Wooded dingles west of the Teme.

IN the west of the county the river Teme is fed by a number of tributary streams which have cut steeply down through the limestone from the high ground around Clifton, creating densely wooded dingles with spooky names such as Witchery Hole and Devil's Den.

All the dingles have footpaths running through them and it is the path through Witchery Hole which is used in this lovely walk to descend from Clifton to meet the Teme near Shelsley Beauchamp. A riverside stroll to Stanford Bridge is followed by a return to high ground, and if you find the climb a little steep in places, that just provides an excuse to pause and admire the far-reaching views along the Teme valley to the Clee Hills.

DIRECTIONS

1 Leave Clifton on an unmarked footpath next to house number 39 on the main road; it's on the same side as the shop but further north. Enter a field and go to the far left corner. Cross a stile and go straight across two fields to a waymarked post. Turn right and shortly take a track on the left. It isn't waymarked at this point but it is a right of way. Walk downhill, soon passing to the left of a house to find a multi-waymarked post. Go obliquely left to a stile at the corner of a wood.

2 The woodland path is clear until it forks near a fallen tree. Turn right, soon descending steeply towards Witchery Hole. You'll have to climb over another fallen tree, after which the path is unclear because the tree's wide-spreading crown has forced a diversion. Don't descend directly to the brook but look for a faint path going left so that you can rejoin the right of way. Once found, the route is clear again and after eventually leaving the wood it crosses a field to a lane. Turn right to cross the Teme at New Mill Bridge.

3 Decision time now: one option is to follow the lane (see map). The other option is the riverside path - this is obstructed further along but there are ways round it. If you take this path you'll walk through three fields. In the third (after a stream) the path goes diagonally right, but there are difficult obstacles ahead if you attempt to follow the route shown on the map. Please try to do so if you can. If you can't, then the easy, pain-free solution is to join the lane by the village hall. Whichever you choose, please consider noting the details and informing the county council.

4 Turn left along the lane and go left at a junction. Eventually, at a bend in the lane, take a footpath on the left. Bypass a gate and climb a stile to a field. Walk forward for 50m then turn right to cross a stile. Climb a bank then head across the field to another stile. Cross a farm track, go through a hedge gap and diagonally right to the far end of a conifer hedge. Continue in the same direction, soon passing through woodland then along a field edge to a stile. Go diagonally left then follow the river Teme to Stanford Bridge. Cross the river at the old bridge then turn right past Mill Farm Shop.

5 Join a poplar-lined driveway soon after the shop. Ignore ridiculous notices here about no entry and prosecution: this is a public right of way. However, it's worth mentioning that according to the waymarking (though not according to Ordnance Survey), you are actually supposed to join the driveway a few paces from the start of it, at a stile on the right, currently obstructed by a heap of dumped clay. Walk along the driveway until you come to some waymarks. Turn left on a woodland-edge path then continue down to a lane.

6 Turn right then take the first path on the right. Go diagonally across a pasture, a driveway and an arable field, then straight across a pasture to join a track. Take a footpath opposite, following the right-hand field edge to Wastehill Wood. A waymark appears to send you left and, indeed, there is a good path going left. As you join it, however, search for a narrow, muddy path climbing steeply uphill - this is the right of way. Climb through the wood to find a rape-field, crossed by a well-made path. At the far side, go through a hedge gap, marked by the county council's familiar yellow sticky tape, to find a second rape-field. Turn left until the hedge turns a corner. Keep roughly straight on, finding the easiest way across: there's no proper path, only tyre tracks. At the far side look for a stile into woodland.

7 Descend to cross a footbridge, joining a bridleway. Proceed through more woodland until a gate gives access to a meadow. Follow the right-hand hedge to the far top corner. Leave the bridleway in the next field, joining a footpath which keeps roughly straight on across pasture to a wobbly stile at the far side. Keep left in the next pasture to cross a footbridge and then a narrow field. Cross another field to a hedge gap then go to the far right corner of the next field. Continue to the road and turn left.

8 Take a footpath on the left. No proper way has been made across this arable field but there is a faint trodden line running towards a hedge gap. Beyond that point the path is easily followed across several fields until you come to a junction by a clump of trees. Go diagonally right here, joining the road near a farm and turning left into Clifton.

FACT FILE

Start: Clifton-upon-Teme, grid ref SO712617.

Length: 6 miles/10.5km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 149.

Terrain: Woodland and farmland; steep, very muddy, slippery and/or nettle-infested in places; you will have to climb over a fallen tree.

Footpaths: Many are excellent, others are poor, some are obstructed. Waymarking ranges from excellent to non-existent, via patchy, poor and useless. There are some discrepancies between paths on the ground and paths mapped by Ordnance Survey. But follow the directions carefully, in conjunction with the map, and you should have no problems. I first reported problem paths in Clifton and the Shelsleys to the council in 1990 - please consider e-mailing countryside@worcestershire.gov. uk if you think they need a reminder.

Stiles: 22.

Parking: Clifton.

Buses: 310, Monday-Saturday; www.worcestershire.gov.uk/bustimetables or Worcestershire Hub 01905 765765.

Refreshments: Clifton and Stanford Bridge.

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.

Worcester News recommends the use of OS Explorer Maps, your ideal passport to navigating the countryside. This walk is based on OS Explorer 204.

10:56am Monday 12th May 2008

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