ON high ground just above the Teme Valley sits Eastham, a small settlement which still retains its traditional form.

There is a church, rectory, manor house and a farm all clustered together in a tight-knit group, loosely surrounded at a distance by a scattering of outlying farms and cottages.

The church was built in the 12th Century using tufa, an unusual limestone which is formed when spring water bubbles up through existing limestone and deposits calcium carbonate on to it.

This hardens to produce tufa, which has numerous surface holes and looks vaguely sponge-like. Tufa was used at only two other Worcestershire churches - Shelsley Walsh and Clifton upon Teme.

The countryside around Eastham is just high enough to provide great views of the surrounding area.

In the first part of the walk it is the hills around Ludlow which dominate the scene; towards the end of the walk there are fine views down the Teme Valley to Abberley Hill.

There are still some orchards around Eastham, including the best sort of orchard, where sheep graze under the trees in the traditional way and the trees themselves are old enough to support a variety of fauna and flora.

The enormous clumps of mistletoe on the apple trees near Hillwood Farm must be among the largest in the county.

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.

by Julie Royle

DIRECTIONS

n Either follow a track past the churchyard or walk through the churchyard to join the track. Go straight on through a farmyard and keep straight on when the path enters a field, following the right-hand hedge towards a house.

Walk past the house and continue in much the same direction, keeping to the left of a new fence. Go past a white storage unit to find a gate below. Walk down the edge of the next field and through a gate into another. Keep on until the fence on your left turns a corner. Go with it, heading left to a lane. Turn left.

After 300m, take a footpath on the right. Walk past a tree-covered knoll and join a well-defined track which leads into an orchard. Bear left across the orchard towards a farmhouse (The Hockerills).

Cross a lane to join a bridleway which is also a private road to Hillwood Farm. Ignore all branching paths until Hillwood Farm is in sight about 100m ahead and there's a house on your left. Turn left just before this house on an unsigned bridleway which runs along a field edge. Very soon, a gate gives access to an orchard. Turn left along its edge.

Go through a gate at the far end of the orchard and turn right by a field edge. Keep to the edge, passing a ruined house, until the bridleway plunges into woodland. It is easily followed to a junction with a footpath (yellow arrow). Turn right on the footpath, which is also easily followed at first as it takes the form of a broad track. But keep alert for the point at which a waymarker sends you to the left, leaving the track behind.

Walk to a tree with a yellow arrow painted on it, then keep straight on through woodland. There's no discernible path on the ground and no apparent waymarking, but the ground falls steeply away to a brook on your left, and rises to form a bank on your right, so just keep between the two.

After stepping over two fallen trees you'll see more painted yellow arrows ahead and you'll join a clear path. Turn left at the next junction to reach Hanley Mill. Walk past all the buildings on the site and cross Piper's Brook to arrive at a junction. Turn left, looking for a blue arrow which guides you through a gate on your right. Walk up a field planted with trees and turn left at the top.

Walk to a lane and turn left for a few paces then join a footpath on the right which runs through woodland. Keep straight on at a junction, walking parallel with the lane. Eventually, the path crosses a stile into a field. Follow the left edge to a gate and then join a bridleway which soon merges with the driveway to Eastham Grange.

Keep straight on at all junctions, then go through a gate giving access to Mill Cottage. Bypass the cottage, keeping to the right-hand hedge until an arrow directs you into an adjacent field. Follow the right-hand hedge to a lane and turn left.

Join a footpath on the right after 100m. Walk across a field to the far side and turn left. Continue by the edge of the next field then keep straight on along the top of a ridge.

After going through a gate you need to lose a little height, dropping very slightly to the left so that you're walking below the summit of the ridge. Keep to the left of an orchard, cross a track and walk through a field.

Cross Piper's Brook at a footbridge and climb up a steep, muddy bank then turn right to find a waymarker. Go left through an orchard to a lane and turn right to Eastham Church or Eastham Bridge.

FACTFILE

Start: Eastham Church, grid ref SO657687 (by car), or Eastham Bridge, grid ref SO659690 (by bus).

Length: 4.5 miles/7.2 km (by car) or 5 miles/8 km (by bus).

Maps: OS Explorer 203, OS Landranger 138.

Terrain: Gently undulating pasture, orchard and woodland.

Footpaths: Most of these paths have recently been improved - there are no problems other than some gaps in the waymarking.

Stiles: Two.

Parking: Eastham Church.

Buses: Yarrantons' 758 Worcester-Tenbury service to Eastham Bridge; Traveline 0870 6082608 or www.traveline.org.uk

Refreshments: None.