2:38pm Monday 22nd March 2010
By Julie Royle
IN the course of this walk you’ll cross Paradise Brook, a name which provides a clue to the quality of the landscape.
Massive over-use of the word ‘paradise’ by the modern marketing industry has largely deprived it of meaning, but in this corner of Herefordshire it might not seem too absurdly over the top.
This really is beautiful countryside with something to appeal to almost everybody.
It’s mostly quiet and unspoilt, with large areas of access land – Bringsty Common, Bromyard Downs and Badley Wood Common – where we have the freedom to roam.
There is also permissive access to parts of the National Trust’s lovely Brockhampton estate.
There are several gorgeous cottages and farmhouses along the route, some of which are idyllically situated, and there are marvellous views from Tedstone Delamere and Hill Cross in particular, while a short detour to the ruined church at Edvin Loach will reward the walker with more grand views.
FACT FILE
Start: Bringsty Common, grid ref SO698551.
Length: Nine miles/14.5km.
Maps: OS Explorer 202, OS Landranger 149.
Terrain: Pasture, commons, woodland, orchard, arable, quiet lanes; mildly hilly.
Footpaths: Mostly excellent.
Stiles: 15.
Parking: By the turning off the A44 for the Live and Let Live.
Buses: First 420, Worcester-Hereford via Bringsty Common, daily; herefordbus.
info or telephone 01905 765765.
Refreshments: Live and Let Live on Bringsty Common, Royal Oak on Bromyard Downs, tea room at Brockhampton (Wed-Sun).
DIRECTIONS
1 Starting from the roadside sign for the Live and Let Live, cross the road, walk straight across grassland to meet a track and turn right. When the track bends left, take a grassy path on the right and keep straight on at a cross-path.
Take a footpath indicated by a fingerpost at the edge of the common, passing between two cottages then entering a field. Keep straight on along the left edge then soon turn left, as waymarked, passing through pasture and orchards to reach a farmhouse.
2 Turn left on a track through another orchard, pass Old Mill Cottage then cross Paradise Brook into a field. Turn right to walk to a lane and turn left past Longfield Coppice. Turn right at a junction then take a path at a stile. Go to the far left corner of a field after which the path is easily followed to a footbridge giving access to Badley Wood Common.
3 Turn right and then choose any route across the common. You might choose to fork left after a few paces and then turn right when you meet an access track, or you might prefer to follow Linceter Brook through birchwoods until forced to turn left in the south-east corner of the common. Either way, proceed to a public lane (not to be confused with the unfenced access tracks crossing the common) and turn left, climbing uphill past Pixhill and Tedstone Delamere.
4 Turn left at Tedstone Heights and follow the lane all the way to High Lane (B4203) at Tedstone Wafer. Cross to a track almost opposite and soon pass to the left of Court Farm, joining a footpath which enters a field. Head for the bottom left corner, which is also the corner of an adjacent wood, Court Covert. Go through a gate by the woodland corner and follow a brook to the far right corner of the next field and then along the edge of another until you can cross the brook at a footbridge. Go to the top right corner of the next field, to a stile near a pine tree at Edvin Loach.
5 Turn left along a lane then take the first footpath on the right, opposite The Steeples. Follow it to a junction then turn left across a field and turn left at the far side.
Cross to the other side of the hedge after a few paces but continue in the same direction, before turning right in the next corner. Turn left when you meet a bridleway, return to the lane and turn right.
6 Take a path at a stile on the right. Walk uphill through Buckenhill Wood then turn right to join a track and turn left onto the northern part of Bromyard Downs.
Cross a cattle grid then take a grassy path on the left. Go to the right when it forks, follow it to the B4203 and cross to the main part of the Downs. Climb to the highest point and head south along the eastern edge. You can stay on the Downs all the way or gain access to the National Trust’s Brockhampton estate, including Warren Wood, if you prefer (look for the relevant signage).
7 Approaching the A44, take a path on the left and follow it to the road. Turn left, then soon left again on the Brockhampton driveway. Just before you reach a cattle grid near a church turn right to join a path by a post waymarked with a red arrow. Go to the right when the path forks then follow a path waymarked with both green and yellow arrows. It’s welltrodden and easily followed across parkland and then into woodland.
8 Fork right, following green, red and blue arrows. The path climbs in a series of gentle zigzags before proceeding in a more direct manner to a junction. You can go either way here but your objective is a gate to Bringsty Common.
You’ll find it near a corner in the wall which encloses the wood.
Once back on Bringsty Common you need to go left to return to your starting point but you can walk on either side of the road. If you want to go to the highest point of the common you’ll find it on the south side of the road.
Worcester News recommends the use of OS Explorer Maps, your ideal passport to navigating the countryside. This walk is based on OS Explorer 202.
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