Church Farm in Grafton Flyford is one of the delights to behold on this gentle weekend walk through Dormston.

Grafton Wood is jointly owned by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation. It is of major importance for butterflies, of which about 30 species have been recorded.

The rarest of them is the brown hairstreak, which also breeds in the surrounding hedgerows, laying its eggs each autumn on blackthorn, a spiny shrub which produces white blossom in very early spring and blue-black fruit (sloes) in autumn.

The brown hairstreak has a strong preference for branches between three and five years old, so it's essential that the hedges aren't cut every year. The eggs hatch in spring and the butterflies are on the wing by August. Grafton is the only place in the Midlands where the brown hairstreak still breeds Grafton Wood is also noted for its ancient oak and ash trees, many of them pollarded and of massive size. The wood is a remnant of the Royal Forest of Feckenham, of which other signs also remain, such as isolated veteran trees in the fields and hedgerows, and an abundance of timber-framed buildings. The finest example on this route is spectacular Moat Farm at Dormston, a moated, gabled Tudor house with very rare weatherboards above the windows and a 17th-century timber-framed dovecote in the garden. St Nicholas' Church at Dormston and St James' Church at Kington have picturesque timber-framed towers and St Nicholas' also has an impressive timber porch.

FACTFILE

Start: Cockshot Lane, Dormston, grid ref SO980560.

Length: 6 miles/10km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Mostly flat pastureland with occasional boggy patches. There are also a couple of arable fields and some woodland.

If you are lucky you may see a grey squirrel on your walk through the wood.

Footpaths: Some have been improved recently, while others still need a little work, but there are no problems.

Stiles: 34.

Parking: Dormston.

Buses: Dudley's/Harding's Worcester-Redditch service 350, Mon-Sat; Travel-ine 0870 608 2608 or www. worcestershire.gov.uk/bustimetables Refreshments: Red Hart, Dormston.

DIRECTIONS:

1 Walk up Cockshot Lane and then take the third footpath on the left, which is also the driveway to Tanglewood. Turn right where waymarked and then keep left through several fields, by the edge of Lower Kite's Wood.

Meeting a tree-lined bridleway, turn right and return to the lane. Turn left then take a footpath on the right. Follow it straight through about 10 small fields, ignoring all branching paths. When you pass through a field of free-range poultry you may find your way apparently blocked by a fence but it's easy enough to step over it. In the final field you should bear slightly left to find access to a lane. Turn right past St Nicholas' Church.

2 Turn right at a T-junction, then left on a bridleway just before Moat Farm. Walk across three large fields. Just before you reach the far side of the third field you should join a footpath at a gate on the right. Keep straight on for 450m, until you reach the far side of a field where a bulldozer has recently been at work. Turn left for a few metres to a hedge gap by a fallen stile. Step through into the adjoining field and turn left to the A422.

3 Cross the road to a path opposite. Cross a field to a footbridge and then walk through a copse to another field and follow the right-hand hedge. Go through a gate on the right just before you reach the far side of the field. Turn left along the ensuing field edge then along a passageway to a lane at Kington. Turn left, then right by St James' Church. Turn right again on a footpath at The Leys, passing to the left of the house and along the edge of the garden to a willow tree before turning right to a stile at the far side. Bear slightly left across a field towards five pear trees, beyond which you can join the lane. Turn left and walk to the A422. (NB: If you would prefer not to walk through the garden of The Leys, turn right when you first meet the lane - or turn left first to see the church but then retrace your steps).

4 Cross the A422 and turn left on a footway. Join a bridleway after 200m. After about 250m the bridleway bends to the left. Leave the bridleway and take a footpath on the left. Go diagonally across a large field, back towards the road. If you head towards the church tower at Flyford Flavell you will be going in exactly the right direction. Before long a footbridge comes into view - descend towards it but don't cross it, turning right instead, over a stile. Turn right for a few metres to a fence corner then turn left beside the fence.

5 A stile and footbridge lead to the edge of Grafton Wood, where you turn left to another stile. Follow a fence along the southern edge of the wood. Once the wood is left behind, just keep going in much the same direction, walking to the right of a brook. Ignore a path branching left and keep going through several fields until eventually you are forced to join the road. Turn right for a few paces then join another footpath and walk to St John's Church at Grafton Flyford.

6 Go through the churchyard to the far side then turn right towards Grafton Barn. Walk through a farmyard (Church Farm) then into a field where there is a junction. Go straight on through fields towards Grafton Wood, ignoring a path branching left. Go diagonally left in the final field to enter the wood. Walk straight through it (NB: see on site map for alternative paths) then enter a field. Go diagonally left to meet a track by a hedge and then keep straight on to Dormston.

* For more walks in the county visit our website www. worcesternews.co.uk

9:35am Monday 19th February 2007

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