Christopher Somerville

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Marcross & St Donat’s, South Glamorgan, Wales

Feb 252017

First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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A blowy day at Nash Point on the Glamorgan coast, with the sea breaking in wrinkled lines on unseen reefs far out into the Bristol Channel. A bell buoy clanged a dolorous warning as it swung with the waves. Exmoor lay extended along the opposite shore, with Dunkery Beacon a landmark whaleback. An enormous red container ship was pushing upstream against the tide, making for the docks at Avonmouth.

A group of Afghani men conversed excitedly in staccato shouts at the edge of the cliff. They were competitive kite flyers, down from London for the day; experts at the manipulation of air, their brilliantly hued kites swooping and clashing out over the sea as each flyer strove to tangle or cut his rival’s strings. A scene of pure exhilaration, colour and skill, from which we turned away grinning with delight to start the walk eastwards along the cliffs.

The twin Nash Point lighthouses and their monstrous black foghorns were soon left behind. Long leafless spikes of sea buckthorn lined the cliff path, coated in piccalilli-yellow lichen. In the cornfields, larks were singing. Newly emerged daffodils raised golden trumpets to the wind, as though in honour of St David’s Day.

Celandines and early bluebell spears bordered the way as it dropped through trees to the rocks and pools of St Donat’s Bay. From here at low tide the coastal landscape looked starkly apocalyptic, the fractured strata of the grey and yellow cliffs worn ragged by the sea. We teetered along the shore as far as Tresilian Bay with its pirate cave and solitary white house.

Back at St Donat’s we made our way towards the homeward path through the grounds of St Donat’s Castle. In the 1920s the castle was thoroughly done up by its owner, American newspaper tycoon Randolph Hearst. George Bernard Shaw, one of a string of eminent guests, remarked appreciatively, ‘This is what God would have built – if he had had the money.’
Start & finish: Nash Point car park, Marcross, Glamorgan CF61 1ZH (OS ref SS 916683)

Getting there: Bus service 303 (Bridgend-Barry) to Marcross.
Road: Marcross is signed from B4265, 2 miles west of Llantwit Major (reached via B4270 from A48 at Cowbridge). Lane beside Horseshoe Inn to car park.

Walk (Option 1 – 6¼ miles; Option 2 – 5 miles. Cliff and field paths, rough rocky beach extension; OS Explorer 151): Pass lighthouse; east along cliff path for 1½ miles, descending to St Donat’s Bay (935678). Cross concrete aprons. Option 1 (low tide only; rough and slippery) – continue ½ mile along shore to Tresilian Bay (947676), returning along cliff top. Option 2 – follow coast path up from St Donat’s Bay for 500m to kissing gate in wall with ‘St George’s Field’ plaque (940679). Left up side of field (‘Valeways Millennium Heritage Trail’/VMHT). Left at road (941682); pass Atlantic College gates; in another 200m, left (936685, VMHT) down drive into college grounds.

Just before St Donat’s Castle, right (935682, VMHT) down path. Just before church, right (934681, VMHT) on woodland path up Cwm Hancorne to road at Parc Farm (932685). Left; in 50m, left over stile; follow VMHT to cross stone stile and follow wall. In 100m, right over stile (930684); diagonally left across field, aiming for Marcross Farm. Cross stile and kissing gate (927686) into lane; turn right. In 300m VMHT turns left (927688), but keep ahead here along lane to cross road (927691). Field path to cross lane at Lan Farm (927695); across field with earthworks to cross lane at Pen-y-Cae Farm (925696). Follow field path south-west, parallel with lane to lighthouse, for ¾ mile to coast; left across mouth of Marcross Brook (915685) to return to car park.

Conditions: St Donat’s Bay – Tresilian Bay optional shore walk is low tide only. Tide times: http://tides.willyweather.co.uk

Lunch: Plough & Harrow, Monknash CF71 7QQ (01656-890209); Horseshoe Inn, Marcross (01656-890568, theshoesmarcross.co.uk)

Accommodation: Mehefin, Siggingston Lane, Llanmaes, Llantwit Major CF61 2XR (01446-793427)

Nash Point Lighthouse: opening times, visits 07850-047721, nashpoint.co.uk

Info: Bridgend TIC (01656-654906); Llantwit Major (01446-796086), Easter-Sept

visitwales.com; satmap.com; ramblers.org.uk

The January Man – A Year of Walking Britain by Christopher Somerville (Doubleday, £14.99).

Rodney Stoke and West Mendip Way, Somerset

Walks No Responses »

Feb 132016

First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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A brisk wind over the Mendip Hills scoured the sky to a delicate china blue as we set out from Rodney Stoke on the valley road to Cheddar. Daffodils were struggling out by the stream in Scaddens Lane, half their buds still hard and waxy. Scarlet elf-cap fungi lay like chucked-away orange peel among the frosted leaves in Stoke Woods, where the steep path was a stodge of dark red mud. The tips of the silver birches were just beginning to flush a milky pink, but otherwise the woods were still caught fast in their long hibernation.

At the top of the ridge we found craggy outcrops of limestone, very pale in the late winter sun, and one of those giant West Mendip views over the Somerset Levels that took in the low ridge of the Polden Hills, the Blackdowns beyond, the Quantocks further west, Exmoor in ghostly grey, and the Welsh hills beyond a broad chink of sea in the Bristol Channel. The long, canted back of Glastonbury Tor with its pimple of a tower lay at the heart of this truly remarkable prospect.

The West Mendip Way led east, an upland path through big square fields enclosed by drystone walls. Each wall contained its stile, a solid slab of limestone with steps up and down, some of the stiles three or four feet tall.

On the outskirts of Priddy, the only settlement on Mendip’s broad plateau, we turned back on a path slanting south-west down the long slope of the escarpment. The thickening light of afternoon gave the enormous view the quality of a watercolour painting, the colours blurred and melting together.

In Cook’s Fields Nature Reserve the path ran over limestone sheathed in aeolian soil, a pleasing name for the soil that blew down here 10,000 years ago on Arctic winds from the retreating glaciers to the north. Horseshoe vetch, carline thistles and autumn lady’s tresses grow in Cook’s Fields, chalkhill blue butterflies disport themselves on wild thyme – but not on a cold winter’s day such as this.

We descended over strip lynchets made by ox ploughs a thousand years ago. Lambs sprang and bleated at Kites Croft, and six jolly porkers looked over their stye wall and grunted us back to civilization down at Old Ditch.

Start: Rodney Stoke Inn, near Cheddar, Somerset BS27 3XB (OS ref 484502)
Getting there: Bus 26, 126 (Wells-Cheddar)
Road – Rodney Stoke is on A371 (Wells-Cheddar).

Walk (7 miles; moderate – one steepish climb, many stiles; OS Explorer 141. Online maps, more walks at christophersomerville.co.uk): From Rodney Stoke Inn, right along A372. In 250m, left (486501) up Scaddens Lane. In 400m, left (490502) on path climbing north up field, through Stoke Woods (yellow arrows/YA). At top, over stile (487510, YA). Half right; cross stile at left end of hedge on skyline (489513). East along West Mendip Way/WMW for 1½ miles to road (512513). Lane opposite; in 250m (514514), right on WMW. Just before Coxton End Lane, right on path for 1¾ miles, south, then south-west over Cook’s Fields Nature Reserve to gate below barn (506493). Track to Stancombe Lane; left; in 50m, right down field to stile into lane; fork right to road (502493). Right; in 200m pass ‘Martins’ house on right; in 150m, left (499495, fingerpost) up Westclose Hill. At top, right for 700m to road (492497). Left to cross A371 (489497); Millway to T-junction (483499). Left; in 100m, right up Butts Lane to A371; right to inn.

Lunch: Rodney Stoke Inn (01749-870209; rodneystokeinn.co.uk) – cheerful, bustling pub
Info: Wells TIC (01749-671770)
visitengland.com; satmap.com; ramblers.org.uk

Weacombe and Bicknoller Combe, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Walks No Responses »

Aug 152015

First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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It’s not every day you celebrate your 300th ‘A Good Walk’ for The Times, and Jane and I wanted to make it something really special. Our good friend Alan came up with a tempting-looking route through the deep leafy combes and over the brackeny brows of the Quantock Hills – Wordsworth and Coleridge country. A sight of the sea, a proper draught of moorland air. That was just the ticket.

We set off from Beacon Hill, nine walking buddies talking nineteen to the dozen as we dropped steeply down under sweet chestnut trees to Weacombe. From there a long track led south under scrubby banks flushed purple by the overnight emergence of thousands of foxgloves. From the depths of Bicknoller Combe we looked up to see the western sky a slaty blur of rain. Soon it hit, and soon it passed, leaving us shaking off water like so many dogs in a pond.

Up on Black Ball Hill a faint sharp hooting carried to us on the wind. A steam train on the West Somerset Railway was panting its way down the valley towards Minehead, but locomotive and carriages stayed hidden from sight in the steep green countryside.

We sat on the heather among Bronze Age burial mounds to eat our sandwiches with an imperial view all round, north over the Severn Sea to Wales, east to the camel hump of Brent Knoll, west into Exmoor’s heights. By the time we’d brushed away the crumbs, serenaded the skylarks with mouth organ tunes and descended among the trees of Slaughterhouse Combe, the sun was backlighting oak leaves and pooling on bracken banks where bilberries and star mosses winked with raindrops.

Thunder ripped across the sky, a last sulk of the weather gods, as we walked west up Shepherd’s Combe – a favourite ramble of William and Dorothy Wordsworth and their friend and fellow poet Samuel Coleridge. A bank of sundews lay pearled with rain, their tiny pale flowers upraised on long stalks above sticky scarlet leaves. One minuscule blob of a sundew’s insect-trapping mucilage is capable of stretching up to a million times its own length. Biomedical researchers are looking for ways to exploit that remarkable property as a platform for healthy cells in the regrowth of damaged human tissue. This is the sort of thing Jane knows.

We climbed to Bicknoller Post on its wide upland with a wonderful prospect north-west to the stepped flank of Porlock Hill and a sea full of shadows and streaks of light. Our steps quickened along the homeward path – not to unload nine souls full of immortal verse, but to beat the clock into Holcombe for the cream tea we suddenly knew we’d earned.

Start: Beacon Hill car park, Staple Plain, Hill Lane, West Quantoxhead, Somerset TA4 4DQ approx. (ST 117411)

Getting there: Jct 27; A39 (Bridgwater-Minehead); at West Quantoxhead, just past Windmill Inn, left (‘Bicknoller’). In 350m, left up Hill Lane (‘Staple Plain’). Continue for ⅔ mile to car park at end of track.

Walk (5½ miles, moderate, OS Explorer 140): From NT Staple Plain info board walk back through car park. Don’t go through gate of left-hand fork of tracks, but turn left downhill beside it (green NT arrow), steeply down through trees. At bottom (117408), right on grassy track. Continue to descend, keeping downhill at junctions, for 500m to cottage beside track (111408). Left (‘Quantock Greenway’, arrow with quill), through gate and up track. In 200m, through gate; in another 150m, go over cross-track (113404) and continue SSE beside Haslett Plantation.

In 500m, arrow post points right (115399); but go left here (east) and continue up Bicknoller Combe, keeping ahead over all crossing tracks. In 1 mile, reach top of ascent at crossing of tracks from Bicknoller Post, Paradise Combe, Bicknoller Combe and Slaughterhouse Combe (130398 – just west of ‘302’ on map). Keep ahead on stony track towards Slaughterhouse Combe. In 200m, just past low wooden post on left, fork left onto less obvious grassy track with some ‘kerb’ stones at its entrance (131397) – as a marker, look half right to see two trees, one on either side of the stony track you have just left.

Follow this grassy track east over brow of Black Ball Hill, past tumulus (134396) and descend. After 600m, look for fork; take right-hand path. In 100m it swings 180o to the right (138397), descends SW for 250m to meet stream (137395) and bends left to descend for ½ mile to bottom of Slaughterhouse Combe (143401). Left along bridleway WNW under Lady’s Edge and up Sheppard’s Combe for 1 mile, ascending to Bicknoller Post (128403). Right (north) along broad stony track; in 200m, fork left; in 50m, left again to meet The Great Road track (126407). Left, descending to car park.

Lunch: Picnic

Accommodation: Rising Sun, West Bagborough, TA4 3EF (01823-432575, risingsuninn.info) – excellent, well-run pub

Info: Taunton TIC (01823-336344)

satmap.com; ramblers.org.uk; visitengland.com

Blagdon Lake

Local Walks No Responses »

Apr 262014

A male blackbird, yellow bill a-tremble, was making tentative inquiries of a drab brown female on a bough in the New Inn’s garden as I started down the hill towards Blagdon Lake. The celandines were still curled tight and green along the high-banked lane, but there was a breath of warmth in the low sun, more than Somerset had felt for the past three months.

For well over a century Blagdon Lake water has been piped to Bristol’s taps, ten miles over the hills to the north. Crossing the broad dam of the lake, I heard the subdued roar of the flood-engorged weir where snowmelt and swollen streams were sending their waters surging down the spillway. I followed the fishermen’s path through the trees along the north bank of the lake, then struck out across fields thick with the winter’s mud to reach the lane by Bellevue Farm – well named for its prospect of water and hills.

A little way up the lane I was pulled up short by the sight of a large badger squatting on its haunches in a cottage garden. It shouldn’t have been out of its sett this early in the year, and it certainly should have fled at sight of me, instead of fixing me with a sleepy stare. It was I who walked away, leaving the badger master of the place.

The southward views grew better and better as the lane rose, until at the top of Awkward Hill I looked down over fields patchworked with green grass and red ploughland, out across the whole expanse of Blagdon Lake to the steep wall of the Mendip Hills beyond in early afternoon shadow.

The late winter light, already beginning to diminish, lay softly on the lake with a blurred sheen more like watered silk than the hard mirrored effect of a summer day’s sunshine.

Down by the lake once more, I squelched towards Blagdon over boggy meadows where wild geese went lumbering into the air at my approach, trumpeting reprovingly. It was almost time for them to be off to their mating and brood-rearing, 2,000 miles north of these green Somerset fields.

Back at the New Inn, sitting on the terrace with a cheddar ploughman’s and a kingly view over the lake, I heard the love-struck blackbird – or possibly another like him – still singing for spring.

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Start & finish New Inn, Blagdon BS40 7SB (OS ref ST 505589)

Getting there M5 Jct 21; A 371, A368; left in Blagdon opposite Live & Let Live PH to New Inn.

