THE new access rights, which finally came into force in October in the West Midlands, apply to 'mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common' - so many local walkers will be pleasantly surprised to discover that several riverside meadows between Worcester and Tewkesbury have also been designated access land.

The area around Ripple and Twyning has the best of it, but Powick and Kempsey benefit too, with many of their Temeside and Severnside meadows now open to walkers. Further east, meadows beside the Avon at Eckington are also open. For Christmas week, here's an easy walk on our own doorstep, exploring access land at Powick Hams.

The route described here is only a suggestion, devised with three aims in mind: to give a reasonably thorough exploration of the meadows, to make the most of improved access to the River Teme and to keep as far as possible from the bypass. You can vary the route as much as you like. If, for instance, you prefer a shorter walk, you'll find that the waymarked footpaths across the meadows are much more direct. For a very short walk, of course, you could just explore Powick Hams, omitting the long stretches beside the River Severn.

Incidentally, open access isn't just for walking but also for other forms of quiet recreation such as birdwatching, painting, photography and picnicking. Cars, bikes, boats, horses, tents and fires are not allowed, except in rare cases where there is already existing permission for them.

New signage is already in place, indicating the limits of access land - look for a brown figure on a white background. At the time of writing, Ordnance Survey's new edition of Explorer 204 is not yet available. Hopefully, it will be in the shops soon - the new Explorer 190, which covers the area south of 204, has been out for a while now. In the meantime, if you need to see maps of the access land featured in this walk, the website www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk is the place to look. The website also gives information about any restrictions which may be imposed - landowners can restrict access for many reasons, but public rights of way crossing access land will not be affected. If you take your dog on to access land it must be kept on a short, fixed lead between March 1 and July 31. Extra restrictions on dogs may also apply at times.

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.

DIRECTIONS

1Cross Worcester Bridge to the Westside and walk south beside the Severn. Go as far as the city boundary at the confluence of Severn and Teme. Turn right and follow the Teme to Powick. The path keeps close to the river, except at one point where the Teme meanders away to form a loop. Turn right here to rejoin the river. Pass under the new Powick bridge and proceed to the old bridge.

2 Turn left along the old road, almost to the bypass, then go through a gate on to access land. You can walk wherever you want here, but the waymarked footpath remains the best option. It follows the Teme for a while then turns left to take you safely under the bypass, through a subway to Powick Hams. Head towards a line of trees over to your right and then turn left to where the public footpath allows access to the next meadow. Turn right, walk to the River Teme and follow it upstream. When your progress is blocked by a fence, turn left to rejoin the footpath, which takes you into another meadow, then return to the river and continue upstream. When the river begins to move away to the right, turn left across the meadow to join a footpath at the far side. If you keep to the left of a solitary tree you'll soon see the stile you should be aiming for.

3Leave the meadow and go forward along the left edge of the next field.

Cross a wobbly stile in the corner and walk up a slope. Go straight on at the top, across sheep pasture to Ham Lane. Turn left, keep straight on when the lane degenerates into a track, and descend to a junction with another track. Turn right, up Ham Hill. Proceed to a junction and join a path on the left. Walk straight across a field then turn right, soon descending a slope. Walk across a Severn Trent site and along a track to Powick.

4Cross the A449 to an unsigned path, opposite a bus stop. Follow it to the edge of the churchyard then turn left down steps and proceed through woodland to return to the riverside meadows. Turn right, keeping close to the right-hand boundary if you want to avoid traffic noise as far as possible. Eventually you'll be forced towards the bypass but almost immediately you can start to move away from it again. Cross a stile into another large meadow and continue by the right-hand edge until you can cross a bridge into an adjacent meadow. Walk the full length of this very long, relatively narrow, irregularly shaped meadow, then through a gate at the far end, leaving access land and turning left to the River Severn.

5Turn left to walk upstream. Go under Carrington Bridge and turn left up to the bypass. Cross the bridge, turn left and cross a stile to descend to the riverbank. Join the Severn Way and follow it to Worcester.

FACTFILE

Start: Worcester Bridge.

Length: Variable up to a maximum of nine miles/15km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Mostly low-lying meadows.

Footpaths: Excellent.

Stiles: 30.

Refreshments: Plenty of cafs, restaurants and shops on offer in Worcester and Powick.