Cotheridge (From Worcester News)

Cotheridge

12:30pm Monday 6th July 2009

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THIS is a lovely walk through quiet, mostly unspoilt countryside on the edge of the Teme Valley.

It’s quite undemanding, with no hills to climb, although you will pass the oddly named Hilltop Farm, which is situated at a height of only about 30 metres above sea level.

Perhaps the name reflects the far-reaching views which can be enjoyed from the river-cut terraces above the river Teme.

Despite farmers’ increasing conversion to arable production, there is still plenty of pastoral countryside in this area and you will encounter cattle with young calves as well as flocks of sheep, so it would be best to keep your dog on a lead.

This is a precaution which would probably also be appreciated by the rabbits which throng the fields.

Between Blackfield Cottage and Ankerdine Road the route coincides with the Three Choirs Way, a 100-mile trail which links Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester.

If you would like to know more about the trail there is a guide book called Three Choirs Way which has been written by Gerry Stewart and is published by Countryside Matters.

FACT FILE

Start: Crossroads at south-west corner of Broadheath Common, grid ref SO803559.

Length: Five-and-a-half miles/8.8km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Pastoral and arable farmland, mostly flat.

Footpaths: One footpath is obstructed but there is an easy way round it. A short section of bridleway is overgrown with nettles near Lower Howsen. There are several poor-quality stiles and footbridges between Cotheridge and Ankerdine Road but on the day I checked this route I met a team working hard to replace them so you should find considerable improvements even if the work has not yet been completed. Please bear in mind that stiles mentioned in the directions may now have been replaced by gates.

Stiles: Eleven (but see note above about path improvements).

Parking: Find suitable roadside parking by Broadheath Common or the A44.

Buses: Worcester-Hereford 420 operates along the A44 daily, meeting the walk route at three points; Worcester-Martley 308 serves Broadheath Common weekday mornings; worcestershire.

gov.uk/bustimetables or 01905 675675.

Refreshments: Plough Inn. Crown East Lane and Elgar’s Birthplace.

DIRECTIONS

1 Walk along Crown East Lane until you have passed Elgar’s Birthplace then take a path at a stile on the right. Keep close to the right-hand edge through four meadows to reach the A44. Turn left across the wide, flower-filled verge then cross the A44 (beware a concealed ditch as you approach the road) to Otherton Lane. Walk along the lane as far as a sharp bend.

2 Turn right on a bridleway which is also a farm track at first.

When the farm track bends left, the bridleway continues straight on.

Follow it through Howsen, ignoring branching paths. After crossing a brook and passing a car park used by Barbourne Angling Club, take a path on the left. Go obliquely across a pasture, heading for a waymarked post visible above the far hedge, marking the position of a stile. Head across the next field towards a bungalow beside the A44. When you reach it, turn round and take another path, going across the field to a footbridge at the far side. Cross into sheep pasture, turn right and walk to Church Lane at Cotheridge.

(NB: at the time of writing, the stile mentioned above is seriously overgrown and neither of the two paths in the ensuing field has been reinstated after ploughing. If you are unable to cross the stile go through a gap in the left-hand field corner instead, into the sheep pasture, and follow the right-hand edge – once you pass the footbridge you are back on the right of way).

3 Turn right, passing St Leonard’s Church and Court Lane, then take a footpath on the left. Follow transmission lines across a field of oil-seed rape. Turn right at the far side to find a stile/footbridge not far from the corner. A well-made path then crosses a cornfield to the A44. Cross the road to a path opposite – again, beware the concealed ditch in the roadside verge. Walk along the left-hand edge of a maize field, go through a gateway into the next field and turn left to meet a farm track. Turn right.

4 After you’ve passed all the farm buildings the track bears slightly left – leave it here and go into a field on the right. Walk diagonally across to the far left corner. Go into another field and turn right along the edge. Cross a stile in the corner and go straight on along the edge of a meadow, crossing two stiles at the far side into sheep pasture. Go roughly straight across – at first it’s unclear what to aim for but look at the next field and you’ll see a row of three oak trees quite close together – there is a stile in the hedge just to the right of the middle oak. Go straight across the next field, aiming for a woodland corner, then continue past the wood into the field corner. Go through a gate and straight on along the left edge of the next pasture. Ignore a path branching left after a short distance. Cross a stile and footbridge at the far side to another pasture. Go straight across to a gate.

5 There are two paths here – take the left-hand one (Three Choirs Way) along the left edge to the next corner. There are two gates in the corner – go through the one on your left and then immediately cross a pair of stiles and a footbridge to another field. Go straight on along the right-hand edge and continue along the edge of another before crossing a bridge to the final field. Go diagonally left towards a group of houses and turn right along Ankerdine Road to Broadheath Common.

Worcester News recommends the use of OS Explorer Maps, your ideal passport to navigating the countryside. This walk is based on OS Explorer 204.

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