START:
From the car park at St Peter's Church, walk up the churchyard, cross
the B4204 and go up the signed track opposite, bear left through the avenue
of damson trees, and over the stile (1). Go straight ahead to the stile
in the far hedge, visible when the crest of the field is reached. (2)
Bear left to the next stile in the roadside hedge (3). Turn right up the
road B4197 to the timber yard and turn left up the lane by the sawmills
(4). At the junction turn left up this rather wet lane until a sign post
appears in the left hand hedge pointing up the bank (5). Climb this bank
with care to emerge on the lower slopes of the spectacular ridge of Rodge
Hill. Between a natural tree nursery of dozens of young ash trees, and
stretches of blackberry, prolifically fruited in Autumn, one can begin
to see the unfolding views across the Teme valley the rolling contours
of the land, with the road to Clifton-on-Teme winding up past two picturesque
timbered houses, and Pitlands farm in its plum orchards. The view to the
right requires patience, obscured as it is by a gloomy thicket, paradise
for birds, but not to be traversed at a late hour unless one has strong
nerves. Emerging into daylight, go through the field gate and the grandeur
of the Rodge Hill ridge is revealed. Keep ahead along the summit, noting
the gnarled old remnants of hawthorn on your right, defying the winds
that sweep against them straight from Wales.
Through the next gateway continue ahead to the bench (6) placed strategically
by the County Council at the best viewpoint from this high ridge. Below,
the River Teme flows between tree lined banks, and a Norman motte rises
gently out of a field near the aptly named Homme Castle Farm. The nearby
Ham Bridge over the Teme replaced, in the nineteenth century, a ford hidden
away downstream at Kingswood on the Worcestershire Way. The immediate
horizon is the Clifton Ridge, punctuated by the spire of Clifton-on-Teme's
church of St. Kenelm, one of only three similar dedications in the land.
Below to the right are Shelsley Beauchamp and its church, and across the
river is Shelsley Walsh, notable for its tiny tufa church and its famous
motor hill climb up the Clifton bank. A light aircraft runway can also
be seen. These views are bounded by the distant bulk of the Clee Hills,
Titterstone Clee with its Iron Age Hill Fort and radar station, and to
its right Brown Clee, higher by twenty two feet and the highest point
in Shropshire.
Leaving the seat, continue to the junction of paths (7) and turn right onto the Martley Loop Walk, descending through the farmyard and down the track to the B4197 (8). Turn right and from now on the route follows the Martley Loop, described in Walk Two of "Walks in Martley Parish" until the church car park is regained. The Martley Loop is well signposted, passing through orchards and pastures under the lee of Rodge Hill, and is also briefly described in the "Worcestershire Way Map Pamphlet".