Poetry and Pathways: Ledbury to Oyster Hill and Back

I love a summer Sunday afternoon. Especially when it doesn’t involve mowing the lawn, putting up picture frames or worst of all, cleaning out the cat litter tray. We decided on a family walk as this particular Sunday offered just the right sort of weather. Not too hot, not too wet, a cloudy sky but with the odd glimpse of the sun to make everything look a little nicer for a bit. 

Our original plan was to drive down to the Forest of Dean for a long walk in Soudley, but after a lot of dithering and some long naps for our baby Molly, we couldn't be arsed with that. We settled for a wander from our house in Ledbury to Oyster Hill near Wellington Heath. There and back would be over 7 miles through the woods. Simple enough on paper. In practice, it was me carrying our 11-month-old daughter on my back like a demanding sack of potatoes.

She loves it up there though when the weather is OK. The only time she has been unhappy in the carrier was during our recent walk on Hergest Ridge which was cold and windy. From her lofty perch on a nice day, she gets the best views and can fall asleep, then wake up at whatever destination we've chosen to walk her to. It's like an old, slow, sweaty sleeper train.

I was leading the way on a mission though, getting constantly asked "are we in a race?!" by my wife Stace, following behind with our dogs Dottie and Wilf. We walked from home, along the line bank that follows the old Ledbury and Gloucester Railway to the train station, then up the footpath the other side of the station through the orchards to Frith Wood. The problem with a baby carrier is that when you have the sun or rain shield attached, It's basically like walking through the woods wearing a top hat. I couldn't really see how much room I needed to give for the hanging branches and didn't want them swiping into my daughter's face, so had to basically go into a sort of crouching stealth mode with bent knees. It was certainly a work out for my legs anyway. 

Creeping through the trees

The Frith Wood, Ledbury

A small bushcraft shelter in the Frith Wood, Ledbury

As mentioned earlier, the walk to Oyster Hill and back from Ledbury is over 7 miles. I know this now because I recorded it on my watch. I thought it would be more like 5 miles before we left but hadn't really remembered how far it is from the end of the Frith Wood to the hill. We walked along country lanes with amazing views of the wood and rolling hills. Then reached the entrance to the morbid sounding Hope End where there is a path through a wild meadow leading up towards Oyster Hill. 

On the outskirts of Wellington Heath looking at the Frith Wood

Hope End, Wellington Heath

The meadow leading to Oyster Hill

You pass some pretty impressive properties on this walk and the one that stands out most is Hope End House. It was the childhood home of Elizabeth Barrett Browning who grew up to be one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era. Her 9 book verse novel Aurora Leigh was apparently inspired by her time in Hope End. Ledbury Poetry Festival the largest of its kind in the UK, partly because of famous local poets like Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Masefield and the Dymock Poets. My first thought when I saw Hope End House though, was that it would make an excellent place to live during a zombie apocalypse. It is pretty much hidden away from the passing lanes, has a massive greenhouse to grow food and a huge exterior wall that would easily stop a large horde of infected flesh eaters.

Hope End House, Wellington Heath

On passing the elite post-apocalypse retreat, you continue along the footpath past some woodland a through a gate to Oyster Hill. You'll be treated to some great views of the Malvern Hills. There is a bench and a trig point. It's a nice spot to have a picnic and watch the world go by. It doesn't get that busy up there at all. We hung around for half an hour and the only other people we saw were a couple walking by. 

Oyster Hill

The view from Oyster Hill

Wilf (dog), Stace (wife), Molly (daughter) on Oyster Hill

I don't think there is a confirmed reason why it is called Oyster Hill. It's definitely not because there were once oysters there as it's nowhere near the sea (the nearest oyster location is 136 miles away in Porlock Bay). I read that it was likely named after Roman general Ostorius who was active in the area from 47 to 52AD. Apparently he died "worn out", which made me wonder if he'd walked up this hill with a baby carrier too. 

General Ostorius

If I'd been on my own, I'd have gone down the other side of the hill and followed some more footpaths to find a different route home. Stace had made a stew that was in the slow cooker so we needed to get back a bit more quickly.  We walked back along the same route we'd taken to get up the hill, and back along the country lanes. We took a bit of a diversion on the way home and followed the footpath through the Frith called Top Walk. This is a beautiful path, but about 10 minutes in I remember that at the end of it there is an insanely steep bank which we'd have to walk down after a night of heavy rain. I didn't fancy sliding down that with a baby on my back, so we took one of the back paths down to the main stony track along the bottom of the wood. 

On a dryer weekend I'd definitely recommend following Top Walk. The views at the top of the bank at the end are superb. Alternatively you could walk through Wellington Heath village, have a pint and lunch in the lovely Farmers Arms then back to Ledbury through the orchards. Just don't put a stew in the slow cooker before you set off. 

Back into the Frith Wood

Top Walk, Ledbury

The Frith Wood, Ledbury

By the time we got back to Ledbury, we were mildly sweaty and I had some back and shoulder pain. It felt good to get the carrier off my back, the boots off my feet and enjoy our lunch. It had been a great little walk around our home town. Molly had been brilliant and hadn't even grizzled once. We'd had some fresh air, exercise and took in some beautiful scenery. Honestly, what more could you ask of a Sunday afternoon?