Easy route for a summer afternoon Take it in your stride

It begins in Upton, one of the most charming of Severnside towns, and takes you through riverside meadows before returning through Holdfast, a straggling hamlet of interesting old houses, followed by more meadows near Newbridge Green.

Once back in Upton, you may well be tempted by one of the many pubs or tea rooms.

The walk leaves town via Waterside, where the boatyards used to be located in the days when Upton was an important inland port.

The boatyards were bordered by pubs and warehouses. The pubs are still there and one of the warehouses survives, largely unaltered.

Waterside runs into Dunn's Lane, lined with houses of the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries.

According to the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner, the two best houses are in Dunn's Lane. One is Waterside House and the other is the Malt House; both early Georgian.

There's also a 17th-Century Flemish-style house with curvy gables, half-hidden by a 19th-Century stable.

Details about all of these, as well as Upton's other notable buildings, are contained in a worthwhile booklet available from the tourist information centre.

It's entitled Upton Walkabout and is packed with a mixture of fascinating facts and superb drawings.

Once Dunn's Lane is left behind, your walk continues through a large meadow called Upper Ham, beyond which is Lower Ham.

Such meadows are characteristic of the flood plains of the Severn, Avon and Lower Teme. They have been used as pasture since Saxon times and most were held as common land for many centuries.

Enriched by silt from winter floods and manure from grazing animals, the hams were botanically rich. Today most have been drained and "improved" so that modern strains of grass predominate, while few flowers or traditional grasses remain.

Some have been ploughed, even though the crops are often ruined by flooding.

A few unspoilt ham meadows remain and Upper Ham is one. In the 1990s it was acquired by the charity Plantlife, which manages it in the traditional way.

At first glance it may not look that exciting, but closer inspection reveals a variety of colours, shapes and textures absent from so-called "improved" meadows.

At this time of year black knapweed, great burnet and meadow cranesbill are all in bloom.

Black knapweed is a striking, purple-flowered relative of the cornflower and a great butterfly plant.

In winter, Upper Ham attracts a variety of birds, especially after flooding. There are fewer birds around in summer but you may see or hear waders, such as redshank or curlew, while cormorants are another possibility. The skylark is present too, and easily recognised by its persistent song.

directions

Join the Severn Way by Upton Bridge and head south towards Tewkesbury.

A well-made path skirts Upper Ham but, once the nature reserve is left behind, the path is a little more overgrown.

After nearly two-and-a-half miles you will reach a point at which powerlines cross the river.

Ahead of you is a brick garden wall and a small breezeblock building.

Turn right here on a mown path which soon joins a stony track.

The track leads to a lane where you turn right to walk through the straggling hamlet of Holdfast.

Stay on the lane for over three-quarters of a mile.

Leave it when it bends left, turning right between The Close and Close Cottage.

You'll then see two

footpath signs - take the path which goes straight on towards Upton.

Pass a small timber building used by Queenhill WI, go through a gate into a field and proceed along its edge towards a large farm (Southend Farm) at Newbridge Green.

Join a farm track and turn right.

Very soon a gate gives access to a cattle pasture.

Follow a track across the pasture. When it peters out, continue in the same direction to a stile, half-hidden behind an oak tree, about 75m from the right-hand field corner.

The stile gives on to a tree-shaded causeway which leads to another field.

Cross the field and continue a few paces further to a residential street.

Turn left, then very soon right on to Furlongs Road.

When this bends right, go to the left on a footpath, then left again on Laburnam Walk, by an electricity sub station.

Turn right at a road junction, on a short path which leads to Upper Ham.

You can either turn left here, close to the edge of the ham, or walk straight across it to the riverbank before turning left.

Either way, it's just a short stroll back to Upton.

FACTFILE

Start: Upton Bridge; GR852407.

Length: 5 miles/8km.

Maps: OS Explorer 190, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: mostly riverside meadows and cattle pasture; no hills.

Stiles: 12.

Parking: public car park in Upton.

Buses: frequent daily services 363/364/372/373/374; Traveline 0870 608 2608.

Refreshments: good choice in Upton, farm shop at Holdfast Hall.

DISCLAIMER

While we wait for our bedding plants to burst into bloom, remember that they can brighten up the home as well.

The delicious scent of sweetpeas, the vibrant orange and yellow hues of pot marigolds, huge radiant Iceland poppies and rich blues and reds of salvias are just perfect for cutting in summer.

Other bedding plants including zinnias, nicotiana, antirrhinums and verbenas are all suitable for cutting.

But if you are going to pick some of your summer blooms, there are ways to do it, according to Sarah Raven, who runs her own gardening school in Sussex and is author of Grow Your Own Cut Flowers (BBC Books, £18.99).

She offers the following tips:

a Don't pick flowers in the heat of the day. It's best to pick last thing at night or first thing in the morning.

a Cut and plunge the flowers straight into water, which makes a big difference to the flowers' vase life.

a Don't leave flowers in direct sun, even if they're in water. Find a spot in the shade.

a Remove the leaves from the bottom half to two-thirds of the stem as you pick, putting the strips in a different bucket from the one you are collecting the flowers in, which saves a lot of time and mess later.

a Don't allow leaves below water level or they will rot.

a When picking annuals, don't cut them to the ground. Take out the leading shoot, cutting just above a side branch with a bud, which will grow and go on to produce more flowers. You can cut the stem as long as you like as long as there are buds below the cut.

Raven says: "All plants picked from the garden benefit from a rest before you arrange them. This means giving the flowers a few hours, or best of all, a night in a bucket of water in a cool, dark place.

The bucket should be filled with tepid water, as the plants absorb this better and this can mean a 25 per cent increase in a flower's vase life.

It's also advisable to add flower food to the water, or make your own by mixing sugar, bleach and an acidifying agent, such as vinegar or lemon juice.

In a 30cm (1ft) high vase, use one tablespoon of sugar, one teaspoon of bleach and one tablespoon of clear malt vinegar.

Some techniques are only suitable for specific plants.

Sear the stem ends of poppies and keep the vase out of draughts so they won't drop their petals or flop for four or five days.

The stem ends should be put in boiling water for 30 seconds - but don't overdo it or the stem ends will disintegrate.

This technique is also suitable for bluebells, euphorbias and Helleborus orientalis hybrids and will increase the vase life of cow parsley, roses and woody plants like lilac and philadelphus.

To stop gerberas going floppy in a vase, bunch 10 or 20 together and wind string from the stem end to the flowers, making a straight rod with all the flowers supporting each other, and put the lot in water.

This variety of techniques will mean a prolonged flowering season indoors and shouldn't make too much of a dent in your blooms outside.