St Giles' Church, Acton Beauchamp, one of the remote little churches which are the main objectives of this walk.

The remote little churches at Acton Beauchamp and Stanford Bishop are the principal objectives of this walk in lovely undulating countryside in and above the valleys of the river Frome and its tributaries, Whelpley Brook and Linton Brook.

The short climb to Acton Beauchamp is rewarded with far-reaching views to the west.

The melancholy ruin of St Mary's Church at Avenbury is also of interest.

It's popular with fans of the occult, but is also a favourite with walkers, as it's a peaceful and atmospheric place, ideal for looking for wildlife while enjoying a picnic lunch - but beware falling masonry.

At Brookhouse Farm you'll find a map which shows the route of two permissive bridleways made available for a ten-year period as part of a Countryside Stewardship scheme starting in 2003.

If you wish, you can use either one of these as a longer alternative to the direct route between Brookhouse Farm and Upper Venn Farm, or use both of them to add around two miles to the total length of the walk.

FACT FILE

Start: Bromyard, grid ref SO653547.

St Augustine's, Stanford Bishop.

Length: Eight miles/12.5km.

Maps: OS Explorer 202, OS Landranger 149.

Terrain: Gently rolling farmland.

Footpaths: Mostly problem-free, though occasionally unclear.

Stiles: 30.

Parking: Bromyard.

Buses: 420 daily; www.herefordbus.info or Traveline 0871 200 2233.

Refreshments: Bromyard.

DIRECTIONS

1 Walk down Pump Street, take the subway under the A44 and go along Tower Hill. Carry straight on along a track at a junction, on the Herefordshire Trail. It's easily followed for the most part, though an alternative permissive route is signed at one point because of erosion. It leads past a pool to a stile to the next field. When you enter a large sloping pasture you should bear right uphill to rejoin the right of way about halfway up the slope near a group of four ash trees. Climb a stile here and proceed through woodland before bearing right past a farm to a lane.

2 Turn left then pick up the path again on the right almost immediately. Descend through a meadow to a hopyard and proceed along the edge then over a footbridge and stile into a field. Bear slightly left to find a stile opposite the farmhouse at Brookhouse Farm. Go straight on across a track and through the farmyard, then continue along the edge of an orchard. Look out for a point where you must cross to the other side of the hedge, before continuing in the same direction as before.

3 Keep straight on through the yard at Upper Venn Farm and then straight on at a junction, where the farm access track bends left. Go along a field edge then through a gate and obliquely left across the next field to a gate at the far side. Follow the waymarks to The Venn, passing the farm and turning left on the driveway. Walk to a lane and turn left, leaving the Herefordshire Trail. Pass Paunton Mill and Paunton Court, go straight on at Paunton Cross then turn left at a junction, after another 400m.

4 The lane ends at the driveway to Church House at Acton Beauchamp, but a footpath on the left leads to St Giles' Church. Pass to the left of the church, climb a stile to a field and turn right. Follow the field edge to another stile, turn left along the edge of an orchard, then cross two fields to a junction. Turn right on a cross-path and then turn left when you intercept another cross-path (it's a bridleway, but is marked here by a yellow arrow, instead of a blue one). Descend a slope, going diagonally right to pass under power-lines and find a bridge over Whelpley Brook. Walk up the right-hand edge of the next field and bear slightly left through another to meet a lane.

5 Turn right to Stanford Bishop. St Augustine's Church is accessed by a track on the right. If visiting the church, return the same way to the lane and turn right, then join a path by the driveway to The Hawkins. Turn left and follow the waymarks carefully, passing to the right of the farmhouse, across an orchard to a stile, diagonally across a pasture to the far left corner, through an open gateway, straight on down the edge of the next field, over a stile and then to the right of a line of trees. Keep going straight on until you can cross Linton Brook at a bridge.

6 Cross a stone stile then turn left up a field edge, cross two stiles in the top corner and turn left again. Look out for a stile giving access to a track and turn right. Turn left just before a cattle grid then look for a stile on the right after a few metres. Go diagonally right across a field, cross a farm track and then diagonally across five more fields. In the fifth one, don't go to the far corner, but to a point about halfway across, at the end of a line of trees, where a waymark directs you to the far left corner of a long narrow field. Proceed on a trodden path through two orchards to a lane.

7Turn left, go straight on at a crossroad and then take a path on the right which passes the ruins of Avenbury Church before meeting another lane. Turn left then take the first footpath on the left, soon after the driveway to Little Froome Farm. Go diagonally downhill and turn right beside the River Frome until you can cross it at a bridge. Turn right, following the river for a while, to meet the Herefordshire Trail to Bromyard just below Tower Hill.

9:26am Monday 12th November 2007

Follow the waymarks to The Venn.

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