Walk (5 miles, easy grade, OS Explorers 141, 154): from New Inn, walk down Park Lane, along the reservoir dam wall. On the far side, go right (504603) beside reservoir for half a mile, then forward (511608) to Bellevue Farm at West Town (517604). Left for 10 yards to road, right for three quarters of a mile; 300 yards past the top of Awkward Hill (nameplate), right over stile (527600), following path over stiles, down across fields to road (529593). Left for 250 yards; just before industrial chimney, right (531591 – footpath sign) into damp fields. Follow the footpath close to the reservoir for 1 miles; 500 yards past Holt Farm, bear left (510591) on an uphill path back to Blagdon.

Lunch New Inn (01761-462475), superb lake views from garden; NB no children indoors.

More info Wells TIC (01749-672552); www.visitsomerset.co.uk

Arlingham and the River Severn, Gloucestershire

Walks No Responses »

Jan 252014

Arlingham lies isolated, out near the tip of a peninsula in a great bend of the Severn south of Gloucester, where the river begins to widen in its sinuations towards Bristol and the Severn Estuary. First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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When the residents discovered that Arlingham’s much-loved pub, the Red Lion, was to be sold at auction at 48 hours notice, they didn’t sit and mope – they rushed round, raised £350,000 in the space of two days, and bought the place. Everyone pitched in to refurbish it, and they got the place open again PDQ. That’s how much the village pub means to this little community at the end of ‘the longest cul-de-sac in Britain’.

The low countryside lay blanketed in mist when we set out south across the peninsula from Arlingham. There’s always a thrill when you approach the Severn hereabouts, hidden as it is beyond the loom of the river wall. The village lies a good twenty miles upriver of the old Severn Bridge, but the Severn is still tidal this far inland, and there’s no knowing what you’ll find when you climb the bank – a mighty tideway, fast-moving and chocolate-brown, or a hollow plain of mud and sand banks where oystercatchers and black-headed gulls excavate the tidelines. A rush and suck of turbulent water told us it was high tide even before we topped the grassy wall to find the channel full and the river already beginning to ebb seaward.

Friendly horses came up to have their soft faces stroked. The mist shredded away into a china-blue sky, and by the time we’d rounded the bend we could make out the white houses of Newnham riding the crest of their arc of tall red cliffs on the far bank of the Severn. Sand spits in mid-river began to roll clear of the falling water, exposing whole trees stuck fast on their timeless journeys to the sea. On one shoal we saw a man walking his dogs between opposing eddies, and wondered how he’d got out there.

Midday struck from Newham church tower, the bell notes echoing across the water. We turned reluctantly from the river and made our way back to Arlingham across fields corrugated with medieval ridge-and-furrow, the hollows gleaming like silver where the low winter sun caught the clumps of rushes that grew there. Past handsome old Slowwe House (the only name in the world with two adjacent ‘w’s?), and into the Red Lion to celebrate its community-led renaissance with a little smackerel of something.

Start & finish: Village car park, Arlingham, Glos GL2 7JN (OS ref SO 707109)
Getting there: M5, Jct 13; left on A419 to A38; left for ½ mile; right on B4071 to Frampton-on-Severn; minor road to Arlingham.
Walk (6 miles, easy grade, OS Explorer OL14. NB: Online map, more walks: christophersomerville.co.uk): Left to Red Lion PH; right along Church Road. On right bend just past Westend Farm, ahead through gate (707103; ‘Severn Way’/SW). Stony track between fields to river (706099). Right on SW beside river for 4 miles. Two fields before reaching pylon, with grey sluice box on left, go through kissing gate (723115). Right (‘footpath’ pole) up track; in 70m, right through kissing gate (yellow arrow/YA). Follow path west across fields (footbridges, kissing gates, YAs) with hedge on right for ½ mile to road by pond (715113). Fork right for ¼ mile past Slowwe House and Slowwe Cottages to T-junction (712115). Go over; bear left down grassy lane (‘Restricted Byway’) to car park.

Lunch: Red Lion, Arlingham (01452-740700; redlionarlingham.co.uk) – cheerful, cosy village pub

www.ramblers.org.uk www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk visitengland.com

Clevedon and Walton Down, Somerset

Walks No Responses »

Nov 162013

Today’s still and chilly weather had stroked a sombre brush along the Somerset coast where the elegant wrought-iron arches of Clevedon Pier strode out from shore into the chocolate brown waters of the Bristol Channel.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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All lay quiet and misty: the Victorian seaside houses of Clevedon, the sluggishly lapping sea, and the narrow old catwalk of a cliff walk that we followed out of the town.

The path wound along the cliff slope through ash and sycamore clumps and dark ilex trees, all bent inland by the never-ending shore breeze. Oystercatchers pointed their orange pickaxe bills into the wind along the salt-eroded limestone pavement above the water, where fishermen crouched in hope of a bass or perhaps a conger eel. A big tanker moved ponderously down-channel from Avonmouth Docks, the thrum of its engines coming faintly to us. Somewhere beyond the ship ran the Welsh coast, nearly ten mile off as the cormorant flies – marshes, creeks and the great sprawls of Newport and Cardiff, all silent and invisible like a dream shore.

We passed the neat gardens of Farley and turned inland, steeply up a field and on into Common Hill Wood. The sun slipped a furtive ray or two through the clouds over the estuary, painting Wales as a pale grey streak along the water.

On the open ridge of Walton Common we crossed an arc of ancient ramparts, scarcely discernible in the grass and bracken. Iron Age tribesmen use limestone boulders to form this great circular stronghold and its straight entrance-way – a ‘banjo enclosure’, very rare in this part of Somerset. Any high ground gave a huge advantage in terms of security and forewarning to those who held it, and they took advantage of a knoll a little further along the ridge to make a hillfort with wonderful views round the country and out over the sea.

Here Lord John Paulet built a hunting lodge in 1615 – Walton Castle, a tall keep surrounded by turrets and a curtain wall, rising out of a thicket like the palace of the Sleeping Beauty. We passed below the castle, dropped steeply down to the coast path once more, and turned for Clevedon with the views broadening all the time – the twin promontories of Sand Point and Brean Down ahead, and out in the Bristol Channel the hummocks of Steep Holm and Flat Holm islands stretched on the water like basking sea beasts.

