Montgomery Trails – 1 Cross Offa

Walk directions

1. Step 1

   Leave the car park, keeping the football field on your left. Walk along a track, past a nature area and through kissing gate into field. Go along young tree avenue, passing through another gate, and carry on to a gate leading onto a tarmac drive.

2. Step 2

   Turn right along this Lymore estate drive and past the cricket ground, over a cattle grid and continue to the next cattle grid where the drive enters a wood. Continue on the drive through the wood. At the end you will cross over Offa’s Dyke and its National Trail. Carry on the drive past fields until you reach a red brick farmhouse.

3. Step 3

   Go through the gate into the yard and diagonally left to another gate. Follow track to another gate, and wood. As you enter wood turn left off track and through gate into field.

4. Step 4

   Carry straight on with tree line on left and drop down into slight dip with a few trees going off in line to the right (old hedge line). Usually there is a path cleared here immediately after the first tree, through the crops, and going off to the diagonal right. Follow this through the field to a stile. However, if path is not clear continue along the faint grassy track with hedge on left and turn right at next gate and hedge to reach stile about half way down the field.

5. Step 5

   Go over stile and go straight on to join hedge on right. Follow this to reach another stile and cross onto farm track. Do not turn right or left on track but cross field aiming for the centre between the two wooden electricity poles. There is no discernible path.

6. Step 6

   At top of slight rise a cottage will come into view. Make your way to the drive to the left of the cottage (Timberth cottage).

7. Step 7

   Pass through the two stiles/ gateways and proceed down the tarmac drive to a lane T-junction.

8. Step 8

   Go left at lane for a few yards to a footpath gate on right.

9. Step 9

   Pass into field and go straight through old hedge line. There is a footpath gate at the bottom of a slight dip. Pass through and then over the footbridge.

10. Step 10

    After bridge go up the field with hedge on your right and a cottage hidden behind it.

11. Step 11

    Pass through gap in hedge at right-hand corner of the field. Go straight on through crop if present to find a hedge gap just to the right of single tree in hedgerow.

12. Step 12

    Pass through and aim slightly right towards barns, below high bulk of hills and in a collection of wooden electricity poles (not the barn further right). There may be a crop in this field. At the top of the slight rise aim for tree with a wooden electricity pole to right of it. To left of the tree, find plank bridge across a stream and prominent metal footpath gate in the hedge.

13. Step 13

    Pass into the next field and follow the hedge on your right up to the footpath gate and road.

14. Step 14

    Pass through the footpath gate with extreme care, as there is a fast main road immediately adjacent.

15. Step 15

    Cross the road carefully to the stile just to your left.

16. Step 16

    Proceed straight across the field to the edge of a fenced enclosure and over the stile. Go straight on about 30 yards to turn left on well defined track .

17. Step 17

    Keep fence on right and go past a ‘No Access’ stile, to find a stile before the fence bears to the left. Go over this stile and very carefully down the valley side.

18. Step 18

    As you approach the bottom of the valley, go right at footpath post marker and carefully find your way down to fence by the house.

19. Step 19

    Turn right across a lawn to a large wooden footbridge over a river.

20. Step 20

    After the bridge, go up a bank to the forest road and turn left along the valley with a three storey millhouse soon coming into view.

21. Step 21

    Go over the stile at right of the mill-house and carry on the drive to a minor road.

22. Step 22

    Go straight over the road to a stile and go steeply up field to the corner of a wood. Turn right, keeping the fence on your left and proceed to stile in corner.

23. Step 23

    Cross the stile (with care if the electric fence is still there (reported)) and go straight ahead with the fenced wood on your right. At the top of slight rise, bear left and aim for a gate and stile to the left of a red brick house.

24. Step 24

    Go over stile and then diagonally left across a field, slightly to the right of a dip as you rise up. A stile will come into view with Chirbury church behind.

25. Step 25

    Cross over. Aim between the two trees in front and make for the left of the hedge that leads down to the road. Follow this hedge to road.

26. Step 26

    Turn left along the road into Chirbury and at the cross-roads, cross carefully to the small lane straight ahead, which is signposted, Lower lane.

27. Step 27

    Continue along this lane for a kilometre and when approaching a red brick house, you see a small pond on the right (sometimes hidden behind tall reeds) and a leaning wooden footpath sign. Take this green lane footpath on the right. Any long vegetation only lasts a short while until a stile is reached.

28. Step 28

    Cross the stile into a field. Keep the hedge on your right. Find the stile in the top right-hand corner of this field.

29. Step 29

    Cross over and turning left keep the hedge on your left. Pass through a gap in another hedge, with broken down stile, then carry on to a metal gate. Make for the stile at the end of the tapering field.

30. Step 30

    Pass carefully over the unstable stile and make for gable end of red brick house at top of rise. Cross over a stile into the lane.

31. Step 31

    Cross lane into farm drive and as soon as you pass a house on the right, you will find a field gate on right.

32. Step 32

    Enter this field and bear round to left, keeping the hedge on the left. This field can usually be quite boggy.

33. Step 33

    Proceed to the gateway with a poor stile on the left and cross over. Go straight ahead over a wooden structure that protects you from an electric fence. Aim for a stile in the bottom of the slight dip and find a wooden sleeper bridge across a small stream.

34. Step 34

    Make for the far right-hand corner of the field and go through the gate into the next field.

35. Step 35

    Go along field boundary, or tractor track close to the edge, with hedge on your right to find stile in far hedge.

36. Step 36

    Cross the stile and aim diagonally for the far righthand corner of the field, up against the wood. However, if there is no way through the crop, turn right along the farm track and then left at the next hedge, along tractor tracks, to reach the same corner by the wood.

37. Step 37

    Here you join Offa’s Dyke path. Turn right over a stile and carry on to the next one.

38. Step 38

    Cross over the stile and immediately turn left and follow the field edge, ignoring a footpath stile off to the left. Drop down to a small stream, where you will find a stile and footbridge.

39. Step 39

    Cross over and bear along the left, keeping the stream (which can dry out completely) below you to find a stile.

40. Step 40

    Cross the stile and make diagonally right across the field, aiming for the church tower to meet a track up to a gate.

41. Step 41

    At the gate you meet the Lymore estate tarmac drive. Turn left and follow it round until soon after a cattle grid you find the gateway on your right and back to the car park.