Blackstone

There is much more woodland to enjoy than a glance at the map might suggest, particularly at Burlish Top, and the route also leads through an especially lovely chestnut coppice near Blackstone.

Despite the woodland, it is heathland that is the main feature of the walk, and we can explore it freely as most of it is open to the public. So the walk outlined here is only one possibility which can easily be extended or adapted if you wish.

Sadly, heathland has become a rare habitat in Britain. In Worcestershire, we have lost about 90 per cent of the heathland estimated to have existed 200 years ago.

What little heath remains is mostly in the north of the county, where Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, Wyre Forest District Council and West Midland Safari Park together own 61 hectares near Bewdley.

This is the largest remaining tract, but there are smaller areas at Hartlebury and in the Clent Hills. The organisations listed above are working together to restore and conserve what heathland remains, and also to recreate it where possible.

Restoration and conservation involves removing invasive tree species and at Burlish Top Shetland cattle have been introduced to do this vital job.

The Shetland is a rare breed, with fewer than 750 left. It’s very hardy and ideally suited to heathland grazing as it will happily munch away at pretty much anything, including brambles.

One of the most dramatic features of Worcestershire’s heaths is a sandstone outcrop called Devil’s Spittleful.

Invasive trees had made it almost invisible in recent years but the trees have now been cleared, returning the outcrop to its former prominence.

Unhappily, however, it has been considered necessary to disfigure its most striking elevation with huge and unsightly notices, visible from a long way off.

Devil’s Spittleful Nature Reserve is owned by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, which in 2007 bought adjoining land at Blackstone Farm, where the trust hopes to recreate 18 hectares of heath. It’s a long-term project, because heathland plants require poor soils, but the former farmland’s fertility will reduce over time, allowing heathland species to colonise, and grazing will check invasive vegetation.

FACTFILE

START Blackstone Picnic Place, Bewdley Road North (B4195) between Stourport and Bewdley; grid ref SO795743.

LENGTH Five miles/8km.

MAPS OS Explorer 218, OS Landranger 138.

TERRAIN Mainly woods and heath; flat, except for four easy slopes (two up, two down).

FOOTPATHS Mostly excellent.

STILES One.

PARKING Blackstone Picnic Place or Burlish Top.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT Whittle’s 15 Kidderminster- Stourport-Bewdley service (Mon-Sat) stops at Blackstone; in addition, frequent services from Kidderminster to Bewdley, Ludlow and Bridgnorth stop near the northern end of Sandy Lane, 400m from the route described; worcestershire.gov.uk/bus timetables or 01905 765765.

REFRESHMENTS Nothing permanent, but a mobile snack bar visits Blackstone.

DIRECTIONS

1 From the picnic place at Blackstone follow the waymarked Stourport Circular Walk to the river and turn left on the Severn Way. When you come to a junction near Blackstone Rock turn left on a bridleway which leads to the road. Cross over and turn right then take an easily missed path (technically a byway) on the left after about 250 metres. When the path enters a large field ignore a misleading waymark and follow the left-hand field edge for a while before climbing over a fence to join a green lane. Follow it to a track, turn right beneath a disused railway bridge then immediately right again on a byway (Geopark Way/Stourport Circular Walk/Cycle Route 45) through chestnut coppice. After a short distance you’ll find there are three parallel routes, which eventually merge into one before splitting to form two parallel routes as you proceed through oakwoods.

2 Turn right towards Stourport at a multi-waymarked junction. After a short distance there are again three parallel paths, two through woodland and one along a field edge. All lead to Burlish Top Nature Reserve. Turn left past an interpretation panel then immediately left again into woodland and keep straight on at a cross-path. Fork right at the next two junctions, passing under power-lines at the second one, then immediately going right again on a gently rising path which leads to an area where the remains of demolished buildings are visible. Turn left and keep close to the right-hand edge of the wood until a gate gives access to heathland.

3 Take the left-hand path and turn left at the next junction, on a track heading towards two masts. Pass to the right of the masts and stay on the track at subsequent junctions, following it almost to the far side of the nature reserve. Turn left on a grassy path just before a gate and fork right at the next junction. Proceed in much the same direction to the top of a steep slope. Turn right on a path which descends gradually from Burlish Top to the heathland below.

4 Turn left on a sandy path through Rifle Range Nature Reserve. Follow this path to a multi-waymarked junction and turn right, signed ‘permissive horse route’, then immediately fork left on another path. Walk to a junction and turn left, crossing a stile and following a waymarked footpath uphill, and then down again, past Whitehill Wood then through Rhydd Covert. Shortly after passing Rhydd Covert Activity Centre you’ll meet a bridleway, Sandy Lane, where you turn left to return to the multi-waymarked junction mentioned above.

5 Turn right into Devil’s Spittleful Nature Reserve. The Devil’s Spittleful is on the left and you can choose between sticking to the main path or taking another which snakes around the Spittleful before rejoining the main path. Follow the path out of the nature reserve and under the Severn Valley Railway. Turn right at a T-junction and then turn right again once you’re back at the disused railway bridge encountered near the start of the walk. Walk to the road and cross to Blackstone.