Start & finish: Clevedon Pier, Marine Parade, Somerset BS21 7QU (OS ref ST 402719)
Getting there: Bus (firstgroup.com) – 361, 362, 363 Bristol-Clevedon; 125 Weston-super-Mare to Clevedon. Road: Jct 20 M5; ‘Clevedon’, then ‘sea front’.
Walk (6 miles, moderate grade, OS Explorer 154): Walk north up Marine Parade. In 250m, opposite church (403721), left down walled pathway. Follow coast path (yellow arrows/YA, ‘Gordano Round’/GR) for 2¼ miles to Farley (429745; houses, fences, gardens by path). In another 200m, right on path past post with YAs (430747). Over stile, up slope beside wall/hedge on right, to cross stile to right of house. Cross road (432746); ahead down lane (fingerpost). Pass farm drive (433744); in 50m bear right through gateway; in another 50m take 3rd track on right through Common Hill Wood. In 600m leave trees to cross circular ramparts of earthwork (428738); in 150m, in open area, fork left. Follow main, obvious track, ignoring fainter side turnings, for ⅓ mile through woods, descending to road on bend (424735). Cross with care; left for 100m; right up track by cottage; in 50m, left (fingerpost) on track through Rock Wood. In 700m, through kissing gate (418731); on beside golf course. Through gate below Walton Castle; on along stony track. In 100m, right by ‘Beware of golfers’ notice and fingerpost (415730); through gate by club house; in 100m, by fence, left (414731, YA). In 200m, right (412730); follow fence seaward downhill for 250m. At bottom of slope (410732), left on coast path, back to Clevedon.
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Lunch: Tiffin, 11 The Beach, Clevedon (01275-871605; tiffinteahouse.co.uk)
Info: Weston-super-Mare TIC (01934-417117); visitsomerset.co.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk

Times Weekend – Christmas Walks 2012

Walks 1 Response »

Dec 302012

NB Please note that this was a Supplement article, with a maximum allowance of only 170 words approx. for each walk. So these are sketchy directions. But you should be able to work out the exact route if you relate the walk instructions to the relevant OS Explorer map.

1. Rock & Polzeath, Cornwall
Everything is very John Betjeman around this wonderful stretch of the Camel Estuary, the poet’s favourite corner of Cornwall. Start this beautiful walk with a ferry ride over the estuary from Padstow; then follow the South West Coast Path up the coast via St Enodoc’s, the ‘church in the sands’ where Betjeman is buried, to Daymer Bay. Then it’s over the cliffs above Greenaway beach (magnificent in storm seas), to Polzeath’s long surfing beach (ditto), and back through Cornish fields and farms.

Map OS Explorer 106
Start Ferry car park, Rock, PL27 6LD; OS ref SW 928759; ferry from Padstow, or signed from B3314 (Polzeath signs from A39 at Wadebridge)
The walk Follow the coast path north to Polzeath (detouring inland to St Enodoc’s Church); return via Shilla Mill (940783), Llangollan (945778), Trewiston (944773), Penmayne (948759), Trefresa (948757) and Porthilly (939753)
How hard is it? 6½ miles. Cliff paths and farmland; a good stretch with not too much up-and-down
Eat en route The Sandbar, Polzeath (01208 869655)

2. Worth Matravers & St Alban’s Head, Dorset
Purbeck is a wild and rugged stretch of the Dorset coast. From the old stone-quarrying village of Worth Matravers you descend a narrow cleft to Winspit, a cliff notorious for its winter wrecks (the worst, in 1786, claimed 168 lives). West along the cliffs stands the vaulted and buttressed Norman chapel of St Aldhelm, a lonely seamark. Back in Worth Matravers, the Square & Compass is a cosy and characterful pub – sensational pies!

Map OS Explorer OL15
Start Square & Compass PH, Worth Matravers, BH19 3LF; OS ref SY 975775; signed from B3069 at Langton Matravers (off A351 Corfe-Swanage)
The walk 150m past church, turn left (972773) on path to coast at Winspit (976761). Right on SW Coast Path past St Aldhelm’s Chapel (961755), then for another 1½ miles to hamlet in Hill Bottom (963773). Leave Coast Path; north on Purbeck Way for 500m; right (966781) to Worth Matravers.
How hard is it? 5 miles. Well-marked field and cliff paths, with some steep short ascents
Eat en route Square & Compass PH (01929 439229)

3. Godshill, Isle of Wight
The thatched houses of Godshill ooze rustic charm. A lovely old driveway takes you through rolling parkland to reach Appuldurcombe House, palely glimmering among trees – the eerie semi-ruin of an 18th-century mansion, famous all over the island for its many ghosts. Back at Freemantle Gate you pass over the steeply scarped Gat Cliff (sensational views) before dipping south through more parkland and back to Godshill. All Saints Church contains a beautiful 15th-century fresco of Christ on a cross of lilies.

Map OS Explorer OL29
Start Griffin Inn, High Street, Godshill PO38 3JD; OS ref SZ 530817; bus 2, 3 (islandbuses.info); A3020 Newport-Shanklin
The walk A3020 (Shanklin direction) for 250m; right (533817, ‘Wroxall’) on drive to Freemantle Gate (540807). In another 100m, fork left to outskirts of Wroxall (546802); right to Appuldurcombe House (543801). Right to Freemantle Gate; left (Worsley Trail) to Gat Cliff (534805) and Sainham Farm (528810). Right into trees; left (530810) to Godshill.
How hard is it? 3½ miles. Rolling parkland, good conditions underfoot; a nice stroll
Eat en route Griffin Inn (01983 840039)

4. Alfriston & Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex
No direction-finding problems here – the path follows the snaking Cuckmere River all the way from Alfriston to the sea and back. Views in both directions are fabulous. Setting out from the old inland smuggling village of Alfriston, you cut through a cleft in steeply rolling downland – look for the White Horse cut into the top of the well-named High & Over Down. A complete contrast is the flat apron of marshy ground through which the river winds in silvery sinuations to Cuckmere Haven and the dazzling white chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters.

Map OS Explorer 123
Start The Willows car park, Alfriston, BN26 5UQ; OS ref TQ 521033; bus 126 (cuckmerebus.freeuk.com); signed off A27 Lewes-Eastbourne
The walk Follow right (west) bank of Cuckmere River south for 3¼ miles to Exceat Bridge; Vanguard Way to Cuckmere Haven (515978); Cuckmere River cut (west bank) back to Exceat Bridge, then right (east) bank north to Alfriston
How hard is it? 9 miles. Flat, easy riverside paths.
Eat en route Golden Galleon, Exceat Bridge (01323-892247)

5. Hampton Court to Richmond, Middlesex
This is a walk packed with history. The Thames Path makes a grand curve round Cardinal Wolsey’s great Tudor palace of Hampton Court. You cross the four pale stone arches of Kingston Bridge, and continue north along the Thames past fine houses and boatyards to reach the thundering weir at Teddington Lock. Soon you pass Eel Pie Island, whose dance hall hosted The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and lots more embryo stars in the 1960s. Then comes Ham House, a handsome Jacobean riverbank mansion, before you reach Richmond by way of Petersham’s waterside meadows.

Map OS Explorer 161
Start Hampton Court station KT8 9AE; OS ref TQ 154683; rail from Waterloo, Zone 6
Finish Richmond station TW9 2NA (District line, Zone 4)
The walk Cross the Thames to north bank; right on Thames Path to Kingston Bridge (177694); cross to right (east) bank; north to Richmond Bridge (178745); inland to Richmond station
How hard is it? 8 miles. Flat, well-marked, easy underfoot
Eat en route Tiltyard Café, Hampton Court Palace (020 3166 6971) – child-friendly, no Palace ticket needed

6. Hellfire Caves, West Wycombe, Bucks
A lovely path runs south along a spine of Chiltern woodland to reach the scene of the misdeeds and mischiefs of Sir Francis Dashwood’s mid-18th century Hellfire Club. The great golden ball moored to St Lawrence’s Church tower was the Club’s card and boozing den, the flint-built hexagon alongside is the Mausoleum built to house the members’ hearts, and the labyrinthine stone quarries in the hill below were the notorious Hellfire Caves. Lots of hokum, whiffs of magic and orgies, all enjoyably explored these days in the tourist-orientated caves (hellfirecaves.co.uk).

