Alcstr one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

I completed this walk yesterday travelling east from Alcester in sub-zero temperatures, but sunny and clear conditions. There was a bit of road walking involved and thus prevents me from giving the route a full five stars, but don't let that put you off as it's a really enjoyable walk.

I have to wonder why the start of the route from the church in the centre of Alcester doesn't go down Malt Mill Lane (Picture 1) and across the Gas House Lane Recreation Ground instead? The slight diversion is not worth me submitting a new route, but I definitely recommend it as the pedestrianised route is really charming and in my opinion far superior to walking down High Street and along the Stratford Road.

After passing a rather apt sign inviting you to slow down (picture 2), the route takes you over the confluence of the Rivers Alne and Arrow, and through the pretty village of Oversley Green to the footbridge over the A46 (picture 3). Once on the other side the route quickly changes to a rural feel and alongside Oversley Wood. As mentioned by Timbo44's review, you do need to enter the wood as you get towards the southerly end. The route then leaves the wood via a low stile (photo 4).

Once you get to Exhall, the route goes along the road (photo 5) for a while before it takes a left turn along an unsealed road. As mentioned in Timbo44's 2nd point in his review, the route then takes a right turn across a field to the base of Grove Hill. When I did the walk the field was ok (photo 6) and the objective stile on the far side of the field easily reachable. However, the plank of wood across the ditch just before this stile was very narrow and frozen (photo 7), so a bit of a scramble up the frozen side of the ditch was necessary.

There is a bench at the base of Grove Hill (photo 8) and another towards the top if you need to take a breather. As mentioned in another review, it is the steepest part of the walk. Eventually you get out of the wood via a few steps and a gate (photo 9). After travelling through Temple Grafton, the walk takes you across agricultural fields towards Binton (photos 10-12). Both villages again involve a bit of road walking.

After Binton, the route takes you alongside a stud farm and then through some grazed fields with livestock (photo 13), before eventually taking you through hedge tunnels (photo 14) towards Bordon Hill. After climbing the hill just to the north of the summit, the route takes a left through a wooded area and into Shottery. After crossing Shottery Field, the route then takes you through a series of alleyways (photo 15) which eventually brings you out by Stratford railway station.

The route when I did it was a delight. The freezing temperatures meant the few muddy areas were frozen solid. There weren't many of these, but you could tell some that were there (particularly by the solar farm) would be messy if it was warmer. There are a good amount of fences, stiles, gates, steps and mini-bridges on the route to negotiate, but nothing too difficult to worry about.

Finally, and as mentioned in another review, I also caught the x19 from Stratford to Alcester to start this walk. However, as I am increasingly finding issues with using public transport for Slow Ways, in this instance you've got to be careful with which bus stop you go to if there is an event going on in the centre of Stratford which closes the normal bus routes. When I did it the walk, the xmas market was on, and the Stagecoach website stated the bus started on Greenhill St instead of Bridge/Wood St. My intuition told me that the bus would struggle to start from Greenhill St, so I walked up to the next stop opposite the railway station. I was glad I did this as the bus indeed did not travel down Greenhill St, so do bear that in mind if using the bus.

A very pleasant walk showcasing wide vistas of Warwickshire and charming settlements. Almost the whole route was either obvious or clearly way marked.
We caught the X19 bus took me from by McDonalds in the centre of Stratford upon Avon to Alcester before walking the route back to Stratford. The only really steep climb was up the wooded slope west of Temple Grafton.
Alcester and Stratford upon Avon have a wide range of refreshment opportunities before and after the walk to supplement any walkers may choose to take with them.
We agree with most of the comments left by Timbo44.
When we walked part of the route in September, the start of the path across the field with the large maize crop had a clear yellow way marker and the exit was visible, so we managed to negotiate the field in single file. When we walked the route again in October, it is now planted with Winter wheat, so easily negotiated. See image 2.
Although it had been raining heavily in October, mud was not a major issue. The worst being encountered for a short stretch by the solar farm due to the presence of sheep.
It looks as though the path across the new housing estate road near Stratford will be retained.

This walk was taken from Alcester to Stratford Upon Avon in August 2022. A moderate walk when dry underfoot, and a combination of B-road, farm track and grassy paths. There are some bare woodland sections and sharp inclines that might be more challenging in or after wet weather. It took about 3 hours 45 minutes to complete the 9.7 miles. It's a lovely walk between two very picturesque towns offering a range of facilities. I'd make the following observations:

1. When approaching the very end of the path along the edge of Oversley Wood, the path does enter the wood but is easy to miss. If you find yourself at the edge of an open field, just take a sharp left along the field edge for 100 yards and this takes you back to the main route.

2. Between Exhall and Little Britain, the route takes a sharp left along a stony farm track and then a 90 degree right across a field. At the time of walking this field path was impassable due the the large maize crop (see Photo 1). As an alternative, don't leave the tarmac road but continue towards Little Britain for another 200 yards. There's a Permissive Access path on the left that takes you back to the main route before entering the woods.

3. When passing Southerly Park Farm between Temple Grafton and Binton, in the very last field there's a small single metal gate in the hedgerow. Make sure you go through this gate (even though it's not clearly signed to do so) as carrying on will take you to a dead end at the field corner.

4.. Alongside the Solar Farm array between Lower Binton and Drayton, the path is partly overgrown and clearly rarely used (see Photo 2), plus the stile at the exit here is very unsteady and potentially dangerous (see Photo 3)

5. Towards the end of the walk, between Bordon Hill and Shottery a new single carriageway relief road is being constructed that cuts directly across the main path. As it won't open until later in the year it didn't affect my progress but I couldn't see any provision for a bridge or underpass.

6.. Much of the route is along tarmac roads and pavements, with a large part of the rest across fields with sheep. I'd suggest it's not really practical for dog walking. In addition, although it passes through a number of small villages, I didn't see a single shop or pass a pub en route.

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