Oakford Village Walk 2

Directions:

1. To start, turn right out of the village hall car park and walk up through the village. See Oakford Village Walk 1 for details about the village. Carry on up the hill out of the village for about a quarter of a mile (1km) looking for a footpath sign on your left. 
2. Cross the stile and keeping slightly to your right cross the middle of the field. Go through the gate in the hedge and turn right to follow the footpath next to the hedge on your right. Go through another gate, keep the hedge on your right, make your way to the gate at the bottom of the field, turn right along the track. 
3. Where the track joins the drive down to Nethercott Farm turn right following the footpath sign. Climb over two stiles and turn left aiming for a pair of stiles. Climb over and head for the gate in the left-hand corner. Go through the gate and turn right onto the drive. Almost immediately bear to your right to climb over a stile in the hedge.
4. Go down the field to a small gate. Go through and continue downhill through the field, passing through the middle of some gorse bushes. At the bottom of the field carefully cross Iron Mill Stream by two narrow bridges. 
5. Head for the left-hand corner of the barn and go through the gate to join a country road. Turn right and continue along this road for half a mile (0.75km) passing Bellbrook Valley Fishery en-route to reach a T-junction. 
6. Keep to the right and continue along the road to eventually turn left just after crossing the stream, just past some cottages, turn right at the footpath sign to follow a track. On reaching a cottage follow the path to the rear of the buildings as it follows a route through the woods
7. Follow this path uphill to eventually reach a stile at the edge of the woods. At this point you can take the shorter route back to the village. 
8. If you do, walk back down the hill through the woods, there is a waymark halfway down the slope from the stile. Cross the stream and then up some steps.
9. Turn left and then immediately right up a long and steep flight of steps which will take you out of the woods. 
10. Climb over a stile and walk up the middle of the field to a gate in the middle of the hedge. Go through the gate keeping close to the hedge on your right. Take the next gate on your right and then almost immediately the gate on your left to join the road. 
11. To return to the village car park just keep straight along the road for about three quarters of a mile (1.5km).
12. To continue the longer walk, climb over the stile at the edge of the woods and follow the waymark pointing slightly to your left up the field. The farm buildings you can see make up Spurway Barton. 
13. Go through the gate, through the farmyard, through the next pair of gates to join the lane immediately ahead. Follow the lane downhill into the area known as the sheep-dip, which is in the fenced-off area to your left. This area is likely to be muddy at all times of the year. 
14. Go through the gate and up the field to the gap in the hedge in the top right hand corner. Continue straight ahead to a gate in the right corner, and follow the grassy track around to your left to reach a gate.
15. Go through the gate, turn right and walk up the lane away from the farm of West Spurway.  At the T-junction turn right and then left at the next T-junction. Continue along the road and at Estworthy Cross turn right. 
16. At the entrance to West Mildon Farm, turn right and follow the track until just before a cattle grid.  Bear right through a gate and then turn left to join a track. Continue straight ahead through a gate and then on through the farmyard. 
17. After going through another gate walk for a short distance before turning right to follow a footpath through a small gate. Go through and make for a gap in the hedge in the right hand corner of the field. 
18. Turn right into the next field and walk across the field making for the bottom left-hand corner.  Go through the gate and turn left. Go through another gate and walk down the middle of the field to a gate in the hedge. 
19. Go through the gate and walk down to the bottom of the field to join a lane. Follow this lane uphill taking the right-hand fork where the track splits in two. 
20. After passing Ford Farm, the track joins the road.  Turn right and at Fordmoor Cross turn left.  Continue along this road for approximately quarter of a mile (0.5km) to turn right at the footpath sign. Go through the gate and walk down the field keeping close to the hedge on your left. 
21. At the bottom go over the stile and follow the path climbing over two more stiles. Walk down through the field passing the Old Rectory Vineyard on your left. 
22. At the bottom of the field climb over a stile and cross the stream, to another stile. Climb the slope to the last stile and head for the gate in the top right-hand corner. On reaching the road turn left to return to the car park.