The Witney and Wychwood Brewery, Oxfordshire Ale Trail

Distance: 6.33 km

Difficulty: Easy

Dog Friendly: Yes (lead required in Witney town centre)

Ascent/Descent: Easy (+/- 146 metres)

Toilets: At the pubs and along the route

Wildlife: Great crested grebe, goldeneye, kingfisher, coot

Endomondo route: Download here

Pictures

Directions

The walk starts at a free, long stay car park near the centre of Witney (Sat nav: OX28 6GF)

1. Exit the car park onto the road and turn right, walking downhill, following the road past one set of traffic lights and arriving at another. Cross to the other side at the lights and head right, past the fire station. Turn left just after the police station onto Holloway Road. Continue on uphill until you reach the end of the road. The first pub, The Three Horseshoes, should be on the left corner.

2. Cross over the main road, taking care as it can be quite busy, and head down The Crofts, which should be almost directly opposite. After no more than 20 metres, turn left, following a sign pointing you to Wychwood Brewery, home of the famous Hobgoblin ale! Head straight on and as the road bears right, there is the brewery. They do tours and have a shop!

3. Continue on past the brewery and along the road. After passing The Old Rectory Mews on your left, turn right, then left, back onto The Crofts. Follow this road until it reaches its end (just after the right turn for The Springs) and bear off to the right, heading downhill along an alley. At the end of the alley, a playing field should be ahead and to your right. However, here you should turn left. Avoid the sharp hairpin left turn, instead taking the left turn that goes off at approximately a right angle to the alley. Walk along this path until you reach and join a residential street called Gordon Way. Follow Gordon Way until you come to a junction with the main road. Walk left a short way along the main road, crossing over to the other side when safe. Roughly 50m ahead is a turning into the industrial estate. Take this road and follow it along until you reach the subway under the A40.

4. After the subway, the entrance to Witney lakes is ahead. Go through the gate and take the path straight ahead that follows the side of the lake. Follow it all the way, sticking to the side of the lake, until it eventually bears sharply left around the southern tip of the lake. Keep following the pathway as it meanders alongside the River Windrush. After several hundred metres, you come to a concrete bridge (pictured above) over the river. Take the bridge, head left and through a gate into a field that may contain livestock. Keep to the left perimeter and walk around until you reach a wooden gate with a latch. Go through and follow the path, leading you to another subway under the A40. Continue heading north, following the grassy, worn path, passing industrial units on your left and the River Windrush to your right. Keep going north until you come to T-junction with a path. (If you wish to visit Cogges Manor Farm, turn right here) Head left over the bridge, passing an electricity substation on your right. When you come to the roundabout, cross straight over onto Langdale Gate and walk along the pavement. You will pass public toilets on your right. When you reach the zebra crossing, cross the road onto the left hand side of the road, but instead of continuing on to the next roundabout, turn left. Not far ahead is the next pub, The Fleece.

5. Continue on along this road all the way to St Mary’s Church. As you approach the church, turn right, past the front of the church graveyard, and then turn right again, crossing over the very wide road to walk on the pavement and head back into town. On this stretch you will find the next pub, The Angel Inn. Continue, going straight over at the roundabout. Walking through the high street, you will pass numerous shops and food outlets. The High Street bears slightly right. On your left is the final pub on this ale trail, The Royal Oak. Leave the pub and continue along the High Street. Turn left at the roundabout. Go past Morrisons and cross the road at the pelican crossing but keep heading in the same direction towards the traffic lights. Once at the traffic lights, turn right and head uphill, returning you to the car park where the walk began.

Pub 1: The Three Horseshoes

The Three Horseshoes is a traditional, country pub run by a friendly family who always make you feel welcome. A log fire is lit in the winter, or there’s outdoor seating and a fantastic beer garden for the summer. Their wine list id described as ‘eclectic’ or there are a choice of three ales to choose from. Their website is here.

Pub 2: The Wychwood Brewery

Not strictly a pub, the Wychwood Brewery is too good to be missed if your out walking or ale trail-ing! Here is where the famous Hobgoblin ale is made! Call in at the shop and buy a Hobgoblin at the source, or take a brewery tour and find out exactly how it’s made! (£8.50 pp, lasts two hours, advance booking advised and can be made online at their website here)

Pub 3: The Fleece

The Fleece is an upmarket hotel and restaurant located in an Oxfordshire Inn dating back to Georgian times. The restaurant prides itself on serving fresh, seasonal food accompanied by quality pints and fine wine. They also have guest ales; on this occasion I went for the Scrum Down, which was golden, light and full of flavour. Given it’s a rugby world cup ale, it’s unlikely to be available forever. Their website is here.

Pub 4: The Angel Inn

The Angel Inn is more of a ‘boots-and-braces’ type pub, but don’t let that put you off visiting. It has stayed true to what a ‘proper pub’ should be and the authenticity gives it character. Oodles of it. The bar staff are so welcoming to locals and strangers alike. Not to mention they have a brilliant selection of ales to choose from, including their very own Angel Inn ale. It has got to be tried while you’re in Witney. You won’t find it anywhere else… and it’s good!

Pub 5: The Royal Oak

The Royal Oak is a charming and cosy little pub on the edge of Witney town centre. Like many of the pubs in Witney, it has a great selection of ales and the food menu is diverse and comes in good-sized portions. A pint might be considered a little expensive by some, but it’s the fifth and final ale stop on this trail for a reason. Well-kept beers and great atmosphere!

Tips

There are no tips for this walking route.

Please leave us a comment if you go ahead and do this walk. We’d love to know what you think!

Chris & Shaz

The Craven Arms & Stokesay Castle Circular, Shropshire

Distance: 11.11 km

Difficulty: Moderate

Dog Friendly: Yes, in most places (Some fields have livestock in)

Ascent/Descent: Moderate (Some steep uphill climbs, +/- 332 metres)

Toilets: In the pub, the Discovery Centre and at Stokesay Castle

Wildlife: White-throated dipper, Otter, Kingfisher

Endomondo route: Download here

Free Circular Walking Route, Craven Arms, Shropshire

Free Circular Walking Route, Craven Arms, Shropshire

Pictures

Directions

Start at The Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre car park (Sat nav: SY7 9RS). It’s free to park there, but the Discovery Centre is a little bit underwhelming (and they charge for their walking route guides)

1. From the Discovery Centre car park, follow the tarmac path around to the rear of the Centre. From here, you will see a multi-direction signpost for all of the walks starting here. Head right, following the signs for the Stokesay Castle walk. After no more than 10 or 20 metres, turn left and go past the community garden. Continue straight, keeping right down a narrow lane, eventually coming to a metal bridge over the River Onny.

The River Onny is a major river of Shropshire. The river contains brown trout, a favourite food of otters, which you may be able to spot.

2. Head out into the open field and cross it bearing ahead and right. Follow the perimeter around until you come to a footbridge; cross over it and follow the edge of this field, uphill towards some farm buildings. Follow the track ahead, bearing left, then right through Whettleton Farm, coming out onto a road.

Whettleton was once a bustling village. In 1645, the fields were the scene to a bloody battle during the Civil War when Parliamentarian forces charged downhill to ambush a larger Royalist force. The Parliamentarians won the battle, killing Sir William Croft, a key commander, and taking hundreds of prisoners.

3. Follow the road for about 300 metres, just past a house on your left, then turn immediately left, beginning to climb steeply uphill on a narrow, overgrown footpath. The path will bear left, continuing to track alongside the edge of the wood, then eventually bearing right. Keep following the obvious path until you come to a clearing with a house. The path is hard to spot, but it heads down the right-hand side of the house on a narrow, overgrown footpath with lots of rhododendron bushes. You may be able to see an open, circular field to your right. This is the old Norton Camp hillfort.

Here lies the ancient earthworks of a camp that had a double rampart and ditch that stood for around 2,500 years. In reality, the fort was more like a hilltop town; its vastness best appreciated by walking the perimeter.

4. The lane follows the outer edge of the camp until you reach an old house. Head on between the old house and a red brick building along a broad, permissive path that follows the curves of the ramparts. Keep going to reach a stile on the left. Climb over the stile and walk along the path as it winds along the top of the escarpment. Cross the next stile and follow the narrow path.

On the right are sheer limestone cliffs that run all along from Craven Arms to Much Wenlock. The rock has been quarried, with the stone produced being ‘burnt’ to produce slaked lime for treated arable farmland and for producing mortar.

5. The path winds away from the edge, eventually, bearing left and then right to descend down to Rotting Lane. Follow the blue bridleway arrows down Rotting Lane until you join a forestry track that, still descending, bears left and then right to come to a metal gate. Follow the track to the bottom of the hill. The route then turns sharply left down a narrow lane. At the bottom of the lane, turn left along a surfaced track to pass a brown stone house called Park Croft. Continue to descend, passing through Park Farm yard and coming out on the A49 main road.

6. Cross the A49, taking the track directly in front of you and crossing over the bridge before turning right to follow the track parallel to the River Onny (image 2). After a short way, the track bears a right-angle left and heads under a railway bridge. Keep heading straight on, but bearing right when you reach the edge of the field, sticking to a loosely worn perimeter path around the field. You should now be heading along the edge of the field, parallel to the train line, a short distance off to your right. You will now come to a barbed wire fence. There is no obvious way across, but head downhill slightly and you will find a stile to climb. Climb over, then head back up hill returning to the path that goes along the edge of the field, running parallel to the train lines. (The actual path is meant to run through the middle of the field, but the farmer has not maintained the paths/signs.) At the far end of this field, turn right, head downhill and join a rough track that follows alongside the train line.

7. Keep heading straight on, passing some lime kilns (image 3) on your left and following a rough track. You will see Stokesay Castle in the distance. Shortly after the sewage works (image 4), turn right and cross over the railway crossing, taking care. Follow this lane, bearing slightly right and passing some housing/farm building on your left. Keep going to reach Stokesay Castle (image 6). Continue on, past the Castle on your right and the car park on your left. Follow the road as it turns right, then bears left, before coming out on to the A49 once more.

8. Turn left onto the A49, crossing over on to the right-hand side when there is suitable walking space to do so. Take the marked footpath right, which then turns left after 10 metres, to enter into Onny Meadows. Follow this path all the way back to your starting point at the Discovery Centre.

Pub: The Craven Arms

The Craven Arms is an established pub in the centre of Craven Arms town. It has two separate bars, one of which is an ale bar, plus a restaurant. We stopped here for lunch and a pint. The ale was okay; my preferred choice wasn’t available, but they did have the reliable Jennings’ Brewery classic The Cumberland Ale. It’s good, but not quite the local brew I had been hoping for. The food, however, was fantastic. Very tasty, very filling, and at a reasonable price.

 

Tips

Some of the paths are quite poorly maintained, overgrown and poorly signposted. Having the Endomondo app will make it much simpler to follow this route. We provide instructions how to use it here.

Stokesay Castle is really interesting to visit. The staff at the centre were very friendly and the admission price of £5.80 (per adult, without Gift Aid) includes an audio guide so you can learn all about its history. English Heritage website here.

Please let us know if you’ve enjoyed this walk.

Chris & Shaz

The Market Deeping Historical Ale Trail, Lincolnshire

Distance: 9.69 km

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Dog Friendly: Yes (some sections would require a lead)

Ascent/Descent: Easy (+/- 143 metres)

Toilets: In the pubs and Market Deeping town centre

Wildlife: Nesting swans, Herons, Kingfisher

Endomondo route: Download here

 

Pictures

Directions

This trail begins at The Red Lion pub at 48 King Street, West Deeping PE6 9HP. There are plenty of places along this main road where you can park up on the side of the road without any restrictions.

1. Start with your back to the Red Lion and head right, following the main street. which used to be the old Roman road of King Street

King Street was originally used for cattle-droving and trading.

Follow this road until you pass over two consecutive stone bridges (look for two streams (River Welland) as the bridges sort of merge into one bridge). Shortly after the bridges, turn left onto a grassy track leading through a meadow (picture 1). Continue on, as it bends slightly round to the right and the field narrows then opens up again. At the end, it may not be immediately visible where to go next. To the left, look for a stile and bridge (picture 2) close to the River Welland.

The River Welland is one of the main waterways across the Fens. It rises near Market Harborough, flows through Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland, into Stamford in Lincolnshire. It continues its journey through the Deepings and Spalding, before emerging into The Wash at a total distance of 35 miles

Climb the stile and cross this footbridge. Follow the path alongside the River Welland, bearing left at the end of the field (picture 3) and with the river eventually being on your right. Walk along, until you cross a sluice gate and emerge out onto a pristine mowed lawn and the converted mill house (picture 4). While it may appear as if you’ve stumbled onto private property, you have not. Follow the water’s edge around the side of the property, called Maxey Mill, onto a short driveway which takes you onto the road.

Maxey Mill dates back to 1779 and is powered by a breast shot wheel. The mill currently produces stone-ground meal for the Grasmere Farm herd of pigs.

At the road, turn left and walk along a short way (ignore the footpath sign to the right) and you will find a marked footpath off to your left. Take this path.

2. Follow this path alongside the trees until you once again rejoin the River Welland. Continue to follow the path along the Welland; here is a popular spot for herons, kingfisher and nesting swans (picture 5). Keep following this path for a couple of kilometres, sometimes making short detours around some trees. Occasionally, some bad signposting will make it difficult to decide which way to go (pictures 6 & 7). If in doubt, take the left-hand option and stick to the River Welland or consult the Endomondo GPS track. You should pass under a bridge and the A15. Keep going and eventually you will come to a microwave cell-phone tower and finally emerging in front of the Market Deeping bridge.

The old stone bridge that carries the A15 over the River Welland was opened in 1842 and cost £8,000 to build. It replaced a wooden bridge that had been located here since the 16th Century.

Follow the path round to the right of the bridge and come out onto the main road. Cross over the road and head left, coming to The Old Coach House: a perfect stop for a pint of ale or a Sunday lunch.

3. Continue on and you will come to a roundabout and the Market Deeping square. Turn right if you wish to go to The Bull. If not, you should go left at the roundabout, walking on the pavement on the right-hand side of the main road. Continue on until you come to another roundabout, and cross straight over, heading straight on onto the A1175. Pass over the drain known as the Greatford Cut with the old water mill on your left. After approximately 100 metres past the old mill, cross over the main road and follow the marked footpath between the hedge and the fence. ***This part is quite overgrown with stinging nettles***

4. After about 200 – 300 metres you will emerge and join a tributary of the River Welland and the path of the old Stamford Canal.

The Stamford Canal ran between Market Deeping and Stamford at a total distance of 6.75 miles. The canal was built sometime in the 1660s at a cost of £5,000 after the River Welland became difficult to navigate following the construction of several watermills along its course. It was used for transporting goods by horse-drawn barges until its closure in 1863 when the railway arrived in Stamford. It was the longest locked canal in the country when it was constructed and only the second post-Roman canal to have been built in Britain, the first having been built in Exeter.

Keep following this path, adjacent to the Welland tributary, until you return to the village of Market Deeping. Do not cross the river, but follow the path between the wall and the hedge. Follow the path between the houses to a lane. This will lead you back to the main road and The Red Lion will be just to your right.

Pub 1: The Old Coach House

As the name suggests, it’s an old coach house turned into a pub. It’s located on the banks of the river and offers riverside seating; ideal for a summer pint by the river. It’s a contemporary pub that offers entertainment and big screen sports viewing as well as the usual food and drinks. A Sunday carvery is available, but most notable is that on Mon – Fri (11am to 7pm) all ales are just £2.25. Perfect excuse to try a few! Their website is here.

 

Pub 2: The Bull

We stopped in The Bull for our lunch; their lunch menu is excellent value. You can get a tuna mayonnaise baguette with side salad for just £2.35 or a hot bacon baguette for just £2.60, plus other options, hot and cold. Very friendly staff and they were happy to seat us in the restaurant area despite us only wanting sandwiches. The Original ale is their best ale. They don’t have a website, but opening times can be found here.

 

Pub 3: The Red Lion

The Red Lion is a fantastic traditional rural pub. There are comfortable armchairs and a log fire, perfect for resting your feet at the end of the trail. The pub has a good selection of ales which included the tried-and-tested London Pride as well as the locally-brewed Vespa. I tasted the Vespa and it gets an easy 5-out-of-5 from me. They also offer Birra Moretti, rarely seen on tap in the UK and superior to Peroni in my opinion; it demonstrates their approach to serving only the best draught. The pub also has a very tasty menu which we are keen to return to try sometime in the near future! For menus and opening times, their website is here.

Tips

There is a section towards the end of the walk where the stinging nettles are very overgrown. Shorts or thin trousers are not advisable! We got one or two stings up our legs doing this one in thin trousers.

Read the pub descriptions above for plenty of options for lunch in Market Deeping.

We don’t recommend trying to do this walking route in reverse. It’s near-impossible to find the marked footpath if you do.

We hope you enjoy the trail as much as we did!
Chris & Shaz