In footsteps of the barons

Bringewood offers panoramic views of the Clee Hills and Wenlock Edge, and also of Downton in Herefordshire, where Downton Castle dominates the landscape.

It looks mediaeval but was actually built in the 1770s.

Ludlow Castle is the real thing. It was founded around 1085 by the Norman baron Roger de Lacy but later belonged to the Mortimers, the most unruly and ambitious of the Marcher lords.

The first Mortimer was Ralph, who was allowed by William I to carve out his own quasi-autonomous territory as long as he helped to keep the Celts and Saxons down.

Two-and-a-half centuries later, Ralph's descendant Roger had real power within his grasp. Queen Isabella was his lover, and after the brutal murder of her husband Edward II in 1327, Roger was the virtual ruler of England for a time in the name of 15-year-old Edward III. Roger must have thought he had it made but he'd underestimated the teenage king, who seized control and ordered Roger's execution.

The family's name lives on in Mortimer Forest, in Mortimer's Cross (a Herefordshire battle site) and in the Mortimer Trail, a superb 30-mile walk from Ludlow to Kington.

DIRECTIONS

Outside the entrance to Ludlow Castle you will see an informative display about the Mortimer Trail. Join the trail, following the waymarked route round the castle, across the Teme at Dinham Bridge and up steps to Whitcliffe Common before turning right high above the river.

When you reach a road go straight on to join Lower Wood Road for a few metres, then follow the Mortimer Trail to the left as it heads uphill through chestnut woods, eventually meeting a road opposite the Forest Office.

Leave the Mortimer Trail now, turning right past a vehicle barrier into the forest. A path takes you through dense conifers to arrive at an area where they've been thinned. Take an unsigned but well-trodden path on the left which leads uphill almost to the road. Turn right on a cycleway, passing a black and yellow barrier.

Follow the cycleway for one-and-a-quarter miles then turn left on an unsigned path. It's on a sharpish left bend, marked by a group of three silver birches, one of them with a bifurcated trunk. The path is just a few steps further on. It's grassy, with a suggestion of old tyre tracks, and it climbs towards a group of oaks and sycamores. A piece of timber lying on the grass verge is a further pointer (but not necessarily a permanent one).

If you can't find the path it doesn't matter as there are other suitable paths further on. Assuming you do find it, you'll climb to a junction below four large oak trees. Turn right here. The path is faint at first but very soon improves. When it is intercepted by another path turn left on this and follow it uphill. Beware mountain bikers, they come down here at breakneck speed. The top of the hill is marked by a trig pillar. Walk past the trig and along a ridge-top beech avenue. This leads to a gate into a field. Don't go through the gate - the path continues along the edge of the wood, to the right of the field.

Before long the path turns sharp right, then zig-zags its way down to a forest road. Turn left. Joining a public road, continue in the same direction until you can join a bridleway at a gate on the right. Proceed to a junction and fork right on the bridleway (blue arrow) then follow it down to Mary Knoll Valley.

When you come to a post numbered 26 turn left. At post 101 go right, past Sunny Dingle Cottage, then left at the next junction. This leads down to the B4361, where you turn left, then soon left again on a Tarmac track (a public footpath, despite the absence of a sign) which leads past houses.

Keep straight on at all junctions, including a T-junction where you join a grassy path which leads to a gate. Beyond the gate, continue in the same direction by field edges, changing to the other side of the hedge at a stile. The path is unmistakable now, leading eventually to the B4361 where you turn left.

n Reaching the edge of Ludford you will see Lower Barns Road, and a notice proclaiming ''private road''. But recent editions of Ordnance Survey maps show this as a public footpath. The truth of the matter is uncertain, but were you to take this opportunity to escape from the B4361, you would find Lower Barns Road leads to a gate where a sign insists ''no right of way''. The OS map, however, shows a right of way along a field edge. It is well trodden and leads to a stile at Ludford.

Whichever route you choose, you will soon come to Ludford Bridge. Ludlow is just across the bridge, or you could turn left to return over Dinham Bridge. There is a choice of paths to Dinham. One runs alongside the river, while the other takes a higher route across Whitcliffe.

FACTFILE

Start: Ludlow Castle; GR 510746.

Length: 8 miles/13km.

Maps: OS Explorer 203; OS Landranger 137 or 138.

Terrain: undulating throughout but never very steep; mostly forest paths and tracks.

Stiles: 2 (4 if you use Lower Barns Road).

Parking: Ludlow.

public transport: daily bus service, changing at Kidderminster or Hereford; daily train service, changing at Hereford; Traveline 0870 6082608.

Refreshments: Ludlow.

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.