Stotty Strollers

Stroll 5 – Down the hollow and around the Knowle

Discover the secrets of watercourses, woods and wild deer
Distance: 7 miles or 11km Time: (approx) 3½ hours

- For a handy, printable PDF version, click here -
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This longer ‘scramble’ uses ancient footpaths, old lanes and sections of country road. Parts can be very muddy after wet
weather. There are 26 stiles and 14 gates.

Start from Stottesdon 1 or Chorley 11

1 From the Fighting Cocks, follow Burwarton road (50m); turn left at fingerpost (old village Pound was on this corner); head along Pound Lane passing two cottages (left) to cross stile/gate; down along sunken section, through gate halfway down (ancient holloway worn away over centuries by passing carts and animals, and by water) to bottom of lane.

2 Turn sharp left after gate (take care across corner of busy farmyard, sheep fields beyond); through nearby marked gate; ahead to cross stile; follow hedge (right) to gate; ahead to cross stile/footbridge (Bakers Brook); up bank, cross next stile; turn left, over another stile then follow path (brook left) 150m to cross stile at footpath crossroads (Ginny Hole).

3 Straight on (old trout lake, right; brook below, left. Water was pumped from here to holding tank in village before mains water supply connected) to cross stile; ahead to top corner of pasture; cross two stiles; on up to turn half right at
second marker to cross stile (right of cottages ahead).

4 (The next path section is 750m – modern road is 1km for same journey!) Cross road, turn left; at road junction (100m)
turn right up steps to cross stile behind road sign; diagonally over field to cross stile just below farm; through marked gate; along garden fence to cross stile; straight on to top left corner of field, to cross stile/ditch onto the Cleobury road.

5 Turn half right to cross road then stile opposite; over field to cross next stile; down (follow hedge/stream gully, right) to next stile/bridge in spinney bottom right corner of field; up to cross stile at top of bank.

6 Turn right to cross next stile; head to far bottom corner of field (keep stream which has eroded a deep gully right for next 400m, through this and three more fields); cross stile/bridge; through sets of gates (used for sheep pens); straight ahead to far right field corner to cross next stile/bridge /stile (look out for the ‘cascade’ where tiny brook has washed away all the soil to expose the underlying rock; harder rocks, less easily eroded, mean there is a waterfall on main stream to right); up bank and continue 150m along to a stile (right) in field/ stream boundary.

7 Do not cross stile; turn half-left uphill then follow hedgerow up to line of oaks beyond top of the hill (views towards Abberley, right); at opening keep trees left; ahead through double gate; turn left into yard; follow track round to pass farm/cottages; then turn right onto road for 30m

8 Leave road at Bridleway sign, turn left into wood Birchen (‘birch tree’) Park; next mile (crosses ancient boundary with Kinlet parish four times) passes through pheasantries (dogs under close control please). Pheasants, though now a common sight, are not native birds but were imported from central Asia about 1000 years ago. Keep left at junction (250m); left again (in 300m) on path to wood edge; through gate; follow left boundary to top right field corner.

9 Through gate (views over Kinlet Hall and its Park -the original Hall was demolished in Georgian times to put an end to the haunting ghost of George Blount, the squire who had died in 1581); down to turn right on track at edge of Gorsty (“prickly shrub or gorse”) Park wood; turn left (100m) at gateway; through wood; cross track, stream at bottom; up far bank to field;turn left, over gate (30m); then sharp right to follow fence (right) down to cross stream/stile, then up along
the deer fence which surrounds this part of Bush Wood to cross/turn right at double stile

10 Farm (left), named ‘Mass House’ around 1800, recalls outlawed church services held in secret; house is believed to have once had a ‘priest hole’. Diagonally up ridge (views (left) to highest point in this parish – Knowle Hill 754ft (232m); through gate below; across next field to cross stile to track; turn left to bridleway gate (right); ahead (cottage left) to cross next stile into wood (Bragginslye Covert); scramble across stream; follow yellow markers to gate; diagonally across paddock to join track by garden

11 Turn left at Bridleway junction; follow marked track 1 mile, through wood and up hill beyond, to Harcourt crossroads; straight ahead for 1 mile along lane to ‘T’ junction at edge of Stottesdon; turn left; follow road passed School and round to village centre; Fighting Cocks on left.

The word ‘park’ now usually means a playground, or urban green space – this walk has examples of two older meanings: the formal, landscaped ‘parkland’ around Kinlet Hall; and the woodland ‘parks’ (like Gorsty Park) nearby. These woods were once enclosed by wooden fences (‘pales’) and were used for keeping fallow deer; those fences are long gone and most of the remaining deer here, and in the Wyre Forest generally, roam more freely – shy, timid creatures… so go quietly if you hope to see them!




