Small, irregularly shaped fields, ancient hedgerows and lots of oak trees characterise this enjoyable walk close to town.

It's a low-lying area and many of the fields were originally poorly drained, with the result that each autumn saw an influx of those birds, such as snipe, curlew and lapwing, which prefer damp pasture.

Much of the landscape has been drained and converted to cereal crops in recent years, but some fields have remained as pasture and species such as lapwing still occur, though there are no longer the huge flocks there used to be only 10 or 15 years ago.

Fortunately, the oak trees remain, providing shelter for birds such as little owl, blue tit, long-tailed tit and greater spotted woodpecker.

The little owl is not a native, but an introduced species which has found the English countryside much to its liking. It's our smallest owl, not much bigger than a blackbird, but it's a fierce predator. Its facial markings make it look as if it's constantly frowning but it's an endearing bird which, unlike other owls, is active in the daytime.

Other species present in the autumn and winter include mallard duck and moorhen in the damp pastures and on the ponds, streams and ditches. Fieldfare and redwing may be seen too. These Scandinavian members of the thrush family come here to escape the extreme cold of the far north and to feed on berries and fallen apples.

There are striking views to enjoy too, of the Malverns and the Teme Valley, and some interesting old buildings, from timber-framed farmhouses to the curious church at Cotheridge, with its whitewashed walls and weather-boarded tower.

St Leonard's dates from around 1125 but the tower was probably added after this date. It's supported by massive oak crucks - basically, a cruck is an oak tree cut in half lengthways, so one tree would provide a matching pair of sturdy timbers.

If you find the church unlocked it's worth going inside to see the memorial to Thomas Berkeley and the 15th Century floor tiles, some of which depict elephants, which must have seemed hopelessly exotic to inhabitants of rural Worcestershire 600 years ago.

The Firs at Broadheath is interesting, too. This is the cottage in which Sir Edward Elgar was born in 1857. It contains memorabilia and musical scores and there's a visitors' centre next door.

However, The Firs is also a charming cottage in its own right and worth a visit for anybody interested in vernacular architecture.

DIRECTIONS

Walk down Otherton Lane until it bends sharp left. Join a bridleway on the right and follow it to a cluster of farm buildings and houses at Howsen. Keep straight on through the hamlet, passing through a gate which spans the bridleway just after Lower Howsen.

About 400m after Upper Howsen, and just after you cross a brook, join a footpath on the left and cross two fields towards a bungalow by the A44. Turn sharp left when you reach it and recross the second field, heading for a footbridge in the far hedge.

Having crossed the bridge, follow the right-hand hedge to St Leonard's Church.

Join a footpath across the lane from the church (on the far side of the house next to Court Lane). Keep just to the right of power lines as you cross a field, aiming for a point about 50m short of the far right corner. Cross a stile in the hedge and cut across the corner then by the right-hand edge of another field to meet the A44.

Cross the road and join a footpath opposite - taking care not to fall into the ditch in the grass verge. Follow the left-hand field edge to a stile and then go left along the edge of another field before turning right on a track.

Before very long a waymarker directs you diagonally right across a field. Head for the furtherest corner and climb over a stile into the next field. Turn left, pass to the left of abandoned, dilapidated Blackfield Cottage and keep going in the same direction to meet a road.

Turn right past Blackfields Farm to Tinkers' Cross then turn right on a field-edge footpath. Follow it to a crosspaths and turn left. Keep straight on at all junctions, ignoring two paths heading north to Maple's Cross and another heading south to Cotheridge.

Eventually you come to a gate where two paths are waymarked across the ensuing field. Take the left-hand one, walking to the next corner then through a gate on the left. Turn right over a pair of stiles and walk along the right-hand edges of the next two fields. Go diagonally across a third field to meet Ankerdine Road.

Turn right and keep straight on at all junctions to come to the Plough Inn and Elgar's Birthplace, The Firs. Join a footpath almost opposite The Firs and follow the

right-hand hedge through four fields to meet the A44 near the top of Otherton Lane.

FACTFILE

Start: Top of Otherton Lane, off A44 between Crown East and Cotheridge; grid reference SO 803545.

Length: 6.75 miles/10.8km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Gentle, mixed farmland, boggy in places.

Stiles: About 20, some of which are wobbly.

Parking: Roadside parking is possible on the A44 close to Otherton Lane.

Buses: Frequent services (less frequent on Sundays) are provided by 419/420 Hereford buses along the A44, and there are also buses to Broadheath Common on weekdays; Traveline 0870 608 2608.

Refreshments: Plough Inn at Broadheath, and a coffee shop at Laylocks on the A44.

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.