10:43am Monday 18th January 2010
By Julie Royle
IN 1870, the vicar of St James’ Church at Birlingham planted some snowdrop bulbs in the churchyard. Today, hundreds of thousands of snowdrops carpet the churchyard every January and February, and people travel from miles around to enjoy them.
The snowdrops are preceded by winter aconites and succeeded by crocuses and primroses, so the churchyard is a beautiful sight for a period of many weeks, even in the coldest months of the year.
The church itself was rebuilt in 1871-72 but the original Norman chancel arch was re-built outside to form an unusual entrance to the churchyard.
Nearby, Defford church, also dedicated to St James, is interesting too, as one of only a handful of Worcestershire churches to possess a timber-framed tower.
Footpaths link Defford with Tyddesley Wood, an important wood with a well documented history.
In 1086 it was listed in Domesday Book and in 1223 it was enclosed to form a deer park.
It was partially planted with conifers by the Forestry Commission in the 1950s but since 1984 most of the wood has belonged to Worcestershire Wildlife Trust which has been working ever since to restore it.
Some rights of way run through the wood and there is also permissive access along a track used in this walk.
FACT FILE
Start: Eckington Bridge, on the B4080 south-west of Pershore, grid ref SO922422.
Length: Six-and-a-quarter miles/10km.
Maps: OS Explorer 190, OS Landranger 150.
Terrain: Farmland and woodland, mainly flat with just one very slight hill.
Footpaths: Neglected in places but no real problems at the moment.
Please note that the path through Tyddesley Wood to the A4104 is a permissive one, not a right of way.
It is open daily, except Christmas Day.
Stiles: Nine.
Parking: Eckington Wharf picnic place.
Buses: Red Diamond 382 to Eckington; alternatively, take First 550/551 to Pershore and get off at A4104/B4536 junction (Cornmore) then walk for 400m beside the A4104 to find a path to the river Avon; worcestershire.gov.uk/bus timetables or 01905 765765.
Refreshments: Defford, Birlingham and Eckington.
DIRECTIONS
1 Cross Eckington Bridge and enter the large meadow on the east side of the road. Walk to the top corner and then turn left to cross the road to a path almost opposite. Turn right through a paddock and then walk across a large arable field. Pass through a gate at the far side and then go diagonally left to cross Bow Brook at a footbridge. Proceed to Main Street (A4104) at Defford and cross to Crown Lane, almost opposite. Walk to Harpley Road and turn left.
2 Turn right on Church Lane.
Walk to the Millennium Green and turn left, then walk along the right-hand edge of a field, past the western side of the green. Keep to the right-hand edge in the next field to meet a lane opposite a house. Turn right, then shortly left.
Pass a sewage treatment works then take a path on the right marked by a fallen fingerpost. Walk along a track until it bends right.
Turn left along a cross-field path (no waymarking), cross a stile at the far side of the field and continue across another field. Keep to the left edge of the next field to meet Salters Lane.
3 Turn right, then turn right again after about 100m, on to a driveway. Walk along it until you can gain access to the field on the left and cross the field to a stile near a wooden pylon. Go to the far right corner of the next field to join a bridleway which crosses Bow Brook and enters Tyddesley Wood.
Keep straight on at all junctions until you come to a major crosspath.
4 Turn right, going slightly uphill on a surfaced track. Turn right at the next junction, and fork right at the next, passing a military firing range. Stay on the track until it leaves the wood. Cross the A4104 and turn left on a path by the hedge (signed ‘Pershore Bridges Circular Walk’) until you can join a path running across a field to the river Avon. Turn right and follow the river until forced to leave it.
Walk through a boatyard to the road and turn left along the grass verge. The verge is narrow so great care is required for the next 400m or so.
5 Take a footpath on the left, signed to Upper End. Walk along the top of a bank (Rough Hill) above the Avon then turn right along a hedged and fenced path which leads to a lane. The path continues opposite, along a field edge, then through trees to meet a track. Turn left and keep straight on at all junctions until you come to a sign which requests ‘please use new path north of trees’. In the absence of any waymarking it’s hard to tell if this diversion is official, but it leads along a field edge parallel with the track and then bears left through a copse to Upper End at Birlingham.
6 Turn right and keep straight on at a junction, along The Avenue.
Turn right at the next junction, pass the church and then go left to the village green and war memorial. Continue in much the same direction, rejoining The Avenue. Turn right just after Ivy Cottage at Lower End. Turn left after 200m, waymarked ‘Shakespeare’s Avon Way’. Follow this until you can gain access to the riverside meadows near Swan’s Neck. Return to Eckington Wharf – a direct path goes diagonally across but you might prefer to follow the longer, more scenic route by the river.
Worcester News recommends the use of OS Explorer Maps, your ideal passport to navigating the countryside.
This walk is based on OS Explorer 190.
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