Wyre Forest is well known as a beautiful place to visit in autumn and early winter, but this walk also includes secluded Snuffmill Dingle, a delightful remnant of ancient woodland surviving on the southern edge of Bewdley. The site of a former snuff mill, the steep-sided dingle is a wildlife-rich mixture of woodland and wetland, with a brook, several pools and extensive marshy patches. Reeds and rushes flourish on the valley floor, while hollies, oaks and beeches grow on the drier valley sides.

FACT FILE

Start: Bewdley, grid ref SO786754.

Length: Five miles/8km.

Maps: OS Explorer 218, OS Landranger 138.

Terrain: Mostly woodland, with no hills as such, though there is a steep descent at one point, down a long flight of steps.

Footpaths: Generally excellent, but waymarking is poor or absent in places, notably Hillcroft Caravan Park. Boardwalks in Snuffmill Dingle are slippery when wet, with both loose and missing planks. There is no waymarking within the National Nature Reserve, but there is no reason to expect any as these paths are permissive only; they are not rights of way. Please note that dogs must be on leads within the National Nature Reserve.

Stiles: Three.

Parking: Bewdley. Alternatively, at Coppice Gate or by the B4194 at Dowles.

Public transport: The 300 goes direct from Worcester to Bewdley on Sundays and bank holidays; on weekdays take the 295, 303 or train to Kidderminster and change to the 2 or 292; it's also possible to change at Stourport (295 then 12) but connections are poor, making it quicker via Kidderminster; www.worcestershire.gov.uk/bustimetables or Traveline 0871 200 2233.

Refreshments: Bewdley.

DIRECTIONS

1 Walk up Load Street to the church and turn left on High Street. Turn right by number 42, joining the Worcestershire Way. Keep straight on at a junction, then left at the next. Cross a footbridge and pass a pool then go through a gate and turn right, waymarked 'Ribbesford Circular Trail'. Pass an open grassy area and then keep straight on at a junction, ignoring a path on the right waymarked 'Snuff Mill Walk'. Continue a little further then cross a stile on the right, leaving the Worcestershire Way.

2 Follow a well-worn path over a slight rise then cross a stile to a path junction. Turn right, descending a long, steep flight of steps into Snuffmill Dingle, then following a clear path through the dingle to arrive at a junction marked by four waymarks on an oak tree. Turn right, going uphill to an unmarked junction, with steps on the right. Ignore the steps and continue through the wood.

3 As you enter a field a waymark points to the right, but go straight on instead, passing to the right of a fence corner ahead. Proceed to a waymarked junction and turn left on a tree-lined path, to the right of a school playing field. When the playing field comes to an end, there is woodland and grassland on your left. Keep straight on at a waymarked junction, staying close to the right-hand edge of the grassland so you don't miss an unobtrusive, un-waymarked wooden gate by a bungalow. Go past the gate to join a track which leads to Cleobury Road (B4190) at the top of Wyre Hill. Cross the road and turn right (on the B4190, not on Wyre Hill).

4 Take a footpath on the left, just after 1 Hawthorn Bush Cottage. Turn right when the path enters a caravan park, then almost immediately left to follow a surfaced track down to a barrier. Keep pretty much straight on, walking to the right of a wooden fence, before descending diagonally left down a grassy slope to find a hedge gap near the corner. A slippery footbridge gives on to a lane, Tanners Hill. Turn left and keep straight on at the Bowcastle Farm junction. The lane ends at a small parking area at Coppice Gate at the edge of Wyre Forest National Nature Reserve.

5 Go past a gate on the right to enter oak woodland, fork left after a very short distance and then make two more left turns to reach a five-ways junction marked by a sweet chestnut tree. Take the second right, pass to the right of a dried-up pool and then go to the left. Turn right at the next junction, descending slightly. There should be a valley on your left at first, until the path moves away from it to a cross-path junction where you keep straight on. Shortly go left at a T-junction, climbing slightly, still through oak woodland but with heather and bilberry forming the ground cover now before this gives way to bracken, after which you'll pass a clearing frequented by fallow deer. Keep straight on at the next junction as the path returns to slightly denser woodland. At the next junction go second left on a wide path which descends very gradually. Fork left at the next junction and then straight on at a cross-path, towards a pair of buildings (Forest Lodge).

6 Turn left just before you reach Forest Lodge, then fork right. Go left at another fork, then straight on at the next two junctions, so that you're walking close to the edge of the forest. Cross the former railway at a stone bridge and then go down to the left to join the railway (now Cycleway 45) and turn left under the bridge. On leaving the forest keep straight on to meet Drymill Lane. Cross to steps almost opposite and continue along the former railway to the B4194 at Dowles. Turn right, then cross to a footpath which follows Dowles Brook to the River Severn. Turn right to Bewdley.

9:35am Monday 24th December 2007

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