lane to the A417. Turn right for a few paces then cross to a footpath.
Pass to the right of High House, go through two gates and proceed to a stile. Cross two fields, with a plantation on your right. Turn right at the corner, crossing a stile and walking by the western edge of the plantation.
Cross a footbridge and proceed to a hedge gap. Continue across another field, close to the right-hand edge. Cross a driveway and continue along a track by a line of trees. Cross a brook and follow the left-hand edge of the next field then keep on past another plantation.
After crossing two more fields you will have to cross Ledbury bypass. Pick up the footpath again on the other side, crossing two fields to a housing estate.
Walk to a junction where the footpath sign directs you to the right. However, this leads to the A449. For a safer walk, turn left instead.
The street soon swings right to a junction. Turn right, then right again. Pass Traherne Close then go next left on Blenheim Drive.
After a few paces turn right on a path. At the far end turn right on Mabels Furlong which leads to the A449. Turn left along the footway to Ledbury town centre.
Turn left on Bye Street, just after the Market House. Keep going until you come to Queens Walk. Turn right here to join a footpath/cycleway. This takes you back to the station.
FACTFILE
Start: Ledbury Station; grid reference SO709386.
Length: 6.75 miles/10.8km
Maps: OS Explorer 190, OS Landranger 149.
Terrain: woods and fields, mildly hilly, very muddy in places.
Stiles: 14.
Parking: car park on Bye Street. There is some space at the junction of Knapp Lane, Cut Throat Lane and Green Lane (see map); the station car park is for rail users only.
Public transport: daily trains and Mon-Sat buses (417) to Ledbury; it is also accessible by bus on Sundays, changing at Malvern; Traveline 0870 608 2608.
Refreshments: Ledbury.
DISCLAIMER
PLEASE note This
walk has been carefully checked and the directions are believed to be correct
at the time of publication. No responsibility is accepted by either the author
or publisher for errors or omissions, or for any loss or injury, however caused.
The Malverns
Up hills
and down dales
With over 100 miles of footpaths in the Malvern Hills, it would
be difficult to exhaust the walking possibilities.
Even so, it's always pleasant to combine a walk in the Malverns with the lovely countryside which lies just to the west, where gentle limestone hills offer a striking contrast to their larger, steeper, granite neighbours.
With their lush vegetation, undemanding contours and secluded valleys, the limestone slopes are perfect territory for the discerning walker.
Another contrast is provided by the bare upper slopes of the Malverns with the leafy lower slopes, where the dominant vegetation is not moorland grass and bracken but mature woodland of oak, birch, holly, sweet chestnut and sycamore.
Between these two habitats lies a band of scrub, with wind-stunted trees and shrubby species, such as gorse, which bears bright yellow flowers throughout the year.
Autumn is a great time to explore the Malverns, with the yellow of the gorse just one of a range of vivid colours.
The bright red of hawthorn, rowan and holly berries is irresistible against a blue sky (rare though that is) and, while the ever-increasing bracken may be environmentally undesirable, it does look attractive as the uniform green of summer gives way to a range of browns and golds.
The Malvern Hills are suffering from erosion caused by too many feet, so this walk avoids further damage by sticking almost entirely to hard-surfaced paths such as the carriage drive constructed for Lady Howard de Walden in the 19th century.
Lady de Walden lived in West Malvern, in a grand building which is now St James's School, and she was a notable local benefactor, donating substantial sums of money to create paths on the hills.
DIRECTIONS
Make your way to Worcester Road (at the top of Church Street) and take St Ann's Road on to the hills. Reaching a junction, continue up Happy Valley until you come to a crosspaths where a sign indicates Ivy Scar Rock. Turn right here, then right again after a few paces.
The path, known as North Walk, leads past rock outcrops, and through gorse scrub and woodland. Keep left at all forks, joining Greenfield Path (unsigned) soon after the outcrop of Ivy Scar Rock.
Eventually turn sharp left, after which the path zig-zags up the side of North Hill to a T-junction. Turn right, joining Lady Howard de Walden Drive. Keep left at the next fork, signed West Malvern.
Stay on the carriage drive, ignoring all branching paths. It swings round North Hill and Table Hill to the west of the ridge and descends towards West Malvern. Turn right after a house called St Mary's, descending to a track.
Turn right past the Harvey-Jones School to West Malvern Road and go down Croft Bank, almost opposite until you can turn right on Croft Farm Drive. Go straight through the farm and then left at a fork to join the Worcestershire Way (the southbound footpath, not the northbound bridleway).
Follow the waymarkers down a bank, through a wood to a track. Leave the Worcestershire Way here, turning right along the track. After Bank Farm, take a footpath on the left which leaves the track at a gate and runs down into a valley. The path is waymarked and easily followed.
Just before Rose Farm, turn left by the field edge to a stile giving on to the farm drive. Join a lane and go left. After 300m, turn right at a sign for Greenwich Resources and join a footpath signed to the Bell Inn.
Further on, two footpaths are waymarked - take the right-hand one by the right-hand field edge and then continue along the edge of the next field. When you pass through a hedge gap into a third field, go diagonally left to a footbridge and across a field to Harcourt Road. Turn left.
At the entrance to Mathon Lodge Farm, turn left on the Worcestershire Way but leave it after a few paces, forking right on a grassy track to a stile in a fence. Walk along an avenue of horse chestnut trees then continue along a track to Blackheath Road. Turn right, then first left, past a cream house.
After a short distance turn left by an old gas lamp on a path which climbs to a grassy clearing. Walk up to the top then past the Brewers Arms to West Malvern Road. Cross to a path opposite, signed The Dingle, Worcestershire Beacon and Great Malvern.
Climb up to the saddle below the Beacon then consult the route indicator that you will find there to decide which way to return to Great Malvern.
FACTFILE
Start: Great Malvern, grid reference SO775459.
Length: 5.5 miles/8.8km.
Maps: OS Explorer 190, OS Landranger 150, Harvey Superwalker Malvern Hills.
Terrain: undulating, but not steep, with good paths on the hills and across pasture.
Stiles: 8.
Parking: car park in Great Malvern.
Public transport: Daily buses and trains; Traveline 0870 608 2608.
Refreshments: Brewers Arms at West Malvern, plenty of choice in Great Malvern.
DISCLAIMER
This walk has been carefully checked and the directions are believed to be correct at the time of publication. No responsibility is accepted by either the author or publisher for errors or omissions, or for any loss or injury, however caused.
For many
more walks - ask at Ledbury T I C Centre