HOW well do you know Worcester? Have you explored Offerton Lane Nature Reserve, for instance, or visited Anglo-Saxon Warndon?

Are you familiar with the 17th Century buildings at Trotshill, and have you looked for great crested newts at Lyppard Grange?

All these and much more can be enjoyed on this fascinating circuit of the city.

Warndon was first documented in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 978 but St Nicholas' Church was built a century later on the foundations of an earlier church.

It was rebuilt in the 12th and 14th centuries and the timber-framed tower was added in 1542, one of only four such towers in the county (the others are at Dormston, Kington and Pirton). Neighbouring Warndon Court is one of Worcestershire's earliest brick-built farmhouses, dating from c1600.

Like the church, however, its foundations are much older.

At Trotshill, former farm buildings have been converted into modern homes.

But the farm pond remains, along with a timber-framed granary or hayrick supported on staddlestones, the purpose of which was to deny access to rats.

Very few such buildings survive today.

Nearby Warndon Wood is spectacular at bluebell time, but part of it was sacrificed for the M5 and all of it is blighted by the noise from the motorway.

This walk keeps to the edge of the wood, as far from the M5 as possible, but if you want to explore further you'll find a network of paths.

Offerton Lane Local Nature Reserve is much more peaceful, with fast-developing young woodland.

There's also a large pond where you should see a variety of water birds.

Ponds are also a feature of Lyppard Grange Local Nature Reserve, where they support a colony of great crested newts.

Worcester is something of a stronghold for these endangered and specially protected amphibians, which breed in ponds throughout the city.

DIRECTIONS

Walk south on the east bank of the Severn until you come to the point where Duck Brook joins the river, forcing the path to swing left through woodland.

After crossing the brook, turn left and keep straight on at all junctions, through woodland, along Osier Close and then along a path to Bath Road.

Cross over and turn left to join a pedway which runs through grassland towards St Peters. After crossing Duck Brook again you will come to a junction. Turn right here, past fields grazed by donkeys.

Turn left at the next junction, on Arran Pedway. Keep straight on until a sign sends you to the right, signed 'Tesco Superstore'. After 250m turn left to pass under the railway, on a track which swings right to Upper Battenhall Farm.

Turn left by the farmhouse, and go through the middle one of three green gates. Walk along the left edge of a pasture then turn left across the next one, following tyre tracks. When the track bifurcates, keep left (ie don't go through the rusty gate) and walk up to the A44.

Turn left, then cross Whittington Road to join Walkers Lane, soon turning left on Kilbury Drive. Turn right at Dinchall Road, and then left towards County Hall. Make your way across the campus to the Countryside Centre.

Turn left into Nunnery Wood, on the Badger Trail, which soon makes a right turn. After crossing a footbridge, turn right, and then keep straight on at the next two junctions to reach the far side of the wood. Turn left, cross a footbridge and then walk by the edge of the wood, with the hospital visible through the trees to your right.

Leave Nunnery Wood at the next exit and turn left on a bridleway. Follow it to Newtown Road and turn right, then cross at the lights to another bridleway.

Ignore all branching paths until the bridleway bifurcates. Turn right and cross Woodgreen Drive. Turn right again, then left, on a pedway signed 'Tesco Superstore and Community Centre'.

Turn right at the next junction, past Lyppard Grange Nature Reserve. Keep straight on at all subsequent junctions, eventually reaching a road. Go straight on to Trotshill. Pass a pond and turn left, opposite the hayrick.

Keep straight on at the next junction, past Raven Barn, then shortly fork right to a road junction. Cross Plantation Drive, then Parsonage Way, and climb steps to another footpath.

Enter Warndon Wood and take a path along the edge of the wood. Before long, a waymark sends you to the right, but you immediately turn left to continue in the same direction as before.

The path leads to a stile where you re-cross Parsonage Way to a path opposite. Proceed to a junction and turn right, then right again at the next junction. Keep straight on at the next, staying on a surfaced path.

A broken stile gives access to St Nicholas' Church but you may prefer to stay on the surfaced path which leads to St Nicholas' Lane and the main access to the church.

Walk the length of the lane, cross Hastings Drive and continue in the same direction along another footpath until you can turn right to cross Berkeley Way at traffic lights. Keep straight on along another path which leads to Wainwright Road. Cross to Offerton Lane Nature Reserve and walk through it to Offerton Lane. Turn left to join the canal towpath. Follow it to Diglis and the River Severn, or leave it wherever is most convenient.

FACTFILE

Start: Worcester Bridge.

Length: 12 miles/19km, but you are never more than a few minutes from a bus stop or a short-cut.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Towpaths, pedways (combined cycle/pedestrian routes), grassland, woodland, farmland.

Footpaths: Excellent.

Stiles: 4.

Refreshments: A wide choice, but the caf at the Countryside Centre deserves a special mention.

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.