Five Walks in High Offley Parish Walks in High Offley Parish – Jan 2018 Introduction Here are the descriptions of five walks in the parish of High Offley. The walks stretch across the parish from east to west and offer a range of walks of between 1 and 3½ miles. The two shortest walks have no stiles but the longest has in excess of twenty. The walks can all be linked together in several combinations to create longer walks some of which are indicated in the descriptions. The descriptions also include notes about the history of the parish. The paragraph numbers, 1.1, 1.2, etc. correspond to the numbers shown on the map in the description of the walk. Should you encounter any problems in following the descriptions, or if you know of other points of interest relating to the walks, that could be included in the notes, please contact Geoff Loadwick of Woodseaves, telephone 01785 284 359. Should you encounter any problems such as damaged or overgrown stiles, or paths that have been ploughed or planted over and not restored, please report them to Staffordshire County Council using the link:http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/environment/eLand/RightsofWay/PublicPathObstruction.aspx Geoff would also be interested to hear about them. 2 Walks in High Offley Parish – Jan 2018 Walk 1 – A circuit from Woodseaves Village Hall via Littleworth . This walk is slightly more than one mile long and does not have any stiles. For those who do not mind a slightly longer walk with four stiles, there is a variation that extends the walk to one mile and a quarter. This walk can be linked to Walk 2 to make a walk of 3.5 miles. The walk begins from the Village Hall [see note A] on the High Offley Road in Woodseaves. 1.1 Walk along the pavement with the Newport Road behind you. Cross the end of Blackberry Way [see note B] and continue along the footpath [see note C]. Where the footpath comes to an end [see note D], turn left off High Offley Road and walk down the lane to The Green [see note E]. {If you want to link Walk 1 to Walk 2, at the T-junction turn left and then immediately right to a gate that has a stile on its right. Cross the stile and continue along the track for three hundred metres to the next field corner and turn left to follow the hedge along the right-hand m6rgin of the field for approximately 300 metres to a stile in the hedge on the right. Continue from 2.6.} 1.2. At the T-junction, turn left. There are two gates side-by-side ahead of you. Go through the smaller gate, the bridle-gate, and close it after you. Continue along the track for 200 metres to another gate across the track. Go through this gate and continue to a bridge across a stream. Pass through the two bridle-gates, one on each side of the bridge, and climb the slope heading slightly right towards the right of the house at the top. You will soon see a bridle-gate next to a field-gate in the fence at the side of the house. Go through the bridle-gate and walk along the Lane, Moscow Lane in the community of Littleworth, to meet the Newport Road [see note F] at a point almost opposite Lodge Lane. Here you have a choice. 1.3. For the shorter walk, turn left to follow the pavement at the side of Newport Road [see note G] to the Woodseaves crossroads and turn left to return to the starting point. {For the longer, slightly more challenging walk, cross the main road carefully and walk up Lodge Lane. A few metres beyond the first house on the right-had side, the road bends lightly to the left and there is a footpath sign and a stile in the hedge on the left-hand side of the road. The stile represents the start of a recently (2013) diverted length of footpath. 3 Walks in High Offley Parish – Jan 2018 1.4. Cross the stile and walk over the field to another stile in the fence ahead. Cross this stile and walk slightly to the right to another stile in the fence opposite. Cross this stile and walk half right up the slope to a stile at the side of a field-gate. Cross this stile and walk half left to the corner of a hedge on the left. Turn right to follow the edge of the field to the field-corner where there is a stile giving access to the Newport Road. Cross the busy road carefully and turn rightt to follow the pavement to Woodseaves crossroads and turn left to follow the pavement towards High Offley. Cross the end of the Glebefields cul-de-sac to reach the Village Hall} Local history notes: [A] The village institute was erected in the 1920s just before electricity and electricity poles arrived in the village during the 1930s, before a sewerage system was installed. The “Institute” has undergone a number of alterations and extensions since then. Over the years, it has provided a base for several village groups such as the billiards team, the tennis club, the Derby and Joan club for our senior citizens, the youth club, and the play group for our youngsters. It has been used regularly for dances and whist drives and the annual village produce show and fete. [B] The houses on Blackberry Way were built on the site of a former Agricultural Machinery Yard owned by Mr Allcock. Prior to the building of the Council houses in the early fifties and before the arrival of the old peoples' bungalows or the housing estates on Barn Common and Glebefields, in the sixties, this was a quiet country lane with neat hedges and rough verges. On clear days from this vantage point you could enjoy wide views of the Shropshire hills extending from the Clees in the south, to the Wrekin, Wenlock Edge, Long Mynd, Caer Caradoc, and the Styperstones in the south-west. Beyond them you could see into the Welsh Hills. [C] As you walk further along the pavement, you pass some older property which formed part of a small community long before piped water arrived in the district. The people living here in those days, obtained their water from a well in Well Alley which runs between the High Offley Road and Back Lane, but to see it, you will need to look carefully at the hedge on the right hand side of the road two or three houses before you reach Back Lane [D] On the corner of High Offley Road and Back Lane stands the former Wesleyan Chapel; its date, 1844, is still displayed on the front of the building, now a private house. [E] A glance at a large scale map reveals just how many roads, paths, and bridleways converge on The Green, showing just how important this little community was in past years. There was once a flourishing butcher's shop at The Green. 4 Walks in High Offley Parish – Jan 2018 The Former Wesleyan Chapel [F] The bridleway we have just followed would have been in frequent use at one time by people passing between the communities of The Green and Littleworth. Littleworth had a milk canning factory in the early days of food canning. The chimney from the milk factory was dismantled after the war and the bricks, which were in short supply at that time, were used to build Evans' Garage. There was once a post office here where you could buy anything from a tin of paint to a new dress. There was a bakery here too. [G] Until recently, the village had three pubs, “The Plough” and the “The Cock” on the left-hand side and the “Reform Tavern” between them but on the right-hand side. The “Tavern” has been closed for several years and the “Plough” closed more recently. Just past the “Tavern” There is a large building with the sign “Old Grocery Store” on the wall. At one time it was a grocers shop and a bakery combined. Further along the road, the next-building-but-one, “The Old Dairy” is where the villagers obtained their milk supplies. Next to “The Cock”, there used to be a ladies’ hairdressers and on the opposite side of the road can be found the local sub-post office. 5 Walks in High Offley Parish – Jan 2018 Walk 2– A circuit from the High Offley/Norbury boundary on the Newport Road, via the “Water Bridge” and Grubb Street. This walk is two miles long and there are eight stiles. If you would like a longer walk, this walk can be linked to Walk 1 to make a walk of 3.5 miles, or linked to walk 4, to make a walk of 5.5 miles. To link walk 1 and walk 2, start at 1.1. To link walk 2 and walk 4, start at 2.1 The walk starts near to the field-gate on the right-hand side of the Newport Road, going towards Newport, just beyond “Pool House” where the road bends to the left. There is space to park one or two cars on the verge but please be careful not to block the field entrance or the adjacent bridleway. 2.1 Walk along the track that starts at the side of the field-gate, and in less than 100 metres turn left to cross the Shropshire Union Canal via the Water Bridge [see note A].