Clifton

That’s because I was trying to head west but was repeatedly thwarted by closure orders slapped onto rights of way by Herefordshire Council.

Don’t be put off by the roadwalking – they are quiet lanes and no through roads and you’d be unlucky to meet more than three or four cars and the occasional tractor.

It’s a fairly hilly walk with glorious views and is particularly lovely when the apple trees are in blossom.

There are also some magnificent ancient trees of various species – look out in particular for a spectacular hornbeam on the slopes below Ayngstree.

But the planned walk would have been even better. It involves heading south-west from Clifton to pick up a bridleway which crosses Sapey Brook then climbs past Winley Farm and through apple orchards to Tedstone, from where there is a choice of return paths to Clifton.

I can’t recommend this beautiful walk to Worcester News readers because the Winley Farm bridleway is subject to a closure order.

It was already officially ‘closed’ when I last walked it in April 2010, and an unverified source suggests it may have been closed since 2007.

A closure order remains in force for a maximum of six months but Herefordshire Council keeps renewing the order on this bridleway.

There is a footpath which provides alternative access to Winley Farm but this has also been served with a closure order, which has been recently issued.

A local resident says it’s because a bridge has been damaged by horse riders using the footpath, which is only what you would expect if a bridleway is kept closed for years.

Another nearby bridleway, running west from Woodhall Farm, has also been recently closed.

If you would like to walk these paths, please consider getting in touch with Herefordshire Council to protest about the closure of TD4, TD6 and TD8.

You’ll find contact details on a notice near Sunnyside Cottage.

FACT FILE

Start: Clifton upon Teme, on B4204 west of Worcester; grid ref SO713615.

Length: 6½ miles/10.5km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 149.

Terrain: Pasture, parkland, orchard, arable, woodland, quiet lanes; mildly hilly.

Footpaths: Most are good enough but some have been over-cropped, one stile is overgrown with hedging, you’ll have to climb over a gate and waymarking is patchy.

Stiles: Eight.

Parking: Clifton.

Buses: Aston’s 310, Mon-Sat only; worcestershire.gov.uk/bustimetables or 01905 765765.

Refreshments: Pub and shop at Clifton.

DIRECTIONS

1 Walk down Pound Lane (opposite the Lion Inn). After 600m take a bridleway on the right which is also the access road to the Hill Farm. Keep straight on at a junction. There is a grassy path parallel with the access road which you may prefer to use. However, when the road eventually bends left, the grassy path goes straight on. Don’t follow it but go to the left, along the road, to the Hill Farm. Go through the yard and bear left, passing close by the farmhouse, then take a grassy track which runs to the right of a pond.

2 The track descends to three gates and the bridleway goes through the one on the right.

Follow it through pasture, descending to woodland. Turn left, ignoring another bridleway on the right (it leads to TD8). Follow the waymarks until you come to a junction with a track, marked by a fingerpost. Turn left. When you reach Sunnyside Cottage, ignore a path on the right (TD6) and keep on along the track, ignoring a bridleway branching left.

3 Turn right on a lane. Ignore the next right (to TD4) and follow the lane down to a junction. Cross a bridge and turn left on a ‘no through road’ to Tedney. Walk almost to the end of the road then take the first of two footpaths on the left, marked by an easily missed fingerpost. Walk uphill to the top right corner of an orchard then follow a track through woodland. Ignore a gate on the left and continue to another at the end of the track. Keep straight on along a field edge to Ayngstree where a notice warns ‘Caution. Dog running loose in the garden. Enter at your own risk and please shut the gate’. Assuming this doesn’t succeed in scaring you off, walk along the edge of the garden until you come to another gate giving access to the adjacent field.

4 Go diagonally across the field to pass to the right of an oak tree then change course and descend steeply to a stile in the fence below. Go diagonally left in the next field, just cutting the corner and heading towards a tall, slim ash tree. Just to the left of it you’ll see what looks like a path.

Climb to the top of a bank and go roughly straight on across parkland, heading towards a wind turbine. You should meet a fence near a pair of waymarks. Turn left to find a gate in a corner, where two paths are waymarked.

5 Take the right-hand path and cross the next field. Turn left and then go to the right at the next junction. Climb uphill, ignoring another path branching right and keep climbing towards the highest point, where you’ll meet the access road to Ayngstree. Turn right towards Woodmanton Farm. When you reach the farm follow the access road round to the right, ignoring branching paths. Head towards the B4204 until you are about 100m from it. Turn left and walk across a field until you meet the remains of a field boundary after about 300m. Turn right towards Clifton. Climb a stile in the hedge ahead then cross the next field towards some new houses, to find a stile in the far right corner. In the final field go diagonally right then cross a playground to Pound Lane.