THIS lovely walk starts at the New Inn at Shrawley, taking you through Shrawley Wood to Dick Brook and then north through Lower Astley Wood to join the River Severn at the Hampstall Inn.

You can then make use of a permissive riverside path before heading back to the New Inn by way of the fields and woods of Astley, a parish which consists of numerous widely-scattered small settlements which between them boast a Norman church, a water mill, an Elizabethan hall, a monastery and several beautiful houses. One of the best is The Pool House, which presents a Gothick faade to the world, below ogee gables and star-topped chimneys.

Dick Brook, which is a tributary of the River Severn, flows through lovely countryside, but is only accessible by public footpath in a very few places, including Shrawley Wood and Astley Wood.

Despite its present-day tranquillity, the brook has a rather surprising industrial heritage: in the 17th Century, an engineer called Andrew Yarranton built locks across it, near its confluence with the Severn. This allowed boats loaded with iron from the Forest of Dean to gain access from the Severn to a forge located by the brook in Upper Astley Wood.

Only the slightest traces of the forge remain but it's marked on OS maps should you wish to see it (on the north bank, 500m west of the footbridge crossed in point two).

DIRECTIONS

1 Cross the road to the Old Post Office and take the adjacent footpath, which leads to Shrawley Wood. Go straight on along the main path, ignore a path branching left after a little way, but take an unmarked path on the right some way further on, which heads diagonally through the wood. Keep straight on at a cross-path, and then straight on again at another, marked by a memorial bench. The path climbs a little then swings left to run along the top of a cliff for a while before descending towards Dick Brook.

2Turn right and shortly cross a footbridge into a meadow. Bear right to a gate and turn right on a bridleway which runs northwards, initially by the outer edge of Lower Astley Wood, and then through the wood. Keep straight on when the bridleway meets a farm lane, and proceed to a residential street. Turn right, then soon left on a footpath just before Astley Public Loading Wharf, passing several houses and the Hampstall Inn, beyond which the path runs close beside the River Severn. Keep straight on at a junction, along a permissive path. When a fence prevents further progress beside the river, turn left and after passing through a gate you will be back on the right of way. Turn right to join a lane and turn left.

3 Take a track across a field on your right. There is no waymark, but you'll see a broken signpost and a notice ordering 'no tipping'. Leave the track when it swings right, and cross the field as indicated by a waymark - it may look at first as though you're being directed towards a barbed-wire fence but there is a gap in the wire. The path then leads across the next field, and by the right-hand edge of another for a short distance until a stile gives access to a lane. Turn left.

4 The lane bends right just after Longmore Hill Farm. Go through a gate on the bend and walk along the edge of a sheep pasture. Go straight on at a junction, along the edge of the next pasture until a stile on your right gives access to the B4196. Cross over and turn left, cross School Lane and keep going beside the main road until you see a footpath on the right. It runs along the edge of a housing estate, straight on at a junction and over a stile into a field. Go diagonally to the far right corner then turn left along a lane.

5Take a farm track on the right, just before The Pool House. The track runs to a farm then bends left. Follow it to a lane and turn left. Join a path on the left next to Bumble House, walk to another lane and turn left. Turn right after 200m, on a footpath just after Astley Towne Barn. Walk to a lane and cross to a path opposite which runs along the right-hand field edge and then over a stile to another field. Turn left for 50m then bear right to a stile in the right-hand hedge. Cross the next field, pass to the right of a house and along the field edge to a waymarked post.

6 Cross a track and turn left on a bridleway which leads into a field. Guided by fence posts, follow the bridleway to a field corner then turn right. Keep straight on at a bridleway junction, passing a pool and soon entering a plantation. Take the left-hand option when the path forks. Turn left at a junction with a footpath and walk to the main road. Turn right to the New Inn - it's not far and there is a good footway beside the road.

FACTFILE

Start: The New Inn, on B4196 at Shrawley; grid ref SO799663.

Length: Six miles/9.5km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 138 or 150.

Terrain: Woods and farmland, with no steep hills.

Footpaths: Excellent, except for one at Astley Towne which is slightly overgrown by brambles.

Refreshments: The New Inn and the Hampstall Inn.

Stiles: 13.

Parking: Shrawley picnic place, behind the New Inn.

Buses: Service 293/294, Worcester to Stourport, stops at the New Inn, Monday-Saturday; Traveline 0870 608 2608 or log on to www.traveline.org.uk

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.