Map OS Explorer 172
Start Saunderton station, near West Wycombe, HP14 4LJ; OS ref SU 813981; on A4010 Princes Risborough-High Wycombe
The walk From lane (812977), follow woodland track for 2 miles to St Lawrence’s Church (827950), Mausoleum, and Hellfire Caves (829948). Return via A40 (826945), Great Cockshoots Wood (813948), road at Chorley Farm (816955) and Buttlers Hanging nature reserve (819961) to woodland track (821962); left to Saunderton.
How hard is it? 6 miles. Woodland and farmland tracks.
Eat en route George & Dragon, West Wycombe (01494 535340)

7. Nympsfield & Owlpen, Glos
Starting high on the South Cotswold ridge at Nympsfield, you plunge down through the trees to find the secret valley of Owlpen with its Tudor manor house of beautiful silvery stone. Back along Fiery Lane to Uley, steeply up a grassy hill to the Iron Age hillfort of Uley Bury (there’s a stunning prospect from its ramparts across the River Severn into Wales), and a return through the woods to the roaring fire in the Rose & Crown.

Map OS Explorer 168
Start Rose & Crown, Nympsfield, GL10 3TU; OS ref SO 800005; signed off B4066 Stroud-Dursley road (M5 Jct 13, A419)
The walk Nympsfield church; in 200m, right (803003); cross road (802000); Dingle Wood; south to Fiery Lane (797986). Left to Owlpen Manor (800984); return to Uley (792986). Beside churchyard, right to Uley Bury (787990). Cotswold Way (787993) north for 1¼ miles; cross B4066 (795008); Nympsfield
How hard is it? 6 miles. Short steep climb to Uley Bury
Eat en route Rose & Crown, Nympsfield (01453 860240); Old Crown, Uley (01453 860502)

8. Brancaster to Burnham Overy Staithe, Norfolk
The Norfolk Coast path skirts a wonderfully moody coast under enormous skies. The seawall path makes a grandstand for bird-watching, and this is the best time of year to stroll at the edge of the saltmarsh, binoculars at the ready for pinkfooted geese, golden plover and clouds of wigeon, with snow buntings on the shore and fieldfares gobbling berries in the bushes. Dawn and dusk bring spectacular skies and huge, noisy packs of geese on the wing.

Map OS Explorer 250/251
Start Ship Hotel, Brancaster, PE31 8AP; OS ref TF 773439; Coasthopper bus (coasthopper.co.uk); on A149 Hunstanton to Wells-next-the-Sea
The walk Down lane opposite Ship Hotel towards sea; right on Norfolk Coast path to Burnham Overy Staithe
How hard is it? 6 miles. Flat seawall and marsh paths. Wrap up warm, and don’t forget binoculars!
Eat en route Ship Hotel, Brancaster (01485 210333); The Hero, Burnham Overy Staithe (01328 738334)

9. Ely & Little Thetford, Cambs
The pride and joy of this walk is the majestic bulk of Ely Cathedral, riding the level Fenland landscape like a fabulous ship in a flat calm sea. On the outward leg, south down the slow-flowing Great Ouse, the cathedral stands behind you, a compelling presence urging you to turn round and stare. The fen landscape hereabouts wheels in a great disc of peat black and corn green. Returning towards Ely you are beckoned home by the cathedral’s tall towers and the great lantern turret that straddles the building. Ely Cathedral is superb – it contains some absolutely wonderful carvings, including splendidly wild and wicked Green Men peeping out in unexpected places, great fun for children to spot.

Map OS Explorer 226
Start Ely station, CB7 4BS; OS ref TL 543794; beside A142
The walk South along Fen Rivers Way (west bank of Great Ouse) for 3¼ miles to confluence with River Cam. Right under Holt Fen railway bridge (531745); right up Holt Fen Drove to Little Thetford (533760). North by Thetford Catchwater, Grunty Fen Catchwater. Cross Braham Dock at Great Ouse (540773); Fen Rivers Way to Ely station; continue to Cathedral.
How hard is it? 9 miles including Cathedral. Flat riverbank and field paths
Eat en route Refectory Café (01353 660346) or Almonry Restaurant (01353 666360), Ely Cathedral

10. Manifold Valley, Staffs
The limestone dales of Staffordshire are often thought of as neighbouring Derbyshire’s poor relations, but here’s a superb round walk that shows you Staffordshire’s most enchanting face. Field paths take you through steep, stream-filled farming country, before dipping into the dramatic limestone cleft of the River Manifold, a thickly wooded canyon with crags of naked rock. The Leek & Manifold Light Railway once trundled through the gorge, and its track is now a popular cycleway. This cranky little rattler of a narrow-gauge railway ‘from nowhere to nowhere’ never made a penny in its brief and inglorious lifetime (1904-1934), but passengers loved the superb scenery it ran through, the deep tree-hung Manifold dale. You follow the Leek & Manifold’s trackbed all the way back to Wetton Mill and its welcoming tearoom.

Map OS Explorer OL24
Start Wetton Mill car park, near Wetton, DE6 2AG; OS ref SW 095561
The walk (theaa.com/walks) Bridleway west by Waterslacks; footpath by Hoo Brook (086556) to Butterton. Village road, then path north to cross B5053 (075579). North for 400m; left (076583) to Warslow. School Lane (087585), then field path to Manifold Way near Ecton Bridge (091579). Follow it south for 1¼ miles to Wetton Mill.
How hard is it? 5½ miles. Muddy footpaths, some steepish; flat and firm underfoot on Manifold Way
Eat en route Wetton Mill Tearoom (01298 84838; weekends only in winter); Greyhound Inn, Warslow (01298 687017)

11. Hardwick, Derbys
‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’ was built in the 1590s by the formidable Elizabeth Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury, a woman of iron will and ambition. There are great views to the Hall and its ruinous predecessor as you walk this parkland round through cleverly landscaped woods and valleys. Great avenues of trees, ponds alive with wildfowl, and many viewpoints over the twin houses.

Map OS Explorer 269
Start Hardwick Park Centre, near Mansfield, S44 5QJ; SK 454640; between Jcts 28 and 29, M1
The walk (nationaltrust.org.uk/walks) From Centre cross footbridge; on between ponds to pass between two Hardwick Halls (462637); follow Lady Spencer’s Walk, bearing left in Lady Spencer’s Wood to cross Hardwick Park Farm track (470637). Ahead through Park Piece Wood; cross drive (469646); on into Lodge Plantation. Bear left to blue gate (461645); go through, downhill to cross drive (458642); ahead to ponds and Centre.
How hard is it? 3½ miles. Parkland and woodland paths; an easy stroll
Eat en route Hardwick Inn, Hardwick Park (01246 850245)

12. Flamborough Head, East Yorks
The poignant memorial at Flamborough’s crossroads, to a crew of fisherman who drowned trying to help their fellow villagers, demonstrates the dangers of fishing off this cliff-encircled, tide-ripped promontory, and once out on those tremendous chalk ramparts you can fully appreciate the power of winter’s winds and tides. This is a walk full of drama and spectacle – seabirds wheeling far below, crash of waves against the cliffs, and the remarkable isolation of Flamborough, high on its remote nose of land.

