Pass under the A44 and easy navigation following the Herefordshire Trail. Unfortunately, the café on Frome Hill - by the tank - doesn’t open until 8 am, but got a coffee from the Spar shop. The navigation gets difficult for a while, with lots of field in crop, orchards, overgrown abandoned orchards, a few impassable stiles. Soon passed and back onto easy open fields and pickup the Herefordshire Trail again! Around the edge of Raven Hill Wood following the GeoPark way and into Ledbury!...

Rippli

I agree with Genevieve (the first reviewer) - this is potentially a good walking route, but there are a few big problems. This is my review as it stands, but I will upload a new revised route shortly (when I can test it after my holiday). The route quickly leaves the road to head East. There is NO sign of the route! The alternative route is through a small patch of woodland with lots of KEEP OUT signs. Just after the old Post Office the route nips into a residential road and follows a brook. I will upload a revised route shortly...

Rippli

As it was I got a fair few scratches from the footpath along the edge of the field being crowded out by wheat on one side and brambles or thistles on the other. The road sections are not unpleasant in the slightest, don't hesitate to divert onto the local minor roads if you feel that's easier. There's a campsite en route but I wild camped close by to it in an empty field - nobody is around to see you and even then I doubt they care....

anton

I have tweaked the .gpx track for Leobro3 and plotted it to be downloaded here from Leobro4, which avoids the private property at Grantsfield and follows PROWs throughout. For full Reviews and photographs, please see Leobro3...

nichowes

I have some concerns about finer details of Leobro3, the most important being that Leobro3 crosses a short section - about 50 metres - of private property at Grantsfield, at a point where the Herefordshire Trail takes a large bight along PROWs to avoid this private property. The short section of private property links the public road at W3W price.flotation.wool to a stile onto a PROW at W3W visions.escorting.reassured. I have tweaked the .gpx track for Leobro3 and plotted it to be downloaded from Leobro4, which avoids the private property at Grantsfield and follows PROWs throughout. Leaving the A44 behind, the route follows the Herefordshire Trail (HT) uphill along an ancient route with old steps (Photo two). Emerging into an arable field the issue of standing crops was apparent in July (Photo three); this was a relatively clear path compared to other field edge paths encountered elsewhere on the route....

nichowes

The route follows the Frome valley at first and then crosses the watershed of Fromes Hill to enter the Leadon valley. The starting point is Bromyard Heritage Centre (photo one) and the route leaves Bromyard via a foot tunnel under the A44 and a short hill up to the hospital. Beyond Avenbury, the route passes the house, hop barn and drying tower of Brook House Farm (photo three). From Fromes Hill the route continues south across fields and orchards to Catley Cross Farm with its collection of vintage farm equipment, including the baler in the centre of photo twelve. Just before descending into the town centre, the route passes an interpretation panel for the geology of Dog Hill Wood (photo fourteen)...

nichowes

The reason is that the volunteer who plotted the route in April 2021 used some long sections of private paths and drives that are not marked as PROWs on the map (or on the ground, as the trial revealed). Nic will provide an alternative route that follows the same general line but remains on PROWs throughout. This route and its review appears as Broled Two....

nichowes

The route is a "curate's egg"; its direct line may appeal to some and includes a great deal of roadside walking that may not appeal to others. The route is roadside walking all the way from Hereford to Lugwardine, including the A438 Lugwardine Bridge over the River Lugg, which has no footway and so needs great care to stay alert to traffic flow from both directions. Beyond Hynett Farm the route descends gently to a pond and brook, beyond which lies a miniature railway layout (Photo 3) that is itself a few metres from the single track Network Rail link between Hereford and Ledbury (Photo 4 - look, listen and take care when crossing). The long section of roadside walking continues along relatively quiet, wide lanes, crossing the A465 and A417; between these two main roads the lane passes the entrance to Chase Distillery and climbs towards Crozen. Once past Red Hill Coppice, Broxash Wood appears (Photo 10) and the route continues along its lower edge, emerging into a field through a gate and following the outside, lower edge of Broxash Wood. Access to the PROW across the garden of Firbush Cottage is not possible across the overgrown stile (Photo 14) but it's a simple matter to divert round the left hand boundary of the curtilage to reach the drive that leads to the tarmac public road network that the route now follows into Bromyard (Photo 15)....

nichowes

Low points include: crossing the fast A44 road on a bend out of Bromyard; a half mile section along the B4220 without a pavement; two arable fields without access left for walkers; a fallen tree over a path exit making it currently inaccessible; a private drive with no sign for the public path through their buildings; a couple of wobbly stiles....

Genevieve

Plenty of places to eat and drink and either end of the route - but take food and drink as there are no shops or pubs on route. If you want to forget your worries and transport yourself back in time then this walk is for you. It follows the newly upgraded Herefordshire Trail most of the way so all stiles (and there a lot of them) are in good order....

Neil Summersgill

Overall a lovely walk, reasonably flat except for the slope down from the Downs into Bromyard, with beautiful scenery all around....

vaughanfam