The National Trust-maintained 17th century dovecote at Wichenford Court.

With woods full of bluebells and hedgebanks bursting with primroses, this part of the county is at its loveliest in March and April, especially when the apple blossom gets under way too.

It used to be a major apple-growing area but many of the orchards were grubbed up in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, they're being replanted, and it's good to see that happening - even if the new orchards are a poor substitute for the thousands of beautiful old trees that were lost, each one of them a rich wildlife habitat in its own right.

Interesting features along the route include Wichenford Court, which dates from the 13th century. It was originally a fortified manor house, and part of the mediaeval moat still survives, but the house was rebuilt c1700, when some of its mediaeval timbers were used in the construction of a magnificent barn which borders Venn Lane. Behind the barn there stands a 17th-century timber-framed dovecote which is maintained by the National Trust and is open to the public daily from 1 March until 31 October.

DIRECTIONS

1 Walk along the lane towards the village, fork left at a junction and turn right at the next towards Ockeridge. At another junction, turn right towards Wichenford and Martley, then right again at a crossroads, towards Martley only. After 100m, take an unsigned path at a hedge gap on the left, opposite Greenend Cottage. Initially unpromising, it turns out to be an unusually well-made path running across a large field to the far side.

2 Go through a gate and turn left, keeping close to the left-hand edge through two fields. Cross a third field then bear very gradually left across a fourth to the top corner. Turn left, cross a lane and take a path which passes a cottage to enter a field. Follow it to Woodhouse Farm, walk past the front of the farmhouse then turn right along the farm's access track to meet a road at Wichenford.

3 Cross to two paths opposite. Choose the right-hand one, another well-made path which goes diagonally across a field to Venn Lane. Turn left, walk to Wichenford Court then take a footpath on the right. Cross a field to a bridge, go diagonally left in the next field to the far hedge then turn right towards the church. When you reach the churchyard gate, turn your back on it and go diagonally towards the far right corner of the field (all this zig-zagging may seem illogical but it is the line taken by the right of way). There are two gates near the corner: go through the small one on the left. Turn right along a field edge, walk to a corner, go through a gap and turn left beside Wichenford Coppice.

4 Turn right at the far corner of the wood, then left along a tree-lined green lane (Guises Lane). After passing an overgrown footbridge you have the choice of staying on Guises Lane or joining a field-edge footpath on the left which runs parallel with it. Guises Lane is more interesting, but is subject to flooding after rain. If you make the wrong choice you can change your mind further on as there are places where you can step from one path to the other. Walk to a lane and turn left to King's Green. Cross the green then turn right on a bridleway. Walk past a wood to a junction and turn left, then go right at the next junction, along Rosses Lane to Ross Green.

An oak tree towers over a rape field.

5 Take a path on the left which runs behind houses. Ignore paths branching left and continue past the houses until a stile on the right gives access to a field. Turn left, ignore a path branching left and walk to a road. Cross to a path opposite, walk past a barn and then straight on through fields to a lane at Witton Hill. Cross to a footpath opposite, which goes along a field edge and then along the edge of a wood. An overgrown section then leads to a stile on the right which gives access to a track. Continue in the same direction, through fields to a lane. Turn right to Bulmer's Woodbury Farm orchards.

6 Two paths are indicated: take the one going diagonally right. Its route is currently unclear on the ground but it should lead directly to glasshouses (Haven Nurseries at Little Witley) visible at the north-east corner of the orchards. Descend slightly to a corrugated-iron building in a valley bottom. The right of way continues on the same diagonal line but is obstructed by closely planted apple trees. The best solution is to walk along the bottom edge of the orchard and then turn left beside a tall cypress hedge. Follow the hedge up to a gate, go along the edge of a garden then left past the glasshouses to Bank Road at Little Witley. Turn right, take the first footpath on the right, pass the church and continue along a lane. Ignore a footpath, turn right at a road junction, and then left at the next.

FACT FILE

Start: Little Witley, grid ref SO785639.

Length: Seven miles/11.2km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Pastoral and arable farmland, orchards, woodland, green lanes; no hills.

Footpaths: They range from poor to excellent. Waymarking is patchy and there are some dodgy stiles. Obstructions in places mean it is not always possible to follow the exact right of way.

Stiles: 10.

Parking: Little Witley village hall.

Buses: Yarrantons' Tenbury service 758 to Little Witley, or Bromyard Omnibus Company's Martley service 308 to Wichenford; both Monday to Saturday only; www.worcestershire.gov.uk/bustimetables or Worcestershire Hub 01905 765765.

Refreshments: None.

9:24am Monday 31st March 2008

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