Thornbury Wayfinders

4 Abbot’s Wood to Woodwell Meadow 10k or 6 miles

Descend through woodland to a view across to the first Severn Crossing and descend again to Tockington Manor. Take the well trodden path around the back of Tockington and Olveston to Elberton. Take the country path to Littleton on Severn and the views across the river from Wood Well Meadow conservation area. Return to Thornbury Via the Jubilee Way and Lower Marlwood Farm.

We start by getting the T1 bus to the Abbotswood stop. You may need to remind the driver. They don’t often stop here.

From the bus stop, cross the A38 carefully and turn left and then right through a kissing gate.

Follow the drive until you reach a gate. Turn sharp right through another kissing gate. Follow the path along the edge of a wood, then turn left just before you reach another kissing gate. The path leads downhill to a stile.

Admire the view, then turn left and then right to follow the path along the crop marks then along a hedge on your right.

At the bottom, turn left and then right over a small stream or ditch. Follow the left hand hedge around the field and then uphill to a pedestrian gate onto the playing fields of Tockington Manor Prep School. When you reach the road, turn left and then right up Old Down Hill towards Alveston and Thornbury.

Turn left when you reach a kissing gate into a field. Follow the path along the backs of the gardens into the countryside. Keep going up the hill and down the other side to reach a gate onto Haw Lane.  

Turn left and then right into Orchard Rise. Follow the path to the right, which runs between some houses and the countryside. When the path bends to the left, continue to follow the hedge on the right past some play equipment on the Vicarage Lane Play Area. 

Keep right on an enclosed path past a house and descend  the steps to the right of a stone stile onto Vicarage Lane. Turn right. Turn left up the footpath that follows the drive past Primrose Cottage rather than the Toll Ride and continue past some Lombardy Poplars into the countryside.

Follow the path alongside the hedge on your left through gaps in five field boundaries, which will bring you past Elberton Church. 

Follow the clear path across the next field, which brings you to a gap next to a pair of powerline poles. If the light is right, you get a fantastic view of the First Severn Crossing. Follow the path across a smaller field to a pedestrian gate onto the B4461. It is just to the right of a field gate.

Cross the road to find a path through the trees past some honey bee hives, over a stone footbridge and out on a lane. Turn left past a manor house and keep right when the lane forks. When you come to a crossroads, go straight ahead into Marshacre Lane.

Go past some farm buildings and between some gates. Take the right fork, towards a green barn. This takes you past a house on the right and the farm buildings on your left to a kissing gate beside a field gate into a field.

Head for the far right hand corner of the field. Through the field gate, follow the right hand hedge to a kissing gate beside a gate. Continue to follow the hedge on the right to a pedestrian gate leading to a badger sett and a stile. The next field is complicated by horse paddocks, which are divided by electric fences. Do your best to follow the right hand hedge to a stile leading to an enclosed path and a drive leading to a road.

On the road, turn right and then left down Field Lane at the first junction. Go past a couple of houses on the right and look for a kissing gate next to a field gate on your right.

Head up the narrow field to a gap, passing a pond on your left. Continue up the field to find a seat and an interpretation panel. After you have enjoyed the view, follow the path alongside the hedge. Look for a stile on your left and make your way up and down some steps through the trees to come out on a bridle way. Turn left. 

Follow the bridleway down the hill to a horse gate into a field. 

Follow the track up to a pedestrian gate next to a field gate beside a section of Hay Wood and continue until you see a metal kissing gate on the left.

Go through the kissing gate over a footbridge and through a pedestrian gate. Head diagonally right across the field to another kissing gate. In Bond Lane, turn right and look for a stile on the left.

In the field, follow the hedge on your right around the corner and down the hill to another stile. Continue down to a gated footbridge. Keep going around the headland to a gate on the right. Follow the track through two fields until you come out on a road.

Turn left and then right through a kissing gate and follow the path through two fields. When you come to a footbridge and a kissing gate into some sheep pasture, turn left and follow the hedge to a gate into the next field. Follow the track across the pasture to a field gate. Continue along a muddy farm track to a kissing gate. Go straight across the field to another kissing gate beside some tennis courts.

Follow the road through the car park and around to the pavilion and pick up the metalled path past the play equipment. This will take you through a cul-de-sac onto the High Street. Turn right and then left down Chapel Street, which will take you back to Rock Street, where you caught the bus.