NW of the Malverns, Storridge and Cradley Sunday coach walk

Thank you for your interest in this Sunday coach walk.

To book a place:

- click the blue + symbol above to increase the ticket count to 1 - only one ticket can be booked per booking since we ask for the name of each walker - then click Next

- on the following page click the Checkout button then complete the questions, click the Accept box and press the Confirm button. You will receive an automatic acknowledgement when you submit this form.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DURATION OF THIS EVENT SHOWN ABOVE IS ONLY APPROXIMATE AND CANNOT BE GUARANTEED; IT WILL DEPEND ON FACTORS SUCH AS THE WEATHER AND THE WALKING PACE OF THE GROUP.

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Our Sunday rambles usually have three levels of walk, strenuous (A), moderate (B) or leisurely (C), led by Birmingham Ramblers group leaders. Join us and enjoy a great day of social walking with our friendly members.

Please note: Our walks are often on rough tracks and rights of way through fields, woodland and hills. Walkers should preferably wear walking boots and other clothing suitable for the weather. Unless otherwise described, please bring a packed lunch and refreshments for the day.

This Sunday walk has 3 levels of walk:

- A walk: About 12 miles, 1800 ft total ascent.

- B walk:  9 miles with 1,600 ft of climbing.

- C walk: 7 miles; one climb of 92 ft in 0.5 mile, another of 100 ft in 0.37 mile; 670 ft ascent overall.

Walk leaders:

- A walk:Peter Searle

- B walk: Kate Chester

- C walk: Eva Hyde

Walk Details:

- A walk: The walk explores the attractive countryside immediately to the northwest of the Malvern Hills. The hills here are smaller than the main ridge of the Malverns, but still offer much scenic interest with far fewer visitors. A generous covering of woodland alternates with orchards, pasture and arable land. The walk begins at a layby between Leigh Sinton and Storridge on the A4103, taking a lane almost opposite past the Holywell Cottages to join the Worcestershire Way. We continue northwards along a bridleway through Long Coppice, Birchenhall Farm and Millham Farm, then cross the Leigh Brook, to enter the Knapp and Papermill Nature Reserve. We follow the brook through meadows and woodland, to cross a footbridge at Papermill Coppice, then climb gently though Old Storridge Common and Coneygore Coppice, before descending to Longley Green. Turning south, we follow beside the Cradley Brook, continuing past Bearswood Common eventually to cross the A4103 by Brookhouse Farm. We follow a bridlepath through Whitman Hill Coppice, then turn left to ascend to a ridgetop, which we follow south through woodland to the edge of West Malvern. A westward path then leads us to the attractive village of Cradley, where (time permitting) we will visit the Red Lion pub at Stifford’s Bridge, before a short loop back through Cradley takes us to the waiting coach by the A4103. 

- B walk: Linear starting from A4103 at Holywell cottages, Storridge. Goes South along the Worcestershire Way to North Malvern, then up onto North Hill. Descend South from there to West Malvern, where there may be a pub stop. From West Malvern, meander North West round Cradley. The walk finishes on the A4103 near Stifford’s Bridge, Cradley.

- C walk: Starting at a layby by Holywell cottages, we go a short distance along a minor road, to orchards on the Worcester Way. We continue northwards through a wood and fields, past Millham farm, to a Leigh brook (2 miles). Here we follow the Geopark way by the stream and Papermill coppice, part of a nature reserve, with meadows and wooded areas. Crossing the brook at Mousehole bridge (3.1 miles), we continue through more fields, to a minor road to Longley Green (4 miles). From there we are again in a wooded area before crossing the brook (now called Cradley Brook) (4.4 miles) and up a track to Bearswood Common, from where there is a good view over the valley. We descend through fields and a track to Stifford’s Bridge, and the Red Lion pub (5.6 miles). Emerging from the pub, we walk by the brook and then through the village of Cradley with an old village hall and church (6.4 miles), to arrive back at the main road and the coach.

There are a limited number of total places for the walks, which is set by the capacity of the coach. Whilst we hope that everyone will be able to be accommodated on their walk of choice, the allocation of places for each walk will have to be done on the day. No-one will be expected to walk at a higher grade than they prefer - thus, for example, if you prefer the B walk you will not be asked to join the A walk but may be asked to join the C walk. The booking form allows you to specify your preferred walk

It will only be possible to join the walk by coach, which will be picking up at 09.00 at the layby at the side of St. Chad’s Cathedral, Queensway, Birmingham B4 6EU. The coach fare will be £5 with 3 options for payment:

- Cash on the day in an envelope with your name and the date of the walk. We are unable to give change for cash payments

- Cheque on the day, made payable to COBRA, in an envelope with your name and the date of the walk.

- Bank transfer in advance of the walk

For payment by bank transfer the walk coordinator will contact you about a week in advance of the walk with bank details. For payments on the day, please put the exact fare in an envelope with your name and date of the walk on it, which will be collected on the coach - unfortunately we are unable to give change for the coach fare.

Note that you cannot pay the coach fare through our Eventcube account. Your booking for the walk will still show £0.00 but you do have to pay the £5 coach fare on or before the day of the walk.

The Birmingham Ramblers recently bid for, and won, a grant from the Inclusive Communities Fund which is part of the legacy of the Commonwealth Games. This grant is specifically to assist with coach transport to encourage new people to join the Sunday walks and start walking in country areas.

We will be using this fund to subsidise coach-based walks, such as this one, in areas which offer opportunities to new inexperienced walkers as well as challenges to regular walkers under the banner Keep Fit for a Fiver. As this suggests, we are reducing the coach fare for this and some other selected walks to £5 for all, be they regular walkers or new faces. Anyone who has already paid the usual £20 fare by Bank Transfer will have the £15 balance refunded to their bank account. Please will regular walkers note this and, if paying by Bank Transfer, please pay this subsidised fare of £5.

If you are joining us for the first time, please take note of the warning above that our walks are often on rough tracks and rights of way through fields, woodland and hills. Walkers should preferably wear walking boots and other clothing suitable for the weather. For the safety of the walker and the whole group, the walk leaders reserve the right not to take anyone who, in the opinion of the walk leaders, are not suitably fit or equipped for the walk.

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If you find that you are unable to join us after booking a ticket it would be helpful if you let us know by sending an email to bhamramblersenquiries@gmail.com or let us know though our contact form at https://cobra.eventcube.io/support-hub/contact - this will be passed on to the walk leader and will prevent any delay to the start of the walk should the leader be waiting for you. Please note that some walks have a waiting list so tickets are NOT TRANSFERRABLE; if you are unable to join us then please cancel your place to free it up for someone who may be on the waiting list rather than transferring it to someone else.

Bookings for this walk will close at 06.00 on Monday 14 October 2024. Shortly after bookings have closed the walk coordinator will contact you by email to confirm that you will still be joining us on this walk; this is needed since there are limited seats on the coach and we like to release any unused places to others who may be on a waiting list. The coordinator will also give you our bank details if you have chosen to pay the coach fare by bank transfer. Please check your email, including Spam and/or Junk folders, shortly after bookings have closed for this walk and reply to let us know whether or not you will be still joining the walk.

If you would like to join this walk after the bookings have closed please email bhamramblersenquiries@gmail.com or contact us through our contact form at https://cobra.eventcube.io/support-hub/contact to enquire about any late availability for the walk.

General Information

This is one of several walks and activities offered by the Birmingham Ramblers. If you have found this page through a web search or other means and would like to find out more about the group then please visit the Birmingham Ramblers web site; new members are always welcome.