Stroll 5 – Down the hollow and around the Knowle Discover the secrets of watercourses, woods and wild deer Distance: 7 miles or 11km Time: (approx) 3½ hours - For a handy, printable PDF version, click here - ---------------------------------------- This longer ‘scramble’ uses ancient footpaths, old lanes and sections of country road. Parts can be very muddy after wet weather. There are 26 stiles and 14 gates. Start from Stottesdon 1 or Chorley 11 1 From the Fighting Cocks, follow Burwarton road (50m); turn left at fingerpost (old village Pound was on this corner); head along Pound Lane passing two cottages (left) to cross stile/gate; down along sunken section, through gate halfway down (ancient holloway worn away over centuries by passing carts and animals, and by water) to bottom of lane. 2 Turn sharp left after gate (take care across corner of busy farmyard, sheep fields beyond); through nearby marked gate; ahead to cross stile; follow hedge (right) to gate; ahead to cross stile/footbridge (Bakers Brook); up bank, cross next stile; turn left, over another stile then follow path (brook left) 150m to cross stile at footpath crossroads (Ginny Hole). 3 Straight on (old trout lake, right; brook below, left. Water was pumped from here to holding tank in village before mains water supply connected) to cross stile; ahead to top corner of pasture; cross two stiles; on up to turn half right at second marker to cross stile (right of cottages ahead). 4 (The next path section is 750m – modern road is 1km for same journey!) Cross road, turn left; at road junction (100m) turn right up steps to cross stile behind road sign; diagonally over field to cross stile just below farm; through marked gate; along garden fence to cross stile; straight on to top left corner of field, to cross stile/ditch onto the Cleobury road. 5 Turn half right to cross road then stile opposite; over field to cross next stile; down (follow hedge/stream gully, right) to next stile/bridge in spinney bottom right corner of field; up to cross stile at top of bank. 6 Turn right to cross next stile; head to far bottom corner of field (keep stream which has eroded a deep gully right for next 400m, through this and three more fields); cross stile/bridge; through sets of gates (used for sheep pens); straight ahead to far right field corner to cross next stile/bridge /stile (look out for the ‘cascade’ where tiny brook has washed away all the soil to expose the underlying rock; harder rocks, less easily eroded, mean there is a waterfall on main stream to right); up bank and continue 150m along to a stile (right) in field/ stream boundary. 7 Do not cross stile; turn half-left uphill then follow hedgerow up to line of oaks beyond top of the hill (views towards Abberley, right); at opening keep trees left; ahead through double gate; turn left into yard; follow track round to pass farm/cottages; then turn right onto road for 30m 8 Leave road at Bridleway sign, turn left into wood Birchen (‘birch tree’) Park; next mile (crosses ancient boundary with Kinlet parish four times) passes through pheasantries (dogs under close control please). Pheasants, though now a common sight, are not native birds but were imported from central Asia about 1000 years ago. Keep left at junction (250m); left again (in 300m) on path to wood edge; through gate; follow left boundary to top right field corner. 9 Through gate (views over Kinlet Hall and its Park -the original Hall was demolished in Georgian times to put an end to the haunting ghost of George Blount, the squire who had died in 1581); down to turn right on track at edge of Gorsty (“prickly shrub or gorse”) Park wood; turn left (100m) at gateway; through wood; cross track, stream at bottom; up far bank to field;turn left, over gate (30m); then sharp right to follow fence (right) down to cross stream/stile, then up along the deer fence which surrounds this part of Bush Wood to cross/turn right at double stile 10 Farm (left), named ‘Mass House’ around 1800, recalls outlawed church services held in secret; house is believed to have once had a ‘priest hole’. Diagonally up ridge (views (left) to highest point in this parish – Knowle Hill 754ft (232m); through gate below; across next field to cross stile to track; turn left to bridleway gate (right); ahead (cottage left) to cross next stile into wood (Bragginslye Covert); scramble across stream; follow yellow markers to gate; diagonally across paddock to join track by garden 11 Turn left at Bridleway junction; follow marked track 1 mile, through wood and up hill beyond, to Harcourt crossroads; straight ahead for 1 mile along lane to ‘T’ junction at edge of Stottesdon; turn left; follow road passed School and round to village centre; Fighting Cocks on left. The word ‘park’ now usually means a playground, or urban green space – this walk has examples of two older meanings: the formal, landscaped ‘parkland’ around Kinlet Hall; and the woodland ‘parks’ (like Gorsty Park) nearby. These woods were once enclosed by wooden fences (‘pales’) and were used for keeping fallow deer; those fences are long gone and most of the remaining deer here, and in the Wyre Forest generally, roam more freely – shy, timid creatures… so go quietly if you hope to see them!			Click map to enlarge