Walk 124 [7.7 miles] - Mortimer Forest - High Vinnalls, Black Pool & Richards Castle

Mortimer Forest - High Vinnalls, Black Pool & Richards Castle

Ian off to start the church clock chimes at Bucknell

A good turnout of 8 walkers, after discussion agreed to reverse the intended route and we set off from High Vinnalls Car Park and climbed the slippery slope to the top of High Vinnalls. In spite of the weather being rather dull, the views were (as usual) quite spectacular with the tower at Abberley School clearly visible to the east, Hay Bluff to the south west and Black Mixen to the west.

"Never mind the view - what were we talking about...?"
photo courtesy Ian Hay-Campbell

We then took a long slow and at times muddy descent and emerged from Mortimer Forest at Vallets.

The view across to Wooferton from Vallets
photo courtesy Ian Hay-Campbell

I had intended on adding an extra and unchecked section to the walk here but completely missed the opportunity and we continues south joining the Herefordshire Trail and stopping for coffee (after a bit of grumbling) with a fine view over The Goggin.

The Goggin....

..and the group taking morning coffee

The Herefordshire Trail into Richard's Castle

Richard's Castle

We continued round to Richard's Castle and emerged onto the road near the (upper) church where we dropped down into the village then turned left onto a farm track, crossing a few muddy fields we eventually emerged onto Hanway Common, It was here that I spotted a deer on the horizon watching us emerge from the copse. Eventually as more people came into view the head disappeared quickly followed by 6 or 7 more heads. Enchanted we watched as they disappeared and then the whole herd of a dozen or more appeared running away.

Coming back up the fields to Mortimer Forest

Black Pool

We were now getting hungry (nothing new there then) and we made our way to a picnic table in Black Pool Car Park and had our lunch and resumed our long climb back to High Vinnalls car park. All agree that the 7.7 miles was most enjoyable, and made even more enjoyable as the promised rain started to come down quite heavily as we drove back to Bucknell.

Lunch time
photo courtesy Ian Hay-Campbell

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Unless otherwise stated photographs are © Graham Jackson

Walk 123 [8.3 miles] - Brockhampton, Bringsty & Bromyard Downs

Bringsty, Brockhampton & Bromyard Downs

With most of the walkers unavailable for this walk, Colin suggested we do a recce for his next walk. So the 4 of us set off on one of Colin's "away days" and found ourselves getting well on towards Worcester.

We parked opposite the school at Brockhampton and set off - promptly going along the wrong track, but quickly sorting ourselves out. It should be said from the outset that Colin had interpreted a rather vague and fanciful description of this walk from a book which had also provided a singularly useless map, and so the route was very much open to interpretation.

Our first decision came at Nuttage Farm where, it would seem, we took the wrong option. It was quite muddy skirting round the farm thanks to rain the previous night and we soon found the going quite heavy. We emerged onto Bringsty Common - 220 acres of attractive open space and a Special Wildlife Site - a haven for birds and butterflies including the rare High Brown Fritillary and topped by the Jubilee trees. At the time we stopped for coffee we were unaware of this viewpoint and so we stopped lower down the track after which we visited the Live and Let Live pub, before retracing our steps and climbed to the trig point on the common.

The Live & Let Live Pub

Panorama from Bringsty Common

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Descriptive plate of the panorama

We then dropped down towards the main A44 road and crossed it heading towards Upper and Lower Brockhall and eventually coming to another decision point at the Old Mill. This time we guessed right and soon found ourselves negotiating Mill Dingle followed by a long walk through Hyde Dingle - a rather leg-sapping experience thanks to the thick mud. We decided this time to miss Lower Brockhampton and soon found ourselves some felled trees on which to perch and have lunch. We continued through Look-out Wood and emerged from the woodland and correctly guessed the path to climb up towards the chapel at Brockhampton Park.

Our next aiming point was Warren Farm and as it had started to drizzle we put on our waterproofs. The path took us eventually to the National Trust Shepherd's Cottage after which we emerged onto Bromyerd Downs. With the benefit of hindsight we should have stayed up high and turned towards our start point on the open access area, but we followed Colin's interpretation of the text and turned left onto the minor road and back to the school at Brockhampton. 8.3 miles of testing terrain, but on a good day this will be well worth doing again in reverse with a minor modification to the start. Thanks to Colin and Anne for their company.

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Unless otherwise stated photographs are © Graham Jackson