The Ribbesford Circular Walk

The Ribbesford Circular Walk Track 1 Welcome to the Ribbesford Circular audio trail. This is one of a series of audio trails delivered by Worcestershire County Council Countryside Service. You will hear some short instructional tracks giving the directions of the walk, along with some longer tracks interpreting what you can see along the way. You can either listen while you walk or stop to listen at the start of each new track. Whilst on the walk please be sure to close any gates you have opened behind you and keep any dogs under close control. This 2 mile route will take you on a leisurely stroll through this delightful part of Worcestershire. Depending upon your speed of walking it could take between one and two hours. This particular walk is way marked with a willow tree logo. To commence the walk, you need to be standing on the riverside path in the bottom corner of the Gardeners Meadow car park. (If you are starting at Blackstone Riverside Park, go straight to Track 2). Turning your back on the town, head down the riverside path in a downstream direction, passing through the two large red brick pillars of the flood defences and with Bewdley Cricket Club on your right hand side. Whilst you walk along the riverside path, look out on the right for the impressive sandstone outcrops which are typical of the underlying geology of this area. Depending upon the time of year you may see a variety of wildlife as you progress along the riverside path, from the ducks and swans who reside there all year round, to summer sightings such as sand martins and dragonflies. If you are lucky, you may catch a glimpse of a kingfisher, a sudden flash of blue darting past or across the river. The Severn is Britain's longest river, with its source at Plymlimon in the mountains of mid Wales, it winds its way down through the Midlands until finally emptying out into the Bristol Channel. Once ocean going ships would have been a common sight in Bewdley; now in a dry summer the river is navigable to little more than canoes. However, we should not under estimate the phenomenal power of this river when in full flood. Sometimes the western half of the town needs protecting, and recently state of the art flood defences having been installed. While on your walk should you hear the whistle of a steam train, fear not you haven't gone back in time; it is the ever popular Severn valley railway. Originally built between 1858 and 1862 the line connected Hartlebury near Droitwich with Shrewsbury - a distance of some 40 miles. Even in its heyday the line was never a commercial success, relying mainly on colliery and agricultural haulage and small numbers of passengers. It did, however, have a strategic importance in the Second World War as a way of by passing the Black Country and its bomb damage. The line was axed in the 1960's as part of the now notorious Beeching cuts. Today, just the 16 mile stretch between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster remains as a heritage railway and tourist attraction. Opening in the 1970's it relies on hundreds of volunteers who freely give of their time and expertise to keep the line and its trains alive. It is an extremely popular local attraction, drawing some 250,000 visitors a year. Proceed along the riverside path until you come to the road bridge with the Bewdley bypass overhead and press track 2. Track 2 For those of you starting the walk at this point, you will need to head off on the track out of the car park with the bypass above you on the left. Follow the signs for the Ribbesford Circular down to the river. You should now be standing beneath the vast road bridge with the Bewdley bypass rumbling over head. You are about to enter Blackstone Riverside Park, a popular spot for dog walking, fishing, recreation and picnics, managed by Worcestershire County Council's Countryside Service. Proceed into the Park, walking by the riverside. Looking across the river you will see fine views of the giant red sandstone outcrop that is Blackstone Rock, from which the park takes it name. Rising 65 metres above the flood plain with its wooded escarpment stretching down to the river bank opposite, the rock is an impressive local land mark. Atop the rock there is evidence of an Iron Age hill fort dating from a time before the Roman invasion. Another Iron Age settlement once occupied the lower gravel terraces below the rock. That site was excavated in the 1970's prior to being quarried out. During the Medieval period, caves cut into the rock were reputed to have provided a hermitage, and the architecturally splendid Blackstone Farm below also has medieval origins. Follow on through the Park with its grassed open spaces, keeping roughly to the riverside, and leave the park where the path narrows and passes through the trees, then press track 3. Track 3 The path passes through the trees for a short distance before coming to the road. Cross over the road carefully, and proceed left, walking along the verge for 20 metres or so, then turn right up a tree lined avenue signposted Ribbsford Church. At this point press track 4. Track 4 Now proceed up the avenue of horse chestnut trees. Looking across to your left you will see Ribbesford House. This striking property was built in the 19th century, on the site of a far older manor. During the Second World War it was used as a training camp for the free French under General de Gaulle. Follow the avenue up, ultimately bearing right until you find yourself outside Ribbesford Church, then press track 5. Track 5 You should now be outside St Leonard's Church. It is well worth taking the time to walk slowly around the Church - look particularly at the walls in detail. The church’s red sandstone nave, chancel and north and south aisles are 15th century. The timber porch dates to 1633, whilst the north doorway and parts of the north wall date from the 12th century. Fragments of sculpture inset into the south wall and doorway may be pre-Norman and suggest an early Medieval church occupied the site previously. Following a fire, part of the church was rebuilt in 1877 although this is unlikely to have affected the stone fabric of the building. St. Leonard's was the main church for Bewdley during the Medieval and early modern centuries, hence the importance of the Ribbesford to Bewdley track along which this walk continues. Home Farm’s large sandstone built barn and stable date from around 1650-75 and there is also documentary evidence for a Medieval fishpond, tithe barn and corn mill associated with the settlement here. Ribbesford is one of two “Ribb-esfords” recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The place-name of Ribbesford comes from the Old English ribbe-bedd-ford, which translates as “ford by a bed of ribwort or hound’s tongue.” The manor of Ribbesford was granted to the powerful Mortimer family of Wigmore, Shropshire who also held Wyre Forest from 1246 to 1460. In essence, Ribbesford is a forest edge settlement with associated parkland and scattered farms. A small private archaeological excavation on land behind the Church has revealed pottery dating to the 15th – 16th century and possible building remains, suggesting that Ribbesford was a larger settlement in the later Medieval and Tudor periods. Leaving the church behind, follow the surfaced track passing a large white modern house on your left with a young orchard to the front of it. Proceed up hill on the surfaced track until you pass again under the Bewdley bypass via a tunnel. At this point press track 6. Track 6 Keep walking straight ahead. The path here is flanked by young Lime Trees. Looking across to your right the high ground on the horizon, with a radio mast to its left is the Devil's Spittleful Nature Reserve. The fields in the foreground have grown asparagus for many years, a crop you would not immediately associate with this area - the Vale of Evesham being its more natural home. Proceed on to the Heightington Road, and then press track 7. Track 7 Cross over the road and head down through a kissing gate. Note the fine line of oaks and sycamores on your right and the first views of the town up to your left. After 50 yards or so the path takes on the appearance of a sunken lane with some fine ancient oak trees on the bank to your right. One huge long dead stump exhibits how shallow the soil is here and how the trees have had to cling to the bank, hence their long tentacle like roots showing on the surface. Some of these oaks are probably well over 300 years old and are superb specimens of ancient trees, possibly remnants of the ancient park land of Bewdley that survived into the 17th century. As the path drops down, tucked away amongst the trees on are some ponds. These are the remnants of a snuff mill. Originally recorded as a corn mill in 1336 and perhaps associated with Ribbesford Manor, by 1608 it is listed among the properties of King James. The mill was converted to grind snuff in the 18th century, an activity that continued until 1870 when it was converted for use in polishing combs made out of horn, which it did until closing down in the 1920's.

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