THERE'S some gorgeous scenery on this walk, around Burnthorne Brook, Hurtle Hill and Dick Brook.

There's also the added interest of Redstone Rock, a towering sandstone cliff near Stourport-on-Severn, which is riddled with caves.

According to local folklore, the caves provided homes for medieval hermits who also manned a ferry at Redstone Crossing, first recorded in the 13th Century.

However, this is Worcestershire in the summertime, so there's little point in expecting all the paths to be in good condition.

But, if you think these are bad, you should see some of the others!

You should be prepared to deal with lots of nettles and with crops illegally obstructing several paths.

Where the paths have been cropped over, please consider informing the Rights of Way Officer at County Hall.

Where they're merely overgrown, the worst of it can sometimes be avoided by using roads (see map for details).

Obviously, this is up to the individual, but please bear in mind that using footpaths is the best way to keep them open.

n directions

CROSS the Severn at Stourport Bridge, go down steps to the riverbank and head upstream for 200m. After passing a pumping station turn left to a road. Turn right, then first left.

Pass Areley Kings Church to find two footpaths. Take the left-hand one, descending by a field edge to a stile. Cross Burnthorne Brook and follow it to a road. Turn left, then take the first path on the right.

When you meet a track, turn right to Burnthorne Lane, then left. Take the first footpath on the right - there's a signpost, but it's the other side of the lane and easily missed. The path starts off as a wide track, leaving the lane on a bend just after a footbridge on the left. The track leads to a field and you continue in the same direction by the right-hand edge.

Go through a gap in the top corner and through the next field. After passing a farm - you'll see it through the hedge - go diagonally to a stile at the far side.

Proceed to a grassy track and turn right, then left, through a plantation. When you come to a road, the footpath continues opposite, bearing slightly left across a field to a stile. Continue in the same direction across the next field to find a stile giving access to a dingle.

Cross Burnthorne Brook and follow an overgrown path up into a sloping field. Go uphill by the right-hand edge, then straight on at the top to meet a lane.

Turn right, then first left at a sign for The Old Barn. Go through a passageway built into the former barn, straight on through the former farmyard and past a derelict outbuilding to join a track descending by the edge of a cherry orchard.

When you see a fallen waymarker post turn right to the far side of the orchard. Cross a stile and walk across a field, through a gap in the far hedge and then left, descending to a stile on the edge of woodland.

Keep going down to meet a path beside Dick Brook - but take care, as there are half-hidden strands of barbed-wire fencing waiting to trip you up.

Turn left by the brook. Arriving at a waymarked junction next to a garden, turn left across a meadow then push through bracken to find a path to a lane. Turn left. Join another footpath just after Buckland Place. It runs the edge of a garden until a gate gives access to the adjacent field.

Turn right and push through an overgrown gap in the corner to meet a good path. Turn left. After passing a couple of houses, you'll come to a junction where another path crosses, blocked both sides by growing crops.

Turn right, through sugar beet, to a gate at the far side. The path then goes straight on, along an overgrown field edge - it's probably meant to be the other side of the fence but this route is totally blocked further along - to the A451.

Cross to Dark Lane almost opposite. After about half-a-mile, take a footpath on the left - which passes Syntley Farm - before returning to the lane. Turn left for 100m, then join a footpath on the right, over a field to Ridley Cross.

There are two footpaths here. Take the left-hand one, which leads to the B4196. Turn left and just after a bus stop cross to a footpath which runs along the left-hand edges of two fields to Longmore Hill.

Turn right until a stile on the right gives access to a path. Turn left along the edge of a maize field, then straight across two further fields to meet a track. Turn right to meet a lane and turn left.

When the lane bends left, look for a footpath, which starts to the left of a telegraph pole and runs towards Stourport. Before long, you'll be walking along the edge of a large field decorated with a collection of burnt-out cars.

Keep to the right of the main path where possible, away from the cars and closer to the cliff, which rises from the river. This ensures you won't miss the steps, which descend past Redstone Rock. Turn right past the base of the rock and then left by the river to Stourport.

FACTFILE

Start: Stourport: GR808713

Length: 8.5 miles/13.5km

Maps: OS Explorers 204 and 218, OS Landranger 138.

Terrain: Hilly, but not too steep, mixed farmland, nettles.

Stiles: 19

Parking: riverside car park in Stourport

Buses: 293/294 Mondays to Saturdays, 300 on Sundays; Traveline 0870 608 2608

Refreshments: Stourport and Dunley

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.