10/22/2018 - Karen Halesowen

Route is currently do-able: Bypass 14 & 15! At 12: stay on road for a short distance. Shortly on left see...'Permissable Access' Sign....i.e 13: It says 'private drive'. Stay left of this vehicle-looking path which leads to a grassy track. Grassy track joins 'private drive' for a few paces then continues uphill.... follow this. It leads to Wheatsheaf Pub (No 16 on map). 20: Go through stretch of wood: yes, but a big tree down means you can't see the path to the gate. After that, it's follow the river so the route back to the start is easy enough to find!

10/22/2018 - Karen Halesowen

Hiya! Two of us pre-walked this route today in excellent sunny October 2018. Route as far as 10 was fine. Holly Cottage = dilemma. There is no farm gate opposite. Diagnonally opposite is a farm gate on the same side as the Cottage but it looks to be entirely private land, i.e. no path obvious if you open the farmer's gate. Going across the crossroads: there is a farmer's gate + a visibile style with path signage within a few paces of the farmer's gate. This looked to us to be the interpretation of the map so we took this route - not knowing if it was correct. Pursue or not dilemma. We pursued instructions but could not see 'church visible head' as in 11. (What is the name of the church? - It would help to identify the landscape). Route we took appeared to be correct because the remaining directions took us without fault to 12. (Keep an eye out for kissing gate 11, rhs). Found 12 & 'Permissive Access' sign, no problem. KG path to another KG was completely covered in foliage higher than us. We lost considerable time beating our way through jungle-like territory to the next KG. Would have been better to have stayed on the road. 13: The 'Permissive Access' signage is there but the 'turn left track' doesn't become visible until you have ventured up a vehicle track marked 'private'. The 'track' becomes a kept grassy path, but where does it go when it runs out? It is currently mowed to make you join the 'private track' but signage is lacking leaving you not very confident to carry on down the farm dwelling.... 14: 'Descend to tunnel'... via what path??? Avoiding descent to farm on the right, there was an unmarked path of sorts descending through the trees. Should we have followed this???? We didn't. We chose to carry on the track that stopped short of sending us into the farm 'bowl' whcih brought us onto the road at the back of the Wheatsheaf pub. A lady working in the area gave us directions into the tunnel from the exit point (from your map). We walked through.... at the other end there was no route to it from higher ground that wasn't north/south on the compass. East/west routes were seriously overgrown: branches down, no obvious path and barbed wire in death-trap coils as you persevered.... We identified an established path to the tunnel leading off from a farm track north of Week Farm. 12-13: and how they connect to 14 (the tunnel) remains a mystery. 14-15: Had to scrap these.... so picking up at 16 all was ok.... except we would say that at 17: in front of the Old Rectory, the road to the church is not obvious! Answer is: stay on same road as it curves round to find church doubling as local library! 18: Added is: Take raised pavement behind buildings facing church and continue uphill until you see 'School House' on right hand side. Footpath sign next left is Limehouse Link .... and after the trees fork right.