Stanford Bridge – Stockton-on-Teme - Stanford Bridge

David James

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This lovely walk starts by the River Teme, climbs into the hills of Stockton-on-Teme and then descends to the banks of the river. It offers a rich diversity of scenic interest. There are no difficult sections.

The initial part of the walk offers sweeping views of typical Worcestershire scenery: soft and pleasing, with a fine diversity of valley and hill, well-watered and richly wooded, with many vantage-points that command extensive and delightful views. Some of the rural buildings in these views, converted to private housing, still show their origins in such features as oast house cowls.

At Stockton-on-Teme, a short detour to St Andrew's Church is worthwhile. Dating back to the 12th Century, it is believed that the Norman church of St Andrew's, with its 15th Century oak porch, has Saxon origins, indicated by its unusual circular graveyard. The church boasts many medieval features, including a rare 'squint', between the main part of the church and the altar area, that allowed the congregation to glimpse what was happening at the altar. There are also two interesting carvings of the Hereford School.

The River Teme rises in mid-Wales and flows through Ludlow, to join the Severn south of Worcester. In 1996, English Nature designated the entire river a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

England - Central England - Worcestershire - Countryside

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Flowers, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Pub, Public Transport, River, Wildlife, Woodland

8/17/2018 - Ian Mapp

Had my eye on this for a while but was put off by the comments. Pleased to report that things have improved. The stiles require a degree of athleticism and I wouldn't recommend it for dogs, but the problem areas down by the Teme have largely been fixed. Admittedly, I completed this just after the harvest but for a long stretch, a new fence line has been erected protecting the rambler. The walk was a gem - gently uphill to reward with great views over shropshire. Weirdness at Burnt House. Cross Keys at Menithwood is no longer a pub. Climb down to the Teme Valley floor and good walking back to the pub. Thanks for the walk! Photos at my blog - http://mappiman.blogspot.com/2018/08/distance-5.html

5/28/2012 - David James

Thank you, John and Gwilym. I understand that Adrian, from Walkingworld, has asked you both to report the overgrown paths to the Worcestershire PROW Department and I will also check this soon. I am so sorry that the overgrown path marred your enjoyment of what is otherwise a lovely walk. The landowner has a duty to prevent a crop (other than grass) from making the path difficult to find or follow. The highway authority has power to prosecute a landowner who allows crops to obstruct a right of way, or they can cut the crop and reclaim the cost from the offender. If the path is a field-edge path the width should be 1.5m for a footpath and 3m for a bridleway. You have every right to walk through crops growing on or over a path, but stick as close as you can to its correct line.

5/28/2012 - Gwilym Davies

We went on this walk on 27th June 2012, and about a third of it is almost impassable. The farmer(s) who owns the fields from the hop field to the second from last field doesn't do anything to help walkers. There are nettles,thistles and at one stage a stile or gate appears to have disappeared and we had to climb over barbed wire. What should have been a pleasant walk along the river bank turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. Like the other reviewer we went in shorts and were quite badly nettled. The pub about half way round was closed and we were told it didn't open until the evening. Although the first 2/3rds were quite pleasant I would advise not going on this walk until something is done about the above mentioned problems.

5/28/2012 - John Davies

We did this walk on 26/05/2012, and found that the last stretch along the Teme river was quite a challenge. It was very overgrown and we had difficulty even locating the stiles along the river bank,let alone getting to them through the nettles and vegetation even with the use of he stout stick we were carrying. Walking along the almost non-existent path in the fields along the river bank was difficult as the crops were planted virtually to the field edge, and had in many places merged with the dense growth to the river. For information The Cross Keys pub apparently does not open in the daytime. Despite this the early part of the walk was very rewarding with wonderful views.

7/14/2011 - David James

Thank you for your helpful comments, Teresa. In response to these, I revisited the walk. The metal gate to which you refer (and which is shown in the picture) is still there, so I can only assume you must have taken an incorrect route at this point. Again, in response to your comments, the instructions from this point to the lane have been rewritten in more detail to aid clarity. Sorry to hear about the nettles on some of the stiles: this is a feature of summer walks but they can usually be beaten down with a stout stick! Glad you enjoyed the walk.

6/1/2011 - teresa stuart

I did this walk on 1st June 2011. The views are lovely and typical of Worcestershire. It was fairly obvious that this isn't a well trodden walk. As the weather was warm I wore shorts, which was a mistake as many of the stiles (especially on the later part) were a mass of nettles. Also the instructions are not correct when you reach the bridleway. There is no longer a gate at the top right hand corner of the field but a stile and after this point, until the farm is reached, the instructions aren't clear. Having said all this it is a lovely walk - even with the bull which forced us to take to the road at one point.