An attractive, well-run and improving park set amidst farmland in the Vale of Evesham and…
Along Cleeve Hill
4.5 miles (7.2kms)
About the walk
Plums with such evocative names as Pershore Purple and Pershore Yellow Egg used to dominate the region, but nowadays the Victoria accounts for three-quarters of the commercially grown plums. The plum is the first tree to come into flower in spring, showing its delicate white petals even before the sloe (blackthorn). According to folklore, plums may, apparently, be used to make a love potion. One of the ways in which cherry growers have made themselves more competitive is to grow the fruit on dwarfing rootstocks; as the name suggests, this means that the tree does not grow to any great height, making the labour costly task of picking the fruit much easier. A further benefit is that the smaller trees can be covered by a plastic tunnel. Although there are now several types of plastic tunnel, in England the so-called ‘French tunnel’ has been around since the late 1980s, coincidentally roughly the time that the Channel Tunnel began to be drilled. Such a substantial investment is best thought of as an insurance policy, protecting the fruit from summer rainstorms. There is considerable potential to be realised from combining these two simple technologies. Perhaps other trees, such as peaches, almonds, apricots and figs, will be grown in tunnels if suitable dwarf rootstocks can be cultivated. Although growers are anxious to have soft fruits such as strawberries available early in the season, it is also an advantage to be able to prolong the season. This is achieved by taking plants out of the ground during the shortest days of December and January, then arresting their growth by keeping them in cold storage (which of course incurs a cost) until required, not planting out the last until August. On our behalf, supermarket buyers make the assumption that we will only eat perfectly proportioned strawberries. Hives of honey bees are routinely used to maximise levels of pollination. Two separate studies have suggested that honey bees also reduce the percentage of misshapen fruit from about 30 per cent to below 5 per cent…presumably, as you read this, somebody is trying to work out why!
Walk directions
Walk westwards up School Lane to the B4085, here called Cleeve Road. Cross diagonally left to take a rutted, stony track, screened by a hedgerow from Kanes Foods. At a junction of tracks bear right by a nature reserve to join a bridle path, passing several gates. After 350yds (320m), you reach an opening on the right and a line of plum trees marking a field boundary; on the left is a metal gate.
Go through this gate, entering Worcestershire Wildlife Trust’s Windmill Hill Nature Reserve. Descend steeply, ignoring crossing tracks, to another gate and across one field to the B4510. Follow the signposted ‘Cleeve Prior’ footpath through Offenham Park caravan site. (Turn left on the road for 220yds/201m for the Fish & Anchor Inn.) Go through a gate out of the caravan park to walk on a stone track beside the river.
At a log cabin move to the right to take a double-stiled footbridge and resume your riverside stroll. Continue through mostly ungated pastures for over 0.75 mile (1.2km). Ascend through trees to a clearing and a path junction.
Turn sharply right, back on yourself, soon walking into trees again, to follow a popular (and sometimes muddy) bridleway. In a shade under 1 mile (1.6km) the B4510 cuts through the hill, beside The Hills. Cross over and move right to a fingerpost, but follow the path for just 75yds (69m).
Go through the gate into the nature reserve here, and follow either of the parallel contouring paths, giving fine views over to the west. After 440yds (402m) you will recognise your outward route. Turn left here, up the bank, retracing your steps for just 30yds (27m), to Point 2. Once at the top go straight across, walking with the line of plum trees on your left-hand side. When this ends, maintain this direction until you reach the B4085.
Cross the road and go straight ahead. From the fields you will see the tithe barn. Before some young trees take a kissing gate to the right. In 15yds (14m) turn left to visit the tithe barn, or keep ahead to reach the village road. Turn right again, shortly to reach the start of the walk.
Additional information
Paths across fields, stony tracks and village roads, several stiles
Level farmland with distant hills
On lead near sheep; some freedom in arable fields
OS Explorer 205 Stratford-upon-Avon & Evesham
Outside village hall on School Lane, Middle Littleton, or on-street parking elsewhere in the village
None on route
WALKING IN SAFETY
Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.
Find out more
Also in the area
About the area
Discover Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a county of rolling hills, save for the flat Vale of Evesham in the east and the prominent spine of the Malverns in the west. Nearly all of the land is worked in some way; arable farming predominates – oilseed rape, cereals and potatoes – but there are concentrated areas of specific land uses, such as market gardening and plum growing.
Worcester is the county town, and home to Worcestershire County Cricket Club, which has what some regard as the most attractive grounds in the country, in a delightful setting with views of Worcester Cathedral. The Malverns, Great and Little, set on the slopes of the Malvern Hills, are renowned for their refinement. Great Malvern, terraced on its hillside site, came to prominence as a genteel spa for well-to-do Victorians, rivalling the likes of Bath, Buxton and Cheltenham with its glorious surroundings.
Sir Edward Elgar was a Worcester man, and his statue stands on the High Street, facing the cathedral. The cottage where he was born is now a museum and he is commemorated on the £20 note. Other notable Worcestershire figures include poet A E Housman, chocolate magnate George Cadbury; and Lea and Perrins, inventors of Worcestershire sauce.
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