Poets Path 1: A Walk Through Dymock's Countryside and Literary History

The start of three footpaths in Dymock

There are three Long Distance Walkers Association paths that start in Dymock. All circular walks. Poets Path 1, Poets Path 2 and the Daffodil Way. It’s a bit of a rambling hotspot. You could probably do all three in a single day if you were feeling fit and ambitious. It would be about 25 miles in total, but that sort of distance might have killed my dogs. Even though they’re a pain in the arse at times, I actually quite like them, so we stuck to Poets Path 1 for now. I went clockwise because walking anti-clockwise just feels wrong. Don’t ask me why. It just does.

The 8 mile route of Poets Path 1 (source: LDWA / Ordnance Survey)

I started from the little car park next to St Mary the Virgin Church in Dymock. It’s a nice spot to begin a walk and is right next to a pub, so you can reward yourself with a pint when you finish the circular route. My terriers Dottie and Wilf were already bouncing around before I’d even locked the car, so we got moving quickly. I was also using this walk as an excuse to test out my new walking shoes. I'll review how I got on with them at the end of the post. 

St Mary the Virgin Church, Dymock

The route starts through the churchyard, then follows the River Leadon through farmland for a while. It passes under and over the M50 at different points. It’s mostly flat and pretty easy going. The weather was almost perfect too, that kind of mild autumn sunshine where everything smells faintly of damp leaves and sheep poo. There was the odd spot of rain, but nothing that even warranted putting my hood up, which isn't too bad for October. 

Passing under the M50 next to the River Leadon

The River Leadon from a bridge near Ketford

Walking through farmland on Poets Path 1, Gloucestershire 

The walk is about eight miles, but I added a bit extra because I didn’t fancy trampling straight through the middle of a farmer’s crop. They haven't had an easy year with hardly any rain. I also detoured for a short wander in Redmarley Woods, which was totally worth it. It's a beautiful woodland. 

A reservoir on a farm near Redmarley 

Poets Path 1 passing Redmarley Wood 

Me in Redmarley Wood

Just before that, while walking past Ever Hill Coppice, I stumbled across what looked like some sort of above-ground nuclear bunker half hidden under the trees. I used Google Lens to analyse the building and it's apparently an old US Army portable darkroom for developing photos in the field. Weird that it ended up in the Gloucestershire countryside. That patch of woodland definitely has that slightly eerie, overgrown feel that makes you think twice about wandering too far off the path. 

A US Army darkroom in Ever Hill Coppice, Redmarley

Ever Hill Coppice

The only real annoyance of the day was litter. I ended up picking up a few bits along the way, including a half full can of Carling. Not my lager of choice to be honest and I would have had even less respect for whoever dropped it if they’d actually finished drinking it.

Litter (I took it home and binned it)

This has also been rehomed to my green bin

Poets Path 1 isn’t just a nice countryside wander. It’s called that because this area was home to the Dymock Poets. Before the First World War, a group of writers including Lascelles Abercrombie, Robert Frost, Edward Thomas, Wilfrid Gibson and Rupert Brooke all lived around here. They wrote poems about the land and the seasons and ordinary people, trying to make English poetry a bit more grounded again. Walking through Ryton, where Abercrombie and Frost lived for a while, you can imagine them strolling these same lanes, talking about writing and hopefully picking up the odd bit of litter like me. 

The Dymock Poets with Frost and Abercrombie at the top

The Gallows, Ryton, where Abercrombie lived and Frost crashed for a while.

There’s still a big poetry scene around here. My hometown of Ledbury, just up the road, has a brilliant poetry festival every summer. It feels like a continuation of what those poets started, keeping that love of words alive in this landscape. If you read my other post, Poetry and Pathways, you’ll probably think I’ve got a bit of a thing for walks that link up with writers. That one took me past Hope End House, where Elizabeth Barrett Browning grew up near Wellington Heath. I do like the idea that you can literally walk through bits of literary history round here though. 

I made it back to the car just as someone who’d blocked me in was about to wander off, so pretty good timing for once. Otherwise I might have been stuck in the Beauchamp Arms for a while, which thinking about it wouldn’t have been that bad at all. My uncle Tim once got stuck in Dymock during the floods of 2007 and spent all night in that pub. He said it was one of the best nights out he'd ever had and ended up moving to the village as a result.

Towards the end of Poets Path 1, Gloucestershire 

Crossing the M50

Beauchamp Arms, Dymock, Gloucestershire 

All in all, Poets Path 1 was an enjoyable walk. Peaceful, a bit of local history and easy enough for the dogs. They did sleep for the rest of the day though, which is always the sign of a solid outing. Going from Dymock in a clockwise direction, the first 5 miles of the walk is mainly on farmland following the Leadon and then past the woodland near Redmarley. The final few miles are largely on quiet country lanes, with the odd path through a field. If you regularly go walking, it's not going to test your fitness or provide you with epic hilltop views, but if you like a pleasant, poetic wander through the countryside on a Sunday afternoon, it's worth a go. Next up will be Poets Path 2, so I’ll report back once we’ve ticked that one off. Hopefully there will be less litter and more good timing.

Walk Details

Route: Poets Path 1, Dymock 

Distance: 8 miles

Difficulty: Easy/Moderate. It's mainly flat, but quite a long walk if you aren't used to that. 

Time: Roughly 3 hours

Terrain: Open fields and country lanes. 

Dog friendly?: Yes, but you will meet some sheep.

Pub stop: The Beauchamp Arms, Dymock 

Found on: Long Distance Walkers Association - Poets Path 1 

As for my new Merrell Moab 3 GTX walking shoes, they were spot on. I needed some new ones after finally wearing out my old Merrell Nova 3 trail runners on a walk on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. I find walking in proper boots pretty uncomfortable and only really use them if it’s likely to be mega boggy and muddy. I wanted something harder wearing than running shoes, but just as comfortable, so I gave the Moab 3 GTX a go. They were great. Really comfortable with a shaped insole. Felt solid but not too heavy. They’re definitely heavier than my old trail runners, but I didn’t notice much difference. No blisters, no pain, and I didn’t feel desperate to take them off at the end of the walk. Perfect. This isn't a paid advert by the way. I actually bought them myself. I just thought it might be useful to drop in the occasional product review, because I do buy way too much outdoor clothing and equipment. Cheers. 

Merrell Moab 3 GTX walking shoes and my dog, Wilf.