THIS is a short walk, but complicated, so there's little space for additional information.

The main thing to note is that it's very beautiful, and will be at its best over the next few weeks, as millions of bluebells bloom in High Wood and Rough Hill Wood.

When the bluebells start to fade, compensation will come in the form of apple blossom, spreading a pink-and-white haze across the orchards of Crumpton Hill.

FACTFILE

Start: Malvern Link Station; grid ref SO782475.

Length: 6 miles/9.6km.

Maps: OS Explorer 190, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Gently undulating; mostly pasture, orchard and woodland, with a couple of arable fields.

Footpaths: Mostly excellent, but some road-walking is necessary at the start because a footpath beside the railway is unusable, one path has not been reinstated after ploughing and waymarking is patchy.

Stiles: 11.

Parking: Find suitable roadside parking or a nearby car park (there is one on Link Common). Or start at Tank Quarry, where there is a car park.

Public transport: Central Trains/Great Western operate very frequent daily services; buses include 42 (Mon-Sat), stopping at Malvern Link Station, 44 (frequent, daily), stopping nearby at Malvern Link Co-op, 417 (Mon-Sat), stopping at the New Inn; Traveline 0870 608 2608 or www.traveline.org.uk

Refreshments: Malvern Link, North Malvern, New Inn at Crumpton Hill.

DIRECTIONS

Cross the station footbridge to platform two then turn right on to a footpath. Walk up to Somers Road and turn left, then first right on another footpath (signed 'to 67').

Follow the path to Quest Hills Road, turn right past the Express Inn, then left on Howsell Road. Walk to a crossroads, turn right on Church Road, then take a path on the left, just before the railway.

Walk beside the railway, past houses and then through fields, ignoring all turnings until you come to a waymarked junction just before Lower Howsell Road. Turn left, going diagonally across the field.

Pass through a hedge gap and continue in the same direction beside the right-hand hedge.

The path leads to Upper Howsell where you proceed a few paces to a junction and then turn right.

Turn left when you reach Whippets Brook and follow it to Tanhouse Lane. Turn right, then right again on Grit Lane.

Leave Grit Lane at Pastures Cottage, taking a footpath which goes diagonally to the far left corner of a field.

Go through a gate, cross a second field and then continue across the bottom of a garden.

Enter another field through a gate on the left and follow the right-hand hedge.

Pass through a gap in the next corner and turn left along the edge of an orchard to Leigh Sinton Road.

Turn left and cross to a footpath which passes through (NB: that's definitely through) a corrugated-iron stable or barn. Leaving the building, walk across a field and straight through a band of conifers.

Cross a ploughed field and pass through some young Christmas trees.

Keep roughly straight on, across a field, through a plantation and forward to a kissing gate under a large oak tree.

Pass through the gate into a field and follow the right-hand hedge.

After crossing a stile, continue to the field corner, then turn left to join a lane. Turn left, then right, then left again, on Crumpton Hill Road.

After 400m, two adjacent footpaths leave the road on the right. Take the left-hand path, going diagonally left across a field. Cross a footbridge near the far corner to meet the Worcestershire Way.

If you need a break, turn right to the New Inn. Otherwise, turn left.

Follow the Worcestershire Way for nearly three-quarters of a mile until it turns left to cross Whippets Brook. Turn right instead, and walk up a slope towards a waymarked post. Turn left at the post, climbing very gradually across a slope to walk along the outer edge of Rough Hill Wood.

There are two stiles to cross as you approach Cowleigh Road. If you prefer to avoid the first one by using the adjoining gate, do take care: the gate hangs from just one hinge. Turn left beside the road, then join a footpath on the right, into High Wood. Walk to a junction and turn right, then continue to another junction just above Whippets Brook, near the edge of the wood. Turn left uphill.

Keep straight on at all junctions until you intercept what used to be the Worcestershire Way, until it was rerouted last year. You'll recognise it by the blank spaces on the posts where discs displaying the Way's logo have been removed. Turn left on this path and soon left again. Keep straight on at a cross-paths with no waymarking.

All too soon, the path leads out of High Wood and across fields to Old Hollow at North Malvern. Climb a flight of steps opposite then turn left at the top. Pass Tank Quarry and the clocktower, then go left on Pump Street. Turn right on Cowleigh Road, and shortly descend left towards Malvern Link.

Join Worcester Road and cross to Moorlands Road, then go left after 100m, on a well-trodden path round the edge of grassland, beside a hedge.

Turn right by a cream-painted terrace, then right across more grassland to a crossroads. Cross to Moorlands Lane and go diagonally across Link Common. Pass through a car park, cross a road and take a path opposite, heading into a shallow valley between patches of woodland.

Pass under the railway and then choose any path, either exploring the common more fully or immediately going left to Worcester Road. There are two access points to the rail station: one is left of the fire station, the other is on Howsell Road.

n PLEASE NOTE This walk has been carefully checked and the directions are believed to be accurate at the time of publication. No responsibility is accepted by either the author or publisher for errors or omissions, or for any loss, accident or injury, however caused.

How to win a chance to see lots of beautiful bluebells

SPECTACULAR spring blooms will be on display during an open day at a Worcestershire nature reserve - and your family could see them for free if you win our competition.

The Knapp and Papermill nature reserve at Alfrick Pond will be open on Sunday, April 24, from 11am to 5pm.

Entry is £3 for adults and £1 for children. Visitors will be able to walk through meadows and woodlands, and see vast expanses of bluebells as well as small communities of early purple orchids.

There will be wildlife experts, guided walks, owls, donkeys, pond dipping, entertainment and refreshments, including a pig roast, so fun for all the family. The Worcesteshire Wildlife Trust will also have a stand where people can find out more about the local reserves and become a member.

And you've got a chance to experience all this for nothing by answering this question: What flowers will you be able to see during the open day?

First prize is a family membership to the Worcester Wildlife Trust for a year (worth £40) and free family entry to the reserve on the open day. The winner will collect the prize at the open day when they bring along their letter announcing they have won. If they can't make it, then we will make alternative arrangements. There are also two runner up prizes for free family entry on the open day.

send to

Entries on a postcard with name and address details to: Bluebell Competition, Promotions Dept, Worcester News, Hylton Road, Worcester, WR2 5JX, to arrive no later than Saturday, April 16, 2005. Usual Newsquest Worcester rules apply.