Upton Snodsbury is situated on Pershore Road (B4082) just south of the road from Worcester to Inkberrow (A422) and has many beautiful old houses tucked away in a tangle of tiny lanes which

cluster on the west side of Pershore Road. The village church is dedicated to St Kenelm, who succeeded to the throne of Mercia at the age of seven in 819, but was murdered by his sister in the Clent Hills. He was canonised after a spring gushed forth on the

site of the crime. The church was heavily restored in 1873-4 and is most remarkable now for its 15th-century tower, a prominent landmark for miles around.

          This enjoyable walk links Upton Snodsbury with two rather remote villages, Peopleton and White Ladies Aston. Peopleton has acquired modern housing estates but the core of the

original village is still recognisable around the church and pub. Nearby White Ladies Aston straggles along a quiet lane and has attracted less development than Peopleton. Its name is said to refer to the white habits worn by the Cistercian nuns who once owned

part of the manor, or it may have a connection with the name of their nunnery, which was Whitstones, said to have been just to the north of Worcester.

FACTFILE

Start: Upton Snodsbury, on the A422 east of Worcester; grid ref SO943545.

Length: 8¼ miles/13.2km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Arable and pasture; no hills.

Footpaths: Most range from adequate to excellent, but several are very poor. When this route was checked they were blocked by crops, and it's unlikely that they will have been reinstated

after harvesting and ploughing. Another path is blocked by nettles. There are some discrepancies between paths on the map and on the ground. Waymarking is poor in many places.

Stiles: Five.

Parking: Roadside at Upton Snodsbury.

Buses: Johnsons 350 Worcester-Redditch, Mon-Sat only; johnsonscoaches.co.uk or Traveline 0871 200 2233.

Refreshments: The Oak and Post Office Stores at Upton Snodsbury; Crown Inn and The Pantry (a community-run shop and tea room) at Peopleton.

DIRECTIONS

1 Take Pershore Road (B4082) then turn right on Church Lane, and soon left on a footpath that runs mostly parallel with Pershore Road before rejoining it after Cutts Pool. Turn right on

Cowsden Lane and after about 200m take a path on the right when the lane bends left. The path goes to the right, taking a diagonal line cutting across the corners of an irregularly shaped field. Go through a gate in the far right corner, walk forward about

12m to a multi-waymarked post at the end of a hedge, then keep roughly straight on along the left edge of a large field full of thistles. Ignore the next pair of waymarks and continue in the same direction by the edge of this field and subsequent ones. Eventually,

a waymark points left, through nettles, to a path which leads to a lane, where you turn left.

2 Take the next path on the right, indicated by a fingerpost. Keep just to the left of a bank of thistles and other vegetation which marks where a hedge used to be, until you come to a

surviving stretch of hedge. Pass to the right of it, then keep to the left edge of the next field. Cross a stile and footbridge and keep straight on along the next field edge. After crossing another footbridge cross to the other side of the hedge at a gate,

but continue in the same direction. Eventually, the path makes a right turn, and you cross a stile to continue in the same direction as before but on the other side of the hedge. Change sides again at the next stile. After passing a solitary oak tree keep

straight on between two fields, then turn right at the far side.

3 Meeting a track, turn right, pass two farmhouses then take a path on the left. Follow it to a field, turn left along the edge then go through a gate into another field and turn right

to meet Norchard Lane at Peopleton. Turn left, then right at a T-junction. Walk through the village then take a path on the left at Lower Norchard Farm. Pass the farm buildings then go diagonally across three fields to the far right corner of the third. Cross

Bow Brook at Barrel Bridge, next to a ford, then take a permissive field-edge path which runs parallel with a track by the brook. Join the track at the far side of the field and follow it to a lane at White Ladies Aston.

4 Turn right. In theory, you can then take a path on the left which soon joins the Millennium Way and then runs roughly parallel with the lane. However, sections of it are currently seriously

overgrown with nettles. Whether you stay on the lane, or brave the path, proceed to the far end of the village then turn right to follow the Millennium Way through the churchyard to meet a farm road. Turn right, then immediately left on another path and follow

it to a road junction. Turn right on Edward's Lane, which soon becomes a tree-lined green lane. Ignore branching paths.    

5 Cross Bow Brook at Edward's Bridge, next to a ford. About 100m after this take a bridleway on the left. Follow it along the right edge of a large field for about 100m then go obliquely

left across the field to the far side and turn right. Continue along the edge of the next field to a lane and take a footpath opposite. Keep straight on at a junction to enter Upton Meadow, where a map indicates the route, which keeps to the zigzagging left

field-edge until a passageway leads to the junction of Owl's End Lane and Chapel Lane at Upton Snodsbury. Turn right on Chapel Lane, which soon bends left. Turn right by the school, then left through the churchyard to meet Pershore Road close to its junction

with Worcester Road.  

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.

© Julie Royle 2018.