Thornbury Wayfinders

11 Huntingford 14 K or 8.7 miles

Huntingford or Huntenaford (the Hunter’s Ford) on the banks of the Little Avon river, was a marker of the northern boundary of the former Royal Forest of Horwood (disafforested in 1228). Charfield was formerly known as Huntenatun or the Hunter’s settlement, so its relationship with Huntingford has always been a close one.

To get to the start, take the number 60 bus from Rock Street Thornbury to the Charfield Primary School bus stop.

The walk is about  long.

Use the footpath at the back of the bus stop which leads along the side of the school playing field to a narrow lane. 

Turn right and follow the lane into the countryside. The lane goes to Underwood Farm but the right of way peels off to the right of the buildings.

Through a gate at the bottom of the field, follow the left hand hedge.  Head for a footbridge over the Little Avon River. 

I have seen water voles swimming in the river here and others have spotted kingfishers and otters.

Follow the bank of the millstream on the right. One path continues over the millstream to Huntingford Mill and beyond. It is worth a look, but our route turns left and heads across the field to a footbridge over another branch of the river.

The creation of mills and railways has made it very difficult to discover the original course  of the river here, or the exact position of any ford.

Over the footbridge, turn right. The official right of way heads across the field, but there is a better permissive path along the river bank.

In the next field, shadow the river until you find a brick bridge over the water. Turn left  on the other side and follow the riverside path for about half a mile until you come out through a kissing gate onto a road.

Since you crossed the river, you have left the former Royal Forest of Horwood. As you go through the kissing gate, you are facing a corner of a large wood or chase called Michael Wood, which has given its name to a Service Area on the M5.

Of particular interest is an oval earthwork, hidden in this corner of Michael Wood, called Damery Old Castle or Damery Camp. Its function has been disputed. One hypothesis is that it is a defensive ring work defending a natural crossing place over the river. If this were the case, this might be the historical location of Huntingford. The name could have migrated to its present location due to the former name of Charfield. 

However,  the structure does not really work as a defensive ring work, because the ditch is on the inside and the bank is on the outside as if the idea was to keep something in rather than out. The usual hypothesis is that it was an animal pound. However, this is an odd place to find a pound, which would more normally be in a village or town – particularly a big one like this.

If it were reckoned to be Neolithic rather than mediaeval, it would be called a henge, which would have been built to contain an ancient evil within.

The name Michael Wood supports this idea, because Michael the Archangel is associated with the fight against demonic forces, such as those buried within the henge.

Maybe the henge guards against the power of some ancient tree stumps associated with Herne the Hunter, the leader of the Wild Hunt. The concept has many names.

To continue on your way, turn left and left again on Tortworth Road  past the old mill over the river.

Here you re-enter the former Royal Forest of Horwood.

Continue up the road past a road off the left, and when the road bends to the left, go straight on up a drive lined with Lombardy Poplars.

When the drive bends to the right, go straight ahead on a grassy track past a pond on the right.

The track takes you through Daniels Wood.

When you come out the other side, turn right down the side of the wood. Go through a kissing gate and bear right down the slope to a track at the bottom. 

Turn right and follow the track under the motorway.

On the other side, turn left and go across a bridge into the next field. Follow the right hand hedge up the field to a stile into a long field.

Follow the path through the field. There is a wood and Heneage Court on the right and some lakes or ponds on the left.  After you have passed the house, go through a gate and turn right. Follow the path up the hill to a stile onto a driveway.

Turn left and follow the driveway to the A38 Cross the road carefully into Moorslade Lane.

On the left is Heneage Farm, where you might be able to replace the equipment that your Falcon or Tiercel  has broken or lost on the journey!

Continue past a new housing estate and turn left on a new path created between the houses and a stream on the right. At the end of the field, you will come out onto Sundayshill Lane.

Turn right and then left through a kissing gate into the Eastwood Prison Estate. Turn left over a footbridge, then keep right around the field to pick up an enclosed path at the end of a car park, which leads to a footbridge into a field.

Turn left and follow the path between a track on the right and a hedge and ditch on the left.

Continue across the farm track when it swings to the left and go over a stile in the corner of the field. Look for a bridge over the ditch on your left. On the other side, turn right and cut the corner to look for an enclosed and gated path through the band of trees ahead.

In the next field, bear left to cut the corner of the next field past a dead oak tree to a stile in the fence ahead. Head diagonally up the next field towards the wind turbine peeping over the hill. There is a difficult and redundant stile in the top left corner with a kissing gate beyond it.

Go through this gate and another kissing gate on the other side of a  muddy track. This brings you into the field containing a wind turbine. You are now back in the modern parish of Thornbury. 

The path goes diagonally across the field on a path that goes closer to the wind turbine than the route shown on most maps. The path has been diverted to go through a new kissing gate.

Through the kissing gate, turn left and follow the track to a kissing gate next to a wood. Through the gate, follow the path parallel to the gully alongside the wood. Continue through another gate until you come to a footbridge and gate on your right. 

Bear right to a gate into the next field. Through the right hand gate, bear right towards a field gate under a tree.  Follow the edge of Longman’s Grove around to a slip rail over a hunt jump. Bear left down the next field to a stile, a footbridge and another stile.

As you cross the bridge you are leaving the former Eastwood deer park.

Go straight across the field keeping parallel to the hedge on the right at first, then continuing on the same line to a stile in a projecting corner of the hedge ahead.

Continue to a stile leading to a rather damp path onto the Gloucester Road.

Be careful. 

It is probably best to cross the road onto the opposite verge and turn right. 

There is an interesting looking pond on the right but its position is too dangerous for exploration!

Turn left onto a minor road.

When the road bends to the right, go straight ahead into a field. Bear right across the field to a stile into a housing estate.

Go straight on down the cul-de-sac and cross Badger Road onto a path alongside a Teletubbies Park through to Morton Way. 

Use the pedestrian lights on the left to cross the road onto a path between the houses. This will bring you through to a green open space. Turn right on the grass past the play area. When you come out on the road, go straight ahead down Swallow Park and onto the path leading out onto Gloucester Road.

Cross the road using the traffic island.

The Anchor pub is on your left if you are interested and the timing is right!

Otherwise go straight ahead up the path with Morton Millstream on the left. 

The former name for Morton Mill was Wolford Mill, presumably the Mill belonging to Mr Wolf, or just possibly the Mill where hung out.We are not that far from Wolfridge in Alveston after all. The remains of the mill have been turned into housing.

Take the second bridge over the stream on your left. 

As you cross the bridge, you may notice a gate on your left. This leads down to the stream and affords views of the waterfall you may have heard on the way.

Continue along the enclosed path until you emerge over a stone stile onto Park Road. Turn right and follow the footway past Manorbrook Primary School. The footway will take you to an underpass beneath Park Row, which leads to a Streamside Path between the stream and the headquarters of the First Thornbury Scout Group.

The Scout hut is on the site of the former Thornbury Gas Works.

Follow the Streamside Walk past the site of the former Sewage works back onto Gloucester Road.

Use the zebra crossing to find the next section of the Streamside Walk.

Note the former workhouse on the left.

At the end of this stretch of the Streamside Walk, near a rubbish bin, turn right. You can either go up the slope into the playing field or around the path behind the houses. (You may not have a choice for long if the site is developed. ) 

At the other side of the field, take the enclosed path through to Hillcrest.  Turn left and then right into Crispin Lane, which leads to Pullens Green, from which you should be able to see Rock Street car park and the St Mary Centre.