Map OS Explorer 301
Start Crossroads by St Oswald’s Church, Flamborough, YO15 1PW; OS ref TA 225702; bus 510 (eyms.co.uk); B1255 from Bridlington
The walk South along West Street; footpath from Beacon Farm to south coast (226692). Anti-clockwise around promontory for 5½ miles, via Flamborough Head and North Landing, to North Cliff (224726); left inland to Flamborough.
How hard is it? 7½ miles. Field and cliff paths; no difficulties, but take care on the unguarded cliffs!
Eat en route Rose & Crown, Flamborough (01262-850455)

13. Stoodley Pike, West Yorks
From the old wool town of Hebden Bridge a steep path leads up and over the moors to the summit of Stoodley Pike with its landmark monument to Waterloo and the Crimean War. Pause to take in the fantastic moorland views, then descend to the friendly Top Brink Inn at Lumbutts, and on down to the Rochdale canal and a welcome flat towpath walk back to Hebden Bridge.

Map OS Explorer OL21
Start Hebden Bridge station, HX7 6JE; OS ref SD 995268; road – A646
The walk Left along river; in 500m, left across railway (991270); steeply up to radio mast (988268); left, then in 250m right, up to Pennine Bridleway (988262). Follow bridleway, then Pennine Way, to Stoodley Pike monument (973242). Pennine Way to Withens Gate (969231); Calderdale Way and lane to Lumbutts (956235); path down Lumbutts Clough to Rochdale Canal at Castle Street (951244); canal towpath to Hebden Bridge.
How hard is it? 9 miles. Moorland paths (some short, steep bits), then canal towpath. Not for bad weather.
Eat en route Top Brink Inn, Lumbutts (01706 812696)

14. Saltburn, Cleveland
A straightfoward, brisk walk from Cleveland’s favourite seaside resort of Saltburn-by-Sea, out east along the cliffs with a huge pavement of scars (sea-ground rock plates) exposed at low tide. Back over the hummock of Warsett Hill (great views all round), and back through the fields to the Ship Inn with its cosy fires and handy seaside location.

Map OS Explorer OL26
Start Ship Inn, Rosedale Lane, Saltburn-by-Sea, TS12 1HF; OS ref NZ 670216
The walk (nationaltrust.org.uk/walks) Follow waymarked Cleveland Way along the cliffs for 2 miles. Right (inland) at Guibal Fanhouse info board (699213); path across railway and over Warsett Hill. Recross railway (688215); path ahead across Brough House Farm track (682215); Ladgates (678214); Ship Inn.
How hard is it? 4½ miles. Cliff and field paths, easy gradients, a good 2-hour round walk
Eat en route Ship Inn (01287 622361); Virgo’s Café-Bistro, Dundas Street (01287 624031)

15. Causey Arch and Beamish, County Durham
Quiet paths through woods and fields take you through the North Durham countryside (Beamish Open Air Museum is just down the road). At the walk’s end, the Causey Arch is the oldest railway bridge in the world, its parent railway (originally a horse-drawn coal tramway) the oldest of its kind, too. Now the steam-powered Tanfield Railway (tanfieldrailway.co.uk) runs here – Sunday is the best day to do this walk if you want to see the trains.

Map OS Explorer 308
Start Causey Arch car park, Causey, NE16 5EG; OS ref NZ 205561; opposite Beamish Park Hotel, off A6076 Stanley-Sunniside
The walk (theaa.com/walks) Cross A6076, then Beamishburn Road (207561, ‘Beamish Hall’); Coppy Lane footpath to road opposite Beamish Hall (212550). Right; in 400m, left (208548) through picnic area. Right on Great North Forest Trail (208546) across Beamishburn Road (204546) and A6076 (201547) to road (195546); right to East Tanfield station (193549). Right beside Tanfield Railway to Causey Arch (201559) and car park.
How hard is it? 4 miles. Field paths, woodland tracks
Eat en route Causey Arch Inn (01207 233925)

16. Loweswater, Cumbria
Loweswater makes a perfect circuit for a winter’s afternoon, under the rumpled flank of Burnbank Fell and through beautiful Holme Wood, before taking the track to Maggie’s Bridge. Great views here, back to the high shoulder of Carling Knott, before reaching the road and decision time – back to the car, or a sidetrack to the warm and welcoming Kirkstile Inn? Hmmm …

Map OS Explorer OL4
Start Car pull-in at Waterend, NW Loweswater, CA13 0SU; OS ref NY 118225; on Mockerkin-Loweswater road (off A5086 Cockermouth-Cleator Moor)
The walk A simple anti-clockwise circuit of the lake via Hudson Place (115222), Holme Wood and Watergate Farm (127211), Maggie’s Bridge (134210) to road (138211). Right for 300m; right again (140211) to Kirkstile Inn (141209). Return to Mockerkin road; left along it to car park.
How hard is it? 4¼ miles (3¾ miles without Kirkstile Inn detour). Level and easy underfoot; can be very squashy after rain
Eat en route Kirkstile Inn, Church Bridge, Loweswater (01900 85219)

17. Cardurnock, Cumbria
Once you have walked down the short green lane from Cardurnock, a remote hamlet at the edge of the Solway Firth, there’s no set path. Just pick your way along the green apron of Cardurnock Flatts, the creek-cut fringe of saltmarsh, or wander the vast firm sands under gigantic bird-haunted skies, looking north across the enormous estuary to the Scottish hills, south to the 3,000-ft hump of Skiddaw twenty miles off in northern Lakeland.

Map OS Explorer 314
Start Park near phone box in Cardurnock, CA7 5AQ; OS ref NY 172588; M6 Jct 44, Carlise Western Bypass, B5307 to Kirkbride; Angerton, Whitrigg, Anthorn, Cardurnock
The walk Down the green lane by the phone box to the shore; then choose any direction and enjoy strolling the sands
How hard is it? As many miles as you like! Green lane; then flat, firm sand underfoot
Eat nearby King’s Arms, Bowness-on-Solway CA7 5AF (01697 351426) – 4½ miles NE of walk

18. Marcross & St Donat’s, S. Glamorgan, Wales
Marcross lies just inland of the Bristol Channel’s carefully-preserved Glamorgan Heritage Coast. Reach the cliffs by way of St Donat’s Castle, a splendid medieval fortress. Down on the shore, bear left to beautiful little Tresilian Bay – chuck a pebble across the natural rock arch inside Reynard’s Cave here (low tide only!), and you’ll be wed before the year’s end. Return along the cliffs to the twin lighthouses at Nash Point, then inland to the Horseshoe Inn.

Map OS Explorer 151
Start Horseshoe Inn, Marcross, CF61 1ZG; OS ref SS 924693; 1 mile west of St Donat’s, off B4265 near Llantwit Major
The walk From Marcross (922691), follow Valeways Millennium Heritage Trail to St Donat’s Castle (934681), road (937685) and coast (941682 to 940679). Left for ½ mile to Tresilian Bay (947677) and Reynard’s Cave (just west of beach – see below). Back along cliffs for 2¼ miles to Nash Point (916683); inland to Marcross.
How hard is it? 5½ miles. Field and cliff paths. Reynard’s Cave, low tide only (easytide.ukho.gov.uk)
Eat en route Horseshoe Inn (01656 890568)

19. Aberlady Bay, East Lothian, Scotland
If you like wild geese, you’ll love Aberlady Bay. Some 20,000 or more pinkfooted geese spend the early part of the winter here, and their massed flight (inland at dawn, seaward at dusk) is a great wildlife spectacle. Walk north beside the wind-whipped Firth of Forth, with the shark-fin peak of North Berwick Law ahead; then return from rocky Gullane Point by dune paths. Braw, brisk, bracing!

