Sparrows were chirping in a bright morning over north-west Worcestershire as we left the cheerful Tally Ho Inn and plunged out into a wide rolling landscape with the Herefordshire hills lumped blue and cloudy in the south-west.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window
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A big dark hare sprang up almost underfoot and dashed away across a newly mown hayfield, yellow-green and stubbly. This was exhilarating walking, like striding across the backs of great solid waves.
Hanley Child lay at the foot of orchard slopes, a clutch of medieval houses and outbuildings, timber-framed under tiled roofs. By Town Farm sheep came bleating across a field, their phlegmy voices loud and manic. The farmer hurried to block their escape through the gate. ‘Out walking? Yes, it’s lovely round here. A hidden treasure – or so they tell me,’ he smiled wryly.
We descended a nettly and brambly bank to Stonyford, and took the track to Norgrove where cherries hung heavy in the orchard, their colours a spectrum from creamy yellow through tangerine to boot-polish crimson. Beyond the house lay tangled woods and the long, man-made lake of Kyre Pool, centrepiece of an 18th-century landscaped park, perhaps the work of Capability Brown. The multiform house dates back in part to Plantagenet times and looks out on gardens, lawns and pools.
In the adjacent church we found a very beautiful and simple 14th-century painting of a haloed saint, holding in her left hand a book or box, in her right an orb or perhaps a circle of light from a lamp. The red ochre figure is the preliminary sketch made by the artist; the brilliant pigments with which he embellished the saint have all faded or fallen away, and only this ghost of his first inspiration remains.
We turned for home by way of The Grove farmhouse with its early Dutch gable, and the old moat at Bannall’s Farm sunk in a thicket of oak and ash. The farm dogs barked us in and nuzzled us out, down the lane to Coppice House, and along the edges of barley fields. On the hill above Woodstock Bower a great silky-coated bull was roaring softly. ‘He won’t hurt you,’ reassured the farm worker who bounced up in his buggy. ‘He’s got a bad hip, that’s all, and the young heifers won’t leave him alone. I’ll walk you across the field, if you like,’ and he did so, with proper old-style courtesy.
Start: Tally Ho Inn, Broadheath, Worcs, WR15 8QX (OS ref SO 662655)
Getting there: Broadheath is on B4204 between Tenbury Wells (A456) and Clifton-upon-Teme
Walk (8½ miles, easy/moderate, OS Explorer 203): Over stile in left corner of Tally Ho’s car park as you face the road. Down field, aiming for lone tree at bottom. Up far slope, aiming right of bushy patch to right of Hill Farm. Follow hedge right to stile in corner (655654, yellow arrow/YA). Diagonally left to bottom left corner of field (stile/YA); diagonally down to gate at far bottom corner (652653). Left along lane (blue arrow/BA), through gate and on past Court Farm, Hanley Child; at fork, right to junction by Town Farm (648651).
Left; in 100m, right over stile; right along hedge to stile (YA); down jungly bank to road at Stonyford (645650). Left to cross river; in 150m, ahead through gate (fingerpost). Diagonally left through cherry orchard to gate near Norgrove house (639649). YA points left to bottom of orchard. Right over stile (YA), across bottom of garden, clockwise round lawns to go through gate at top left corner of garden. Diagonally left through adjacent gate; half left down slope; cross stile (637649, BA) into trees. At T-junction of paths, right for ⅓ mile to reach Park Pale track beside Kyre Pool dam (631649). Left across dam, follow track for ¾ mile to B4214 (629639).
Cross road; left along it for 200m; right (‘Kyre Park Gardens’) on minor road. In 350m, turn right for Kyre Church and Kyre Park Gardens, or to continue walk, turn left here (627635, fingerpost) along track by walled garden. Pass cottage (628633); on up left side of garden to cross footbridge. Left to recross B4214 (630633). Down drive opposite (‘Bridleway’); pass The Grove and keep ahead (635632) along rutted track (BA). At bottom of slope, left through gate (636634); aim half right across field (BA) to go through gate on far side (639636). Right along hedge, through gap; ahead across field, up next field’s hedge to pass moat (643638).
At Bannall’s Farm (644638), left down stony lane, following BAs. Through gate by Coppice House (643641); on through trees. In 150m, reach 2 gates; through right-hand one (643642); on by fence along bottom of garden. Through gate at end, and on through a series of horse gates. Climb bank; on along field edge, following BAs for nearly ½ mile. Nearing Woodstock Bower, path forks; take upper (left) one. In 150m, just before gate, left over stile (654642, YA); climb bank. Cross stile at top; follow wood edge round to right; cross stile, up bank to turn left over track at top of hill (656644, fingerpost). Cross fields, then drive; through gates (YAs) to cross road (657646; stile, fingerpost). Over field to Broach Cottage (660647); left up drive to cross road (659649, fingerpost). Follow hedge on right; right over stile in top corner (660651, YA); bear left clockwise round garden edge. Cross stile in top right corner; ahead between fence and hedge to road (662651); left to Tally Ho.
Lunch/Accommodation: Tally Ho Inn, Bell Lane, Broadheath, near Tenbury Wells (01886-853241; tallyhorestaurant.co.uk) – cheerful country pub with good clean rooms.
Info: Tenbury Wells TIC (01584-810136 or 01684-892289)
www.ramblers.org.uk www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk