THIS beautiful and rewarding walk combines rights of way with 'countryside stewardship' sites, where the farmer receives payments in return for sound environmental management and the provision of enhanced public access. On the main stewardship site at Broadwas there is a permissive bridleway around fields of flax and wheat, bordered by woods and hedges, with views of the Malvern Hills and Teme Valley. The other stewardship sites include woodland at Landymoon Coppice and meadows by the River Teme. At Haynes Green the walk uses public rights of way actually available to the public for the first time in many years, having at last been cleared of obstructions following reports to the county council.

FACTFILE

Start: Broadwas,

grid ref SO758552.

Length: 8 miles/13km (max).

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Gently undulating farmland and woodland.

Footpaths: Most are good or excellent, but a few are very poor. The worst problem is a plethora of nettles at two places, though they can be avoided - see route description for details. Some paths cross uneven ground, with the holes and ruts concealed by vegetation.

Stiles: 25, and probably two locked gates.

Parking: Some roadside parking is possible near the church, near the village hall or on Weston Hill. The route is described from the main road.

Buses: 420 Worcester-Hereford, daily via Broadwas; 01432 260211 or www.herefordbus.info

Refreshments: Royal Oak at Broadwas.

1Walk up the lane signed 'Village Hall and Wants Green'. Turn right just before the village hall on a 'private road' which is also a public footpath.

Waymarked and easily followed, it leads to a lane at Broad Green. Turn right to a junction on Weston Hill and take a footpath on the left. The first section is overgrown with nettles and brambles. If you can't cope, walk along the lane until you can gain access at a gate. If you do tackle the nettles, continue through an orchard and then into a field of flax. You'll see from the waymarks that this is a stewardship site, with 'conservation walks'. Make sure your dog is on a lead then turn right around the edge of the flax field. When you come to a cornfield, make a circuit of that too, if you wish, then return to the flax and keep going along the edge until you have passed three or four houses. Leave the field, following a track to a road at Broad Green.

2Turn left, then soon right, walking along two sides of the triangular green. At the top corner, turn left on a path which is easily followed past paddocks, across a brook and through fields of broad beans. When you reach a junction marked by a line of trees and five hay bales, turn right beside the trees. At the far end of the line of trees, turn left, after which the path is again easily followed until you come to a fence corner in a pasture. Turn left here, and shortly join a lane at a decrepit gate. Turn right.

3Join a footpath on the right when the lane bends left. Walk through a long, narrow wood then across a paddock to a lane. Turn left, then take the second path on the right at an overgrown gate just after a brook. The first few metres are overgrown with nettles - to avoid these, stay on the lane (see map). If you do brave the path, it leads into a field of flax. Turn left by the edge. When the hedge turns a corner, carry on across the field. The path has been cropped over but you can use tyre tracks for part of the way. Aim for a house, meeting a lane just to the left of it. Cross to another path, turning right by a field edge almost to the corner, then left across the field to a stile near another house at Haynes Green.

4Turn right along a lane, descending into a lovely wooded valley then climbing out of it again. Turn right at a junction then take a footpath on the left. Go straight across a field to meet a hedge, and cross a stile to another field. Walk towards a wood then turn left and descend to Bannersbrook.

5Turn left beside the A44, crossing to a grass verge. After 250m you'll come to an easily missed footpath, marked only by a rusty gate buried in vegetation (it's just after an open gateway into the adjacent field). Climb over the gate and turn left, heading towards the right-hand hedge which leads to a footbridge. Follow the River Teme for 200m, after which the right of way goes straight across fields, but a much nicer permissive path continues by the river (part of the 'conservation walks' network, though not waymarked as such). The two paths meet up at another bridge, beyond which you should take the left-hand path, across an orchard to the A44.

6Cross to a path opposite, also part of the 'conservation walks'. Climb uphill to the top edge of Landymoon Coppice and turn left. Leave the wood at the far end and turn left downhill to meet a path along a valley bottom. Turn right on this path, then right again at the far side of the field, going back uphill. Now just keep straight on at all junctions, eventually reaching Stone Farm. Go through a gate in front of you then turn right and descend to Broadwas. Cross the A44 and turn left to Church Lane. Walk to the church and you'll find another stewardship site, with a short circular walk to the river. There's a map on the gate.