Monk Wood (From Worcester News)

Monk Wood

11:57am Monday 13th June 2011 in Local walks

MONK Wood is an important and popular nature reserve which attracts lots of walkers.

Few, however, stray beyond its boundaries.

Use it as a starting point to explore the wider countryside and you may be surprised by how much there is to enjoy in this quiet and very attractive part of the county.

FACT FILE

Start: Monk Wood, on minor road between Sinton Green and Monkwood Green, north-west of Worcester, grid ref SO804606.

Length: 7½ miles/12km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Woods, orchards, pasture, arable; no real hills.

Footpaths: Most are good to excellent, but some are neglected.

Stiles: 22.

Parking: Monk Wood.

Buses: LMS 308, Mon-Sat; worcestershire.gov.uk/ bustimetables or 01905 765765.

Refreshments: Fox Inn at Monkwood Green.

DIRECTIONS

1 Take the bridleway which passes through Monk Wood from the main entrance. Leave the wood at a gate at the far end and continue along the bridleway.

When you come to another gate don’t go through it but turn left instead, joining a footpath at an easily missed stile. Walk along the right-hand edge of a meadow, go through a gate near the next corner and keep to the right-hand edge of another meadow. Turn left in the next corner to find a hedge gap giving access to another field.

Go across to the right-hand corner and into an orchard. Continue in much the same direction along a wide track.

2 Turn right when you reach Woodhouse Farm, then shortly right again on a gravelled track which descends to cross Grimley Brook and then climbs to a lane at Ockeridge. Turn left. After 300m, and about 85m after passing a barn (it’s on your right) you’ll come to an overgrown metal gate on the left. There is no waymarking or signage here but pass through the gate into a field and go diagonally right, heading towards a tall ash tree in the far hedge. Cross an overgrown footbridge into the next field and go diagonally to the far left corner. Cross a footbridge and turn right, along a field edge then along the edge of a garden to meet a road. Turn left, then right, towards Cockshoot Farm.

3 Approaching the farm, take a path on the right, indicated by a fingerpost. The actual line of the path has been over-cropped but you’ll easily find an alternative path close by. Follow it to the far hedge, then to the left. Turn right when you reach the hedge corner.

Approaching the top of the field, look out for a stile on the right, cross into the adjacent field and cut across the corner to find a gate and footbridge hidden behind a thicket. Turn left in the next field and keep straight on at all junctions, eventually passing a bungalow and proceeding along the driveway to a road. Turn right across Witton Hill.

4 Soon after crossing Laughern Brook take a path on the left.

Turn left through an orchard, shortly crossing the brook at a footbridge. Follow the brook through another orchard then turn left in the next corner, walking along the edge of the orchard until a pair of stiles gives access to a field. Cut across the corner to a road. Turn left, then cross to a path on the right. Go along a field edge, ignoring a branching path. Cross the second stile but continue in the same direction, past several gardens at Ross Green. Ignore a path branching right at a gate and then take the left-hand path at a stile. Proceed to Rosses Lane and turn right.

5 When you reach a small wood and a house called Larkins, turn left along the woodland edge, then turn right at the next corner.

Beyond the wood, cross King’s Green to a road and turn left.

When the lane bends left after 500m, take a path on the right. Two paths are indicated but take the one which stays by the left field edge parallel with Guises Lane (a green lane). Pass through a patch of woodland and then go straight on when the path emerges into fields again. When you see Wichenford Coppice on the right the path forks – take the righthand branch, along the edge of the coppice. Go through a hedge gap at the end of the coppice and left along a field edge until a footbridge gives access to another field. Cross this field to St Laurence’s Church, walk to a road and turn left.

6 Take a path on the right, by Wichenford Memorial Hall. It’s easily followed past a farmhouse and across a large field to a junction where you go straight on.

At the next corner climb a stile on the right and bear right across a field to a gate. Proceed across the next field to a lane. Turn right, then take a path on the left. Walk along the right-hand edge of a meadow, cross a stile in the corner and continue in the same direction across the next meadow, to a gate in the left corner. Go through here and follow a brook to the right, soon crossing it at a plank footbridge.

Proceed to a hedge corner and then up to the top corner, just to the right of a brickand- timber house. Cross a stile to Monkwood Green.

7 Go diagonally left, passing to the right of a pool, and then to a gate in the far corner of the green.

Follow the right-hand field edge until a stile gives access to Monk Wood. A plank-footbridge leads to an overgrown footpath. A waymark points left but it may be easier to go to the right. Meeting a good path, turn right to walk to the road and cross to the smaller part of Monk Wood. Walk forward on a good path then turn left at a junction. Turn left at a T-junction after about 300m and return to your starting point.

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