Map OS Explorer 351
Start Aberlady Nature Reserve car park, Aberlady, EH32 0PY; OS ref NT 471805; bus X24, 124 (Edinburgh-North Berwick); on A198, just east of Aberlady
The walk Cross wooden footbridge; north (1¾ miles) to Gullane Point (462830). South along track, parallel to shore, golf course on left. In ¾ mile fork right (466817) to Marl Loch; shore path (468809) to car park.
How hard is it? 4 miles. Shore paths (can be marshy); dune paths and tracks. Don’t forget the binoculars! Beware flying golf balls.
Eat nearby Old Aberlady Inn (01875 870503), on A198 in Aberlady, ½ mile from start

20. Tollymore Forest Park, Mourne Mts, Co Down, N Ireland
If you’ve no taste or time or daylight to tackle the Mourne Mountains proper, here’s a great network of paths at the northern feet of the mountains – a stroll by the river through the 18th-century Gothic folly of The Hermitage, the forest paths and excellent Mourne views of the longer Mountain Trail, and the Drinns Trail with its Curraghard viewpoint over sea and mountains.

Map OSNI 1:25,000 Activity Map ‘The Mournes’; downloadable ‘Forest Trails’ map at walkni.com
Start Tollymore Forest Park Lower Car Park, Newcastle, Co Down; OSNI ref J 344326; signposted on B180 between Bryansford and Newcastle
The walk You can compose your own round walk using the trails; Mountain Trail intersects with River Trail at Parnell’s Bridge, Hore’s Bridge and Old Bridge. Drinns Trail is a circular extension of Mountain Trail
How hard is it? River Trail (mostly level) 3¼ miles, Drinns Trail (a couple of climbs) 3 miles, Mountain Trail (gentle inclines) 5½ miles. Well-surfaced and waymarked tracks
Eat nearby Villa Vinci, Main St, Newcastle (028 4372 3080)

Chelynch and the Fosse Way, Somerset

Walks No Responses »

Sep 222012

A cold North Somerset wind blew like a trumpet across the Mendip Hills as we set out from Chelynch. First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

It’s all farming country round here. A couple of porkers came snuffling to the gate at Newman Street Farm, and a bunch of peahens fled down the lane, their speckly grey and white bodies bent forward as they scurried between the hedges like plump little old ladies heading for a bring-and-buy.

We crossed the fields by way of proper Mendip stone stiles, big slabs of limestone a farmer can hop over but a sheep can’t. Three Ashes Lane took us west in a tunnel of trees where fallen crab apples littered the trackway, already rotting from blotchy green to soft toffee browns and blacks.

At a dip in the lane stood a mighty cast-iron contraption, all bolts and cogs and great spoked wheels. ‘It’s an early kind of cultivator,’ explained its owner, emerging from a shed under the hazels. ‘You’d have a steam traction engine at either side of the field, hauling this thing from one to the other and back again on a rope as it ploughed the soil.’ How cumbersome such a monster looked to our modern eyes; but how our forefathers must have blessed its power, its capacity to spare them sore bones and wrenched muscles, back in the dawn of mechanised agriculture.

At a junction of lanes we turned south down the Fosse Way. The military highway where Roman soldiers marched and grumbled is now a beautiful leafy lane, cutting across the grain of the Somerset landscape. In Beacon Hill Wood we veered away from the old road and up through a giant’s graveyard of fallen beech boughs to where a standing stone rose at the apex of the hill, already ancient when the legionaries marched by.

Near Shepton Mallet the graceful curve of the Charlton Viaduct, pierced by 27 arches, carried the trackbed of the long-defunct Somerset & Dorset Railway across the infant River Sheppey. Walking back over Ingsdons Hill to Chelynch I thought of the miserable journeys I’d endured along that line, sulking back to school after the holidays – and the joys of watching the clots of steam float by the window as the S&D wafted me home at each term’s end. Happiest days of my life? Well – some of them were.

Start & finish: Poacher’s Pocket PH, Chelynch, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 4PY (OS ref ST 649439)
Getting there: A37 (Bristol) or A367 (Bath) towards Shepton Mallet. 200 m after they merge (2 miles from Shepton Mallet), left at top of Long Hill (signed ‘Wagon & Horses’) along Old Frome Road. In 1¼ miles, right at Wagon & Horses PH (signed ‘Doulting’) to Poacher’s Pocket PH in Chelynch.

Walk (6½ miles, easy/moderate, OS Explorer 142. NB – Online map, more walks: www.christophersomerville.co.uk): From Poacher’s Pocket, left; pass top of King’s Road; in 20 m, left over stile (fingerpost). Across field and next stile; path across field to corner of hedge (649443); right over stone stile. Cross field to Newman Street farm lane (652444); left to T-junction (648450). Right to first crossroads (649455); right to cross Old Frome Road (652455; fast! take care!); through gateway opposite and on (yellow arrow/YA). Through hedge by 2 tall trees; keep same line to cross stone stile (654458; YA). Left with hedge on left; over stile; through narrow woodland strip; over stile. Diagonally right through 3 fields (stiles). In 4th field, left over stile (657462); down to gate into Three Ashes Lane (658464). YA points ahead, but turn left along lane. In ⅓ mile, cross road (652464) and on along lane. In 200 m lane curves left, then right (650464); ignore both gates here, and continue along lane, then same direction along field edges for ⅔ mile to T-junction with Fosse Way (639466). Left to cross Old Frome Road (638461; take care!). Left for 70 m, then right through Beacon Hill Wood; continue along Fosse Way to road (636451). Left to T-junction; right; in 200 m, left (635449) along Fosse Way for nearly 1 mile. Pass barn on right (632437); in 200 m, left up steps, over stone stile (631435; green arrow, East Mendip Way/EMW). Cross field, then Bodden Lane (634436); on up Ingsdons Hill (EMW). At summit (638437), ahead along EMW for ⅔ mile to road (647439); right into Chelynch.

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Lunch: Poacher’s Pocket Inn, Chelynch (01749-880220) – good food and friendly atmosphere
More info: Shepton Mallet TIC (01749-345258); visitsomerset.co.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk

Bredon Hill, Worcestershire

Walks No Responses »

Aug 062011

A E Housman was probably sublimating when he wrote in ‘A Shropshire Lad’ of lying with a girl in summertime on Bredon Hill.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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He wasn’t really that sort of chap, by all accounts. Jane and I would have got pretty wet if we’d tried it under the troubled sky that the weather forecaster was glooming over today, with rain showers scudding in from the Bristol Channel. But you just can’t abandon an expedition up Bredon, however ominous the forecast. The hill tugs at you like an impatient companion – Housman got that right. And everything turned out bright and breezy anyway, as it happened.

Above the village of Elmley Castle we climbed smooth parkland fields past tremendous storm-shattered old oaks. Up the back slope of the hill past the high, bracken-smothered earthworks of Elmley Castle itself – the Norman castle’s stones were recycled to mend Pershore Bridge in Tudor times. Up through ancient woods full of the tall spikes of pungent woundwort and lace-like enchanter’s nightshade (fabulous name). Up to the ridge that curls round the edge of Bredon Hill’s 900-ft escarpment, and along to the flowery ramparts of a sprawling Iron Age hill fort.

