Wichenford is set in lovely countryside, but it's not easy to explore because too many of the footpaths are in a shameful condition - some are impossible to follow at all.

This is one of the few walks which can be completed without too much difficulty, but even these paths are mostly well below standard.

The local architecture is more pleasing. Wichenford Court dates from the 13th Century, when it was a fortified manor house belonging to the Bishop of Worcester.

Parts of the mediaeval moat survive today but the house was rebuilt in around 1600 and again in around 1690, when some of its remaining mediaeval timbers were used to build the magnificent barn which stands beside Venn Lane.

Behind the barn is another 17th-century building, a charming timber-framed dovecote on a sandstone plinth. There are 557 nesting holes inside, though none of them appears to be in use today. The dovecote belongs to the National Trust and is open from April to October.

DIRECTIONS

Walk towards Martley, using the footway on the left. When you see "SLOW" painted on the road, cross over to find a half-concealed footpath. Turn left by a hedge but after about 200m cross a stile to continue on the other side.

Keep going in the same direction to meet a lane. Cross to another lane opposite, walking past a wood (Deadfield Coppice) and then past a house called Larkins. Cross a stile and proceed to another where two footpaths are waymarked. Choose the one going straight on, by a field edge.

There is also a track running parallel with the footpath. While not necessarily a right of way, it is well used. Whichever you choose initially, it's probably best to use the track once you reach The Studio or The Peak (these are house names) at Ross Green. Follow it to a road and turn right.

After about 200m, struggle through nettles and brambles to a stile. Ahead of you is a perfectly formed footpath cutting a broad swathe through a cereal crop. Enjoy it - you won't find many like this in west Worcestershire.

Continue along the edge of another field then enter a field of broad beans. This is more what we're used to - no path. So crunch your way through the beans, aiming for a hedge corner at the far side. A small group of trees helps to mark the spot.

Thistles and nettles partially obscure a plank footbridge so watch where you put your feet, then cross a stile and follow the left-hand edge of the next field to the corner. Turn right on a bridleway which takes you back to Deadfield Coppice. Turn left along its edge to King's Green.

Turn left along a lane. When it bends left, join a footpath on the right. Turn left, shortly cross a stile and then just keep going on an obvious track through trees until you emerge into open fields. There's a waymarker here, pointing back the way you've come. Draw level with it and then go diagonally right to a wood. Follow the woodland edge until it turns a corner.

Go through a gap and turn left by the hedge until you come to a sort of stile. It's overgrown and inconspicuous - look for it beyond a fallen oak bough. Cross the 'stile', avoid tripping over a concealed branch, step gingerly across a decrepit footbridge, avoid another branch and negotiate a wobbly 'stile' to enter a field by Wichenford Church.

Turn right to a gate then cross another field towards Wichenford Barn. As you join Venn Lane you'll see a footpath to the left - this is the way to go but first you might want to visit Wichenford Dovecote.

Joining the footpath, cross a field to enter an orchard. Turn right past the end of a narrow pond. Turn left, then soon right, past the end of a fenced enclosure where trees conceal another pond.

Leave the orchard in the corner and follow the right-hand edge of a field to meet a driveway. Cross to another field, staying by the right-hand edge. The right of way soon goes diagonally left and then turns right again. However, it's obstructed by a fence, so stay by the hedge.

You'll soon come to a footbridge which is rapidly becoming part of the hedge. It's possible to get across but do take care - secateurs would be useful here.

Proceed along the edge of the next field. When the hedge comes to an end, keep on in the same direction through crops, to the left of a large oak. There are two more oaks ahead and the right of way passes between them and goes over a plank footbridge in the hedge beyond. It then goes diagonally right across another field, aiming for a slight dip, where an overgrown stile gives access to Venn Lane. That is the right of way anyway - but you will see that walkers have made an easier route, apparently endorsed by the farmer, which avoids most of the crops. The choice is yours. Finally, turn left along Venn Lane to the Masons Arms.

Start: The Masons Arms, on the B4204 between Worcester and Martley; grid reference SO771594.

Length: 41/2 miles/7.2km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: flat, mixed farmland; some paths, stiles and footbridges are overgrown with vegetation, which includes nettles, thistles and crops; in places it conceals uneven ground where care is required; one footbridge is overgrown by a hedge so secateurs would be helpful, though not essential.

Stiles: 22.

Parking: ask at the Masons Arms or find roadside parking along the route - by Venn Lane, perhaps.

Buses: 310/311/312/313/314, Mon-Sat; Traveline 0870 608 2608.

Refreshments: The Masons Arms.

DISCLAIMER

This walk has been carefully checked and the directions are believed to be correct at the time of publication. No responsibility is accepted by either the author or publisher for errors or omissions, or for any loss or injury, however caused.