Bants B & B

 8  Walks Around Upton Snodsbury by Hilary Williams 

 you can buy an information  pack for only £3.00 when you arrive.

Written, researched and all photographs by Hilary Williams.

There are some lovely walks through the countryside around Upton Snodsbury. Walkers are often rewarded with expansive views alongside interesting evidence of ancient settlements, ridge and furrow, tracks, water mills, buzzards soaring, woodpeckers hammering and active badger setts.  The parish, particularly Bow Wood, is home to several different species of deer.  Woodlands are a mass of colour in the spring; firstly primroses sprinkled over the ground which is then carpeted by bluebells, followed by orchids, wild garlic and many other wildflowers.  Later in the year the hedgerows are filled with colourful fruits and berries.

All walks described here are circular, starting and finishing at Upton Snodsbury Village Hall.

walks

Broughton Hackett and Froxmere A lovely walk alongside orchards with magnificent views of Upton Snodsbury church from Broughton Hackett; eith glimpses of the  Malvern and Bredon hills from Bow Wood.  It passes through the interesting hamlet of Froxmere past the Grade 2 listed Froxmere Court, a jacobethan - style building with fantastic chimneys.

This walk is particularly lovely in the Autumn when Bow Wood turns in to a mass of reds, yellows and golds, although the short walk across the middle of the field near New Hall farm can get muddy.  A cold crisp winter day is also a good time to do this walk when the ground may be hard underfoot.

Wolverton Hall & White Ladies Aston This walk heads to Peopleton then u a hill to Wolverton Hall, through the lovely villages of White Ladies Aston and Churchill.  There are some great views over a large area and Upton Snodsbury Church can frequently be spotted on the horizon.

A section of the walk goes through Aston Hall farm where a series of permissive footpaths have been established which could be used to make a really interesting alternative route to that described.

This walk is lovely all year round but is particularly nice in the Spring when many fields are full of young lambs and trees are coming in to leaf.

Hill Court, Huddington A great walk that heads up a hill to Hill Court, a gorgeous late C16 red brick timbered house with part of the moat in front of the garden.

On a clear day the views from this hill are wonderful, across the valleys to the Malvern Hills, Bredon Hill and sometimes as far as the Cotswold scarp with Grafton and Upton Snodsbury churches standing out among the trees.

The walk is always lovely but a crisp, cold clear winter's day is best when the views can be outstanding and the short section of the route that crosses a cereal field is frozen hard.

Edaward's  Bridge & Bow Brook A lovely, short walk across farmland with an interesting stroll alongside mill races and through a privately run animal sanctuary.Deer can often be seen bounding through the fields, woodpeckers heard hammering on trees together with many other mammals and birds.  This walk is lovely in the Spring when the birds and mammals are bust feeding their young.

Churchill Moat A walk to the lovely hamlet of Churchll.  The short seion of road walking is along a pretty lane which is usually quiet and has good views in all directions.  The walk passes through a moat which surrounded Chuchill Court.  Threre are no visable remains of the court apart from the moat which is fortunately now dry.  On a clear day there can be wonderful, expansive views from this field.

The remains of the medieval village of Churchill are close to this lane.  Permissive ope access has been granted to one of the fields ( cobweb cottage in the middle ) of the road.  Access can be gained via the footpath by the Old Rectory opposite the church.

Libbery & Huddington Hill Farm A pleasant walk throghth the hamlet of Libbery, up the nearby hill with its expansive views and through Huddington Hill Farm. The nicest time to walk this route is Winter when there are rarely cattle in the fields to chase the dog.

A Hike to Huddington Court This walk heads to Huddington, past the church and spectacular moated house.  The route passes through Mill farm which, if you are interested has an impressive personal collection of old farm implements.  The church of St. James in Huddington is a lovely Grade 1 listed building with origins in C12, well worth visiting.  This walk is always lovely but it may be worth avoiding when the ground is very wet as there are sections across cereal fields and alongside Bow Brook.

Huddington Court is a magnificent black and white C15 moated manor house where Thomas and Robert Wintour, members of the gunpowder plot, grew up.  It was also used as a hiding place by some of the conspirators.  The house is Grade 1 listed and scheduled ancient momument.  It is a private residence, not open to the public but can be admired discretely fom the path running through the garden.

A Ramble to Churchill Mill This is a short walk through meadows and cereal fields.  It crosses Bow Brook twice, firstly by Edward's ford and again next to Churchill Mill. The Mill is a pretty, stone-built, Grade 2 listed private dwelling next to the remains of a series of mill races supplied by the brook.  It is a lovely walk in Winter oon a cold, crisp, clear day.

Bow Wood via Libbery A lovely walk, combining mixed farmland, good views from the hill North of Libbery and a walk through Bow wood.  Bow wood is especially lovely in Spring when the primroses and bluebells are blossoming or Autumn when the leaves are glorious shades of red, gold and yellow.