Experience the view from the top of Broadway Hill.

Broadway needs no introduction, but not everybody is familiar with the villages of Laverton (Gloucestershire) and Childswickham (Worcestershire), both of which are visited during the course of this beautiful walk.

Laverton is the smaller of the two and arguably the more attractive, enjoying a desirable situation at the foot of the Cotswold escarpment.

There are some lovely cottages in this quiet village, many of them with equally lovely gardens.

While Laverton is almost entirely stone-built, Childswickham, which lies further from the escarpment, is a mixture of stone, brick and timber, like so many Vale of Evesham villages.

It's a large, sprawling place, presumably popular with commuters to Evesham and Cheltenham, but the old part of it remains mostly unspoilt.

The main focus is St Mary's Church, which has a slender spire, a landmark for miles around. The church suffered heavy-handed restoration in 1870, and is mostly Victorian as a result, though a Norman doorway from about 1130 survives.

Close by is a small green on which stands a medieval cross-shaft topped by an 18th-century urn. Several quiet lanes and tracks radiate from the cross, lined with some gorgeous houses, while a pretty brook adds further charm.

DIRECTIONS

1 Walk up the High Street until you can leave it on the right on the Cotswold Way, which is easily followed up Broadway Hill to the tower. After enjoying the view, head south on another easily followed path which passes through a deer gate, past Rookery Barn and along a line of beech trees before turning right near Knap Bank. Go past a bungalow and finally left down Coneygree Lane to meet Snowshill Road almost opposite St Eadburga's Church. Turn left and take a path on the right after 350m.

2 The path is easily followed uphill, skirting Lybrook Plantation and Buckland Wood to rejoin the Cotswold Way next to a notice advertising the refreshments available at a farmhouse. Turn left into the farmyard and look for the Cotswold Way signpost. Take the southbound route, towards Shenbarrow and Stanton, and stay on it until you come to a group of beech trees. Turn right on a byway and walk down to Laverton. Keep straight on through the village until you can turn right at a road junction. Take the first path on the left, walking through fields of sheep and free-range chickens to Cheltenham Road.

3 Cross to a footpath opposite, which follows Rush Brook, starting off to the right of it and then crossing and re-crossing it a few times. Ignore a branching path, cross the dismantled railway and walk through Rushbrook Wood. Turn right at the far side of the wood and walk through fields, across a lane, past newly built Oaklea House and through more fields. Continue past Little Mocho Farm, joining the driveway. After 200m the path leaves the driveway on the left and should then run diagonally across a rape-field to meet a lane. However, the path has been over-cropped, so attempt to trample a way through or keep to the left-hand field edge.

4 Turn left along the lane to Childswickham. Take the second turning on the right, following a brook to another lane. Turn right, still following the brook. Fork right at the next junction, by The Old Forge, then fork left by the village cross and go to the churchyard. Walk to the church then turn left to leave the churchyard at a gate. Enter a field and turn right, then cross a brook at stepping stones. Turn right, following the brook for a very short distance until the path forks. Take the left branch and proceed across the field to a stile. Cross into another field (expect caravans here in summer) and turn left along the edge. Cross a stile at the far side into a rape-field and again turn left.

5 Arriving at a junction in a corner, don't cross the stile but turn right so that you're still by the field edge. Walk a few paces to another corner, at which point the path should head across the field towards a sewage works. However, it has been over-cropped, and again the choice is between trying to trample a way through or following the left-hand field edge. Either way, you'll meet a track which you should follow past the sewage works. The track becomes a lane and leads to Cheltenham Road. Cross the road and go straight on down West End Lane. After 400m the Cotswold Way crosses the lane, with the left-hand path leading to Broadway.

FACT FILE

Start: Broadway, grid ref SP095375.

Length: 10 miles/16km.

Maps: OS Explorer OL45, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Pasture, arable and woodland, with two fairly steep climbs.

Footpaths: Mostly excellent, but two near Childswickham have been over-cropped with oil-seed rape. Please consider reporting these to the county council (email countryside@ worcestershire.gov.uk) as this is the only way we can hope to get any improvement; the more complaints that are received, the more likely it is that action will be taken. In the meantime, you can try to trample a way through (usually near-impossible with oil-seed rape) or resort to the field edges instead.

Special note: There is a charge to enter Broadway Tower Country Park but this does not apply to walkers who are passing through on public rights of way.

Stiles: 17.

Parking: Broadway.

Public transport: Bus (550/551) or train to Evesham then Castleways 559 to Childswickham and Broadway, Monday-Saturday only; www.worcestershire.gov.uk/ bustimetables or Worcestershire Hub 01905 765765.

Refreshments: Broadway (village and country park). There is a pub at Childswickham, not on the route but very close to it (see map). Drinks and cakes are available at a farmhouse on the Cotswold Way by Buckland Wood.

Worcester News recommends the use of OS Explorer Maps, your ideal passport to navigating the countryside. This walk is based on OS Explorer OL45.

10:43am Monday 26th May 2008

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