BROUGHTON Hackett is a former farming community where attractive old cottages still survive among the modern developments.

Its church is dedicated to St Leonard and is associated with a couple of scandals, one of which is related by historian Bill Gwilliam in Worcestershire's Hidden Past.

The story concerns a vicar of St Leonard's who was having an affair with the wife of a local farmer. The two of them conspired to murder the unfortunate farmer and then hid his body under the vicarage stairs.

The vicar was subsequently executed, but not by any conventional method. He was imprisoned in a cage, suspended from an oak tree and left to starve to death.

The other scandal is possibly even more unsavoury, featuring a vicar of St Leonard's who baked a boy to death in a large oven. The motive for this bizarre crime remains unknown and, of course, it may just be folklore.

Moving quickly on to a more wholesome subject, this area used to be part of the Forest of Feckenham. The forest was cleared long ago but patches of woodland survive and there are plenty of hedgerow oaks that have been allowed to grow to maturity.

Some are obviously very old and you will see two memorable old oak trees on this walk. Old trees are important because they support lots of wildlife.

It is vital that they are protected, but first they need to be recorded and for that purpose an Ancient Tree Register is being established by Worcestershire Biological Records Centre.

DIRECTIONS

JOIN a lane leading into Broughton Hackett but leave it immediately for a footpath on the right. After 100m branch left, and pass through the churchyard into the village. Turn right, then left on Rye Hill Lane.

Reaching the end of the lane, go forward into a field and walk along its right-hand edge. When the fence on your right turns a corner, keep straight on across the field to the far side. Go through the left-hand one of two gates and follow the right-hand hedge, passing a massive pollarded oak.

As you approach the field corner, cross a stile on the right, turn left to cross another and then follow the left-hand hedge. Cross to the other side when you come to a green gate but continue in the same direction to meet Bredicot Lane. Turn right past Thrift Wood.

As you approach Crowle, look out for another fine oak tree on your left. Just beyond it a signpost indicates a footpath on the right. It cuts out a little road-walking but at the time of writing it's blocked with barbed wire.

As you enter Crowle, you'll see Court Barns on the left, where the outbuildings of Court Farm have been converted into homes. After passing the last of them join an unsigned path which passes the remains of the moat which originally encircled Court Farm.

Take a right fork into the churchyard, walk straight through it then continue to the main street. Turn left, then very soon right on a footpath. When it emerges in a new housing development keep straight on for a few paces then turn right on an unsigned track. After a few more paces go through a gate on the left and follow a well-trodden path to Comice Grove.

Join another footpath by Conference Grove and walk across a patch of grassland to the left corner. Go straight on along a residential street until you can turn right down Bramley Close.

Turn left on a footpath into a field and follow the right-hand edge to the far right corner. The path continues opposite, across a track, maintaining the same direction until you come to Bow Brook. Turn right and follow the brook to a footbridge. Cross and turn right into a field.

Stay beside the brook until it begins to move away to the right. Keep straight on across the field instead, heading for a lone ash tree then straight on to the road (A422), passing within a field's width of Court Farm.

Turn right to the Coventry Arms, then cross to a lane opposite. Walk along it for about 600m until you can join a bridleway on the right. Walk along the right-hand edge of a field, through a gateway and along the edge of the next field for about 200m before turning left.

The turning is not easily found but if you go left before the field begins to slope down to Bow Brook you will be roughly on course. (It's clear from the trodden path that most people just descend to the brook before turning left by the field edge. This is because the bridleway is sometimes blocked by crops.)

A gate gives access to a track, Edward's Lane. Turn right then cross a footbridge by a ford. Walk along a field edge until a stile allows a return to the track. Pass a wood then take a bridleway on the right.

Cross a field, go through a hedge gap at the far side and across the next field to a stile in the far left corner. Turn right to the top corner of another field to meet a track. The bridleway continues opposite, and is easily followed to Broughton Hackett, meeting the road by the March Hare.

FACTFILE

Start: Broughton Hackett (on A422 east of Worcester), by phone box at far end of village; grid reference SO926544.

Length: 5 miles/8.8km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Level, mostly pasture.

Stiles: 15.

Parking: Layby next to phone box.

Buses: Hardings/Dudleys 350 Worcester to Redditch service, Mondays to Saturdays; Traveline 0870 608 2608.

Refreshments: March Hare, Coventry Arms, French House Inn.

DISCLAIMER

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