There’s no exhilaration on earth like striding the walls of a hill fort with the wind bashing you and a 50-mile view to stun you speechless. Cotswolds in the east, Malverns in the west. South to Oxenton Knoll, down which they used to roll a fiery wheel to see if the new year would bring good luck. North-west to the Clents and the far-off Clee Hills that so enchanted Housman – a Worcestershire lad, in unromantic fact. The larks he wrote about were up on Bredon Hill today, and so were masses of wild flowers: yellow and white lady’s bedstraw, mats of wild thyme, rockroses with papery yellow petals; harebells, scabious, a single pyramidal orchid in the ditch between the ancient fort’s ramparts.

Up at the summit of the hill we found the Banbury Stone, shaped like a crusty old elephant couchant, and the grim little tower called Parson’s Folly that a local squire built for himself. One more gaze round the best view in the Three Counties, and we were bowling back down the slopes to Elmley Castle and the neat parlour of the Queen Elizabeth inn, everyone’s dream of a proper country pub.

Start & finish: Queen Elizabeth PH, Elmley Castle, Worcs WR10 3HS (OS ref SO 982411)

Getting there: Bus service 565 Evesham-Worcester. Road – M5, Jct 9; A46 (‘Evesham); just after junction with B4078, left to Elmley Castle.

WALK (7 miles, moderate grade, OS Explorer 190):
From Queen Elizabeth PH into churchyard. Keeping church on right, follow wattle fence to cross foot of pond (982410). Cross stile (yellow arrow/YA), follow field edge round 3 angles. In 500 m, just before corner, turn right over plank bridge and stile (985405). Aim for far left corner of parkland field (985402). Left over stile and footbridge; right (blue arrow/BA) through metal gate and up grassy track. In 100 m, right across footbridge (984401). Don’t fork left up bank, but keep ahead on clear dirt track. In 400 m cross footbridge (981400); bear left (BA) uphill. Keep fence on right, up through woods to T-junction of tracks at top of hill (974395). Right beside wood; keep to ridge track, ignoring side tracks. At end of wood, keep ahead with fence on left (967403, BA) for ¾ mile to pass Elephant Stone and Parson’s Folly (957402). Continue beside wall to enter trees. In 100 m, on right bend with BAs, turn even sharper right (952398, YA) down through trees, over gate stile and on down slope. Follow YAs on posts for ¼ mile to gravel drive (952405); left downhill for 2 fields, then right (949408; ‘Private Estate – footpath’) along stony track (YAs) for ½ mile. At water trough, left (957411, YA) downhill with fence on left. At kissing gate (954415) leave fence and fork a little right; follow hedge on right down to road (953418); right into Great Comberton.
At top of hill by ‘Pershore, Bredon’ road sign (954420), ahead along footpath (fingerpost) to enter churchyard. Right along wall to road; right for 50 m past Bredon House; left (955420; ‘Elmley Castle 1½’) on footpath through fields (YAs). After nearly a mile, ignoring all side tracks, reach a bridleway (970418; BAs left and right). Right for 30 m; left through kissing gate (YA) and on. After 3 more fields, pass through kissing gate (976416); in 4th field, keep to right hedge; in 100 m, right over stile (YA). Follow YAs for 3 more fields and through farmyard. Through 2 gates to left of barn; right behind barn to road (980413); left to Queen Elizabeth PH.

Conditions: Many stiles, some tall and awkward

LUNCH: Queen Elizabeth PH (01386-710419) – proper country pub

INFO: Evesham TIC (01386-446944); www.visitworcestershire.org
www.ramblers.org.uk www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk
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Hartland Point and Speke’s Mill Mouth, North Devon

Walks No Responses »

Jan 222011

A brisk, blowy, blustering day on the North Devon coast, with a scudding grey sky and big Atlantic waves racing onshore to smash against the wicked black rock teeth of the cliffs. I actually felt the ground quake beneath me as I pushed north into the wind along the line between sea and land, wondering whether leaving the warmth and light of the Hartland Quay Hotel had been a good idea after all.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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Tides are strong and cross-currents treacherous out at Hartland Point, where the Devon coast cuts at right angles from north to east on its outer entrance to the Bristol Channel. Curved and contorted bands of sandstone, ground by the sea into upturned razor edges, lie just below the surface – they have brought thousands of sailing ships to grief down the years. I paused by the lighthouse on the point and took a last breathless prospect of dark sky, dark sea and black rock before heading inland along the high-hedged lanes so characteristic of this part of the world.

In the shelter of the lanes the wind, roaring high overhead, scarcely trembled a leaf. The loom of the ground shut away the hiss and crash of sea against rocks. I threaded the deep holloways past farms with Betjemanic names – Blagdon and Blegberry, Berry and Wargery – with the sounds of trickling water and tentative robin song for company.

In the ridge-top village of Stoke, master craftsmen down the centuries have beautified St Nectan’s Church. I admired the Tudor panelling of the rood screen, all slender ribs and exquisite floral detail, and the roof with its coruscating stars and carved bosses. Then it was out and on along the field lanes, dropping down to the cliffs and the roar of the wind once more.

The great waterfall at Speke’s Mill Mouth was a lace veil blown to rags, the floor of the cove a seethe of white foam among black rock scars. Above the green shark’s tooth of St Catherine’s Tor a raven was struggling unavailingly to fly north, kept at a standstill in mid-air by the counterblast of the wind. I put my head down and shoved on, a midget in motion among the huge forces of nature. Later, sitting in the warm bar of the Hartland Quay Hotel, I found my cup of tea tasted salty – legacy of all the sea wind and spray absorbed by my beard on this wild and entrancing walk.

Getting there: M5 to Jct 27; A361 to Bideford; A39 towards Bude. ¼ mile beyond B3237 Clovelly turning, bear right on minor road to Hartland and Hartland Quay.

Walk (7½ miles, moderate/hard grade, OS Explorer 126): South West Coast Path/SWCP (fingerposts, acorn symbols) north to Hartland Point. Just before radar station, inland. In 100 m, ahead (‘bridleway, Blegberry’) past Blagdon Farm; bridleway for 3/4 mile to road. Right to Blegberry Farm. Left (‘unmetalled road’); green lane for ½ mile to road. Ahead past Berry Farm, across Abbey River; road up to Stoke. Left; immediately right up lane by Rose Cottage. In 200 yards pass ‘Unsuitable for Motors’; keep ahead for a good half-mile. At Wargery, right to road at Kernstone Cross; right (‘Kernstone’) for 450 m to T-junction; left through gate (‘Speke’s Mill Mouth’) on grass path; SWCP north to Hartland Quay Hotel.

NB – Online maps, more walks: www.christophersomerville.co.uk

Conditions
Beware strong wind gusts on exposed cliff tops! Many steps, many climbs and descents. Allow 3-4 hours.

Lunch: Hartland Quay Hotel (01237-441218;
www.hartlandquayhotel.co.uk) – friendly, characterful and welcoming.

More info Bideford TIC (01237-477676);
http://www.visitdevon.co.uk/site/areas-to-visit/north-devon-and-exmoor;
www.ramblers.org.uk;
www.satmap.com

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