Hanbury

Dating from about 1560, it stands in splendid parkland below treeclad Madam’s Hill. About a quarter-of-a-mile away, and also on the walk route, there stands another stunning house, Becknor Manor. The first house on this site was recorded in 1182 and the oldest part of the present building dates from circa 1400.

The walk makes use of two canal towpaths and these are the easiest sections of the route as they are perfectly maintained.

Since British Waterways was abolished by the present government, the responsibility for towpath maintenance has fallen to the Canal and River Trust, which operates as a charity.

It is dependent on volunteers, such as Worcester News reader Derek Fearnside, who looks after the towpath from Offerton Top Lock to Hanbury Wharf.

More volunteers are always needed and anybody who fancies becoming a volunteer canal ranger can find out more by consulting canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteering or calling 0303 0404040.

FACTFILE

Start: Gateway Park, Hanbury Road, Droitwich; grid ref SO916631.

Length: 7½ miles/12km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150. Terrain: Pasture, arable, towpath, mostly flat.

Footpaths: Most are excellent but a few are poor, with gappy waymarking and dodgy stiles and gates. Some paths have not been reinstated after ploughing and one has been oversown with broad beans. Two crossfield paths are wide enough now, while the crop (oil-seed rape) is young, but will probably be obstructed when it matures.

Stiles: 22. Parking: Gateway Park.

Public transport: Train or bus (144/355) to Droitwich then 354/357/358 to Hanbury Wharf or Shernal Green, Mon-Sat; worcestershire.gov.uk/bustimetables or 01905 765765.

Refreshments: Eagle and Sun, Hanbury Wharf.

DIRECTIONS

1 Join the Droitwich Canal towpath and follow it eastwards. Approaching the Eagle and Sun, pass under Westfields Bridge, go up to the road and join the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, opposite the pub. Follow the towpath north to bridge 36 then go into a field to join a track which crosses a railway bridge then enters another field. Walk along the left-hand edge, ignore a path branching left in the first corner, continue to the next corner then go diagonally left up Summer Hill to a gate by the corner of Summerhill Wood. Bear slightly right in the next field, passing to the right of a pond.

Then just follow the waymarks, turning right when you come to a junction. Walk to a road and turn left.

2 Take a path on the right at an overgrown stile. Enter a field, pass to the right of a pond, walk to the far end of it then continue across the field to a fingerpost at the far side. Turn right along a lane then take the second path on the right (the first waymarked path) at a footbridge. Go left along a field edge then turn left in the next field. Go through a gate into dairy pasture and cross to the far right corner, then cross another field, passing to the right of a farm to meet a road. Turn right to Mere Green.

3 Cross Hanbury Road and take a lane almost opposite. After a few paces, take a path on the left which initially uses the Mere Hall driveway. After you’ve passed through a gate the path should run to the left of the driveway, though it isn’t waymarked.It takes a straight line, not a curving one like the driveway. Beyond a young wood, as you approach a pair of footbridges, turn right to rejoin the driveway and walk directly towards Mere Hall, then turn right just before the gates and walk along the left-hand edge of parkland to rejoin the lane. Turn left.

4 Turn right towards Upper Goosehill Farm. After 100m, just before a passing place, look for an overgrown stile on the right and enter a large arable field. Pass to the left of a pond then go diagonally towards the far hedge, aiming to meet it near Becknor Manor. Turn right beside the hedge. About 100m after the manor the path leads through a gap into another field (no waymarking) where you turn right along the edge, in the same direction but on the other side of the hedge. Cross a stile in the next corner and keep straight on in the same direction through several fields.In the third one you’ll need to bear slightly left to regain the field edge. After crossing a footbridge the path runs to the left of the hedge. Elsewhere, the route is obvious. Go diagonally across the final field to Goosehill Lane and turn right.

5 Take a path on the left, after a small orchard. Walk along a field edge to the far side then turn left through two meadows to Hay Lane. Turn right, then take the next path on the left. Walk along the left edge of a sheep pasture for a little way then go through a gate on the left (you’ll have to lift it out of the way as it’s just propped up across a gap) and continue in the same direction by the other side of the hedge. Cross the next barrier (a gate and wobbly stile tied together) and go straight on through pasture.

6 Bear left to bypass Dean Farm, going through a gate under an oak tree. Go diagonally right through an orchard then leave it at a gate. Cross a narrow field, pass under the railway then turn left through a marshy field. Cross a footbridge then turn right to meet the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. Turn right, follow the towpath to the Eagle and Sun then retrace your steps beside the Droitwich Canal to Gateway Park.

Worcester News recommends the
use of OS Explorer Maps, your
ideal passport to navigating the
countryside. This walk is based on
OS Explorer 204.