Much of Tyddesley Wood belongs to Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, which welcomes visitors. There are numerous paths to explore, but please keep dogs on leads and do note that there's a military firing range at the south-west corner of the wood. You can find information on how to avoid this danger area on a notice within Tyddesley Wood, by the bridleway mentioned in points three and five.

Tackling the poor-quality paths to Besford is rewarded by close views of Besford Court, a spectacular manorhouse comprising a neo-Tudor stone wing added in 1912 to a smaller and very lovely timber-framed house dating from c1500. A few years ago the court was divided into eight individual homes but fortunately its listed building status protected it from inappropriate exterior alteration so it still looks wonderful.

Picturesque St Peter's Church is even older than Besford Court. Its timber-framed nave was built in the 14th century and is a very rare survival. Though timber-framed churches were once common, almost all were later rebuilt in stone. Four other Worcestershire churches still have timber-framed towers, but only at Besford does a timber nave survive too.

DIRECTIONS1 Walk up into Pershore, turn left along Broad Street and then turn right to enter Abbey Park. Walk to the far right corner and take a footpath running to the right of Abbey Park Schools. Fork left at a junction to meet a road by The Original Factory Shop. Ignore a footpath on the left and keep straight on along the road, passing to the right of the shop. Walk to the A4104 and cross over to go along Holloway.

2 Take a footpath on the left, going along a field edge to a path junction and then turning right. The path runs towards Tyddesley Wood and then along the outer edge of the wood. You can keep to the edge if you wish, but if you want to go into the wood you can do so when you come to a stile marked with yellow sticky tape. Proceed to a junction and turn right. The path winds through the wood to a junction with another path, surfaced with bark chippings. Turn right, cross a track (the woodland-edge path comes to this point too) and continue through the wood. Turn left in the bottom corner -- again, there are two paths to choose from. One runs along the inner edge of the wood and the other along the outer edge, through orchards.

3 Turn right on a bridleway, cross Bow Brook and walk to Salters Lane. Turn left then take a path on your right. Go diagonally right across a bean-field (no path has been made) to a junction at a footbridge. Turn left across the field, meeting the far hedge about 100m left of a track running up to a house on the skyline. Cross a footbridge and go diagonally right across the next field (again, no path has been made) to the corner. Cross a stile and walk through the grounds of Besford Court, as indicated by the waymark. The line of the path is unclear but you need to bear slightly left. A stile to the left of a driveway gives access to Ladywood Road by a bus stop.

4 Turn left and after 100m join a path on the right. Walk across a field towards a house and garden, ignoring a stile well to your left. Cross a stile by the garden and go along the left edge of a paddock to Harewell Lane. Turn left, passing St Peter's Church and following the lane to a T-junction. Turn left then cross to a path just after a bus stop. Go diagonally across a large arable field (again, no path has been made) to meet a fence corner then follow the fence to Salters Lane and turn left.

5 Join the driveway to an Army Cadet Force training centre. After a few metres there's a waymark on the left which indicates a diagonal route across a rape-field - you'll not be surprised to see that no path has been made here either. Walk along the left field edge instead and then proceed through another field - again, there is no path, or at least not one made by the farmer on the line of the right of way. However, if you follow the field edge down, you'll find a lightly trodden path going diagonally towards Bow Brook. Rejoin the Tyddesley Wood bridleway and follow it straight through the wood, ignoring all branching paths and cross-paths, to eventually leave the wood at a gate at the far side.

6 Go along the right-hand edge of a field, then straight on along the left-hand edge of another. Turn right just before the next corner, towards a thatched cottage. Go down the driveway to the A4104 and turn right to find a path leading to the river Avon. Follow the river to Pershore Bridges.

FACT FILEStart: Pershore Bridges, grid ref SO953451.

Length: Seven miles/11.2km.

Maps: OS Explorer 190, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Pasture, arable and woodland; no steep slopes.

Footpaths: Mostly excellent at Pershore and Tyddesley Wood but generally poor at Besford, with patchy waymarking and some decrepit stiles. More seriously, several paths have been over-cropped, though there are ways round the obstacles so there's nothing to stop you completing the walk. E-mail countryside@worcestershire. gov.uk to register complaints.

Stiles: About a dozen, depending on which paths you choose at Tyddesley Wood (at point two).

Parking: Pershore Bridges picnic place.

Buses: Astons 382 daily, plus 166 on Sundays; First 550/551 Monday-Saturday; the 382 stops at Besford Court as well as Pershore (useful if you want to shorten the walk); www.worcestershire. gov.uk/bustimetables or Worcestershire Hub 01905 765765.

Refreshments: Pershore.

Please note this walk has been carefully checked and the directions are believed to be accurate at the time of publication. No responsibility is accepted by either the author or publisher for errors or omissions, or for any loss, accident or injury, however caused.Worcester News recommends the use of OS Explorer Maps, your ideal passport to navigating the countryside. This walk is based on OS Explorer 190, OS Landranger 150.