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Whitney-Titley
Taster Walks
Whitney Bridge to Kington
From Whitney Bridge, cross the A438 and take the path up through Whitney Wood. Continue past Brilley Court and on to Brilley Church. Now head eastward to Woods Eaves and take the bridleway into Eardisley. Along this section, enjoy good views over the Black Mountains and Merbach Hill. Eardisley has many interesting Black and White buildings throughout the village, along with various pubs and tearooms.
Turn left at the Tram Inn, a throwback to the time when a horse drawn tram way connected Brecon to Kington prior to the coming of the railways. Follow the lanes until you reach the largest Oak Tree in the county. There's room inside for 5 or 6!
From here, head for Upper Welson and through Welson Nature Reserve on your way to Apostles Farm. Follow the bridleway to Chickward and then the footpath past The Golden Pippin, to join the lane before descending quite steeply. Take the path to the right and follow it through to The Toll House, after crossing the River Arrow. Walk across the recreation ground and into Kington, near the Tourist Information Centre and Museum.
Kington to Leintwardine
Walk through Kington along High Street to eventually cross the A44 and follow the B4355 for a short while. When the Mortimer Trail goes away to the right, follow it for a while but when it bears left, continue to follow the River Arrow to eventually arrive at Titley Junction. The station and a few hundred metres of track are being restored to the former glory of a bygone age of steam.
Continue via Lower Flintsham to Titley. Near Titley Church, again join the Mortimer Trail . Follow this over Wapley Hill and down to Combe Moor. Take time to view the remains of the hill fort with good views back over Hergest Ridge.
Visit Upper Kinsham and Noisy Hall before arriving in Lingen. Now ascend Harley's Mountain, named after a local family of the same name, who also gave us the renowned medical street in London. Descend to the lane and proceed through Pedwardine Wood to Brampton Bryan with its massive yew hedge around the church.
Cross the River Lugg on Parsons Pole Bridge and then cross the River Teme to reach Leintwardine via Buckton Park.
Circular Walk - Vaughans Way
Out on Vaughan’s Way and back on the Herefordshire Trail
Distance 14.5 miles
Map Explorer 201.
This walk could equally well be a circular walk from Eardisley or Almeley, all three places have pubs and tea shops to reward yourself after the walk but, when parking in smaller villages please consider the needs of residents and churchgoers. It could also be two linear walks – Kington to Eardisley via Vaughan’s Way is approximately 7.5 miles and Eardisley to Kington on the Herefordshire Trail is approximately 6.9 miles.
Whichever starting place you choose, you will need OS Explorer Map No 201. Following the map is a must – these are only sketchy directions to give you a good idea for a route and introduce you to the Herefordshire Trail, one of the newest trails in Britain!! The 155 mile route, which links all the market towns in the County, has been planned, written up and work is now being carried out to get it into guidebook form. Keep your eye on your local bookshop and don’t miss the launch of this long awaited publication from Hereford Group of the Ramblers Association.
Starting from Mill Street Car Park, Kington, wander along past the Museum, the Market Hall and the Burton Hotel, opposite, into High Street. Walk the length of High Street in a north-easterly direction and turn right into Bridge Street. Cross the bridge and just after the petrol station turn right into Old Eardisley Road, which used to be the main road to Eardisley. At the top, the road becomes a footpath, which leads to the present Eardisley Road A4111.
Follow the waymarks across the road and you will find the first of the Vaughan’s Way footpath signs. Follow it through to Rodds Wood and eventually to meet Jack’s Ditch Lane, which you follow through to a T-junction. Pick up the footpath opposite you and descend past a large pond to join a cart track, which leads you past Elsdon Wood and The Wood Farm into a lane, which takes you to Lower Wootton.
Take the footpath on your right after the last building in the village, shown on the map. This leads into a tract of woodland. If you would like to look at the Summer House, an interesting 17 th century building, make a detour to your left and then retrace your steps. Otherwise, turn right and follow the woodland path through to the road just outside Almeley. Turn left into the village and turn right by the war memorial garden and millennium map. At this point you leave Vaughan's Way. Pick up the first footpath on the right, which takes you past the remains of a motte and bailey to another road. Cross the road to the footpath on the other side and follow this through to another road near Station Farm.
Go across into the drive to Nieuport House and almost immediately turn left onto a footpath, which takes you across two fields and past a lake on your right. We were lucky enough to see cormorants fishing here on a January day. The path meets a road at New House, goes through the farmyard and follows the track, finally dog-legging into the entrance to Holywell Dingle.
Holywell Dingle is now managed by Herefordshire Nature Trust and is a truly beautiful place. Keeping the stream on your right and ignoring a gate on the right, follow a yellow waymark up a steep slope and over a stile. Keep following the waymarks until you come to a footbridge. Cross this and leave the Dingle.
Keep to the path, which takes you on to Almeley Road on the outskirts of Eardisley. Cross the road and take the old tramway. Pass a footbridge and then climb a stile. Follow the waymark into the village. Allow yourself to be tempted by one of the pubs or teashops!
You are about to join the Herefordshire Trail! Walk through the village heading roughly north-west and turn left after the Tram Inn. Turn left at the first fork and then right to the Great Oak. Take the footpath behind the tree, which goes between high hedges. Cross three stiles in succession and arrive on a road. Turn left for a few metres then right to a stile. Cross a footbridge under the trees into the next field. Continue on more or less the same bearing until you find another footbridge, which leads onto the road. Turn left then take the stile on the right before the buildings. Bear left up a steep field to a gate in the middle of the hedge line. Cross the next field, bearing slightly left, to two stiles and taking the one on the right. Follow a track along past a white house and past a farm. Go through a metal gate. Ignore the footpath sign pointing right and, where the path splits, take the left–hand path through a gate into a small paddock. Cross this diagonally to another stile then continue straight ahead to another stile leading into a wood which is Upper Welson Marsh, another nature reserve.
Follow the footpath through on roughly the same bearing until you turn left to reach Apostles Farm.
Continue on the road for a short distance then take the first bridleway on the right and follow it through to a footbridge at Chickward.
Cross Chickward Lane and proceed, bearing north-easterly over several fields and up a hill to a junction of paths. Take the path going left towards The Golden Pippin. At a five ways junction of paths, take the path leading slightly to the right, which emerges on a lane at the top of a hill. Turn left and descend the lane. As the lane bears right, take the footpath up a steep bank on your right. Follow this path along past some woods and with the River Arrow on your left to a footbridge. Cross this and emerge on a road near The Toll House. Turn right, take the first footpath on your right. Cross the Recreation Ground and you will find yourself in Mill Street Car Park.
