Poulton and Pulford Brook

(S/E) From the entrance of the Grosvenor Hotel, turn left and walk past the church (diverting to the rear of the churchyard to view the grassy motte of Pulford Castle). Beyond the church, continue past the entrance to Pulford Court then turn right into Old Lane. Follow this road for ¾ mile, passing houses on the right, then with a belt of woodland also on the right. Ignore the private drive to Brookside Farm on the right and pass a series of houses on the left.

(1) After a further interval through farmland turn right opposite a white-painted detached house by the Poulton sign into a footpath through the belt of woodland. At the far side of the woodland cross a stile into open fields and follow a path straight on the opposite. Swing left past a wooded pond, follow the field edge beyond then turn left by a waymark post through a gap into another field. Follow the left-hand edge of this field and then join a concrete track, which passes through a gate and emerges via a tarmac drive to the road in Poulton.

(2) Turn right and walk through the village, passing the entrance to Yew Tree Court on the right. At the entrance to Chapel House Farm turn left into a farm track. Follow the hedged track for ¾ mile, crossing the Old Pulford Brook as the landscape opens up until reach a stone bridge over the Pulford Brook drain by a metal-clad pumphouse.

(3) Beyond the bridge turn immediately right along the embankment, with Pulford Brook on your right. The official path follows the top of the embankment through a couple of gates, but the going may be easier at the bottom of the bank to your left. Cross a track by a farm bridge, and pass a second bridge shortly afterwards (ignoring a path heading off to the left and continuing along the drain in a similar fashion to before). At the end of the large field the path continues along the drain through a narrower field, to a metal kissing gate.

(4) Leave the drain, heading diagonally across to the far corner of the field. Cross a footbridge and turn half right, aiming for a gate to the left of the farm buildings ahead. Pass through a series of gates and down a farm drive to reach the road.

(5) Follow the road ahead, ignoring a footpath on the right. Pass houses on either side and continue a wooded pond on the right.

(6) At the end of the wood, turn right into a track (a de facto path – but not a formal right-of-way – leads over a stile by a gate on the right of the entrance and then winds pleasantly through woodland parallel to the track with a large pond on the right; if you take this option, turn left just beyond the pond to return to the track). At a gate at the end of the houses leave the track through a stile on the left. Follow the path beyond (entering a former golf course), which swings left and subsequently follows an open belt of trees then briefly follows the edge of the trees surrounding a housing estate to the left. Beyond the trees walk straight ahead, parallel to a stream on the left, aiming just to the left of a telegraph pole.

(7) When you reach a metalled track, turn left over a bridge with brick parapets to return to the road. Turn right and walk back along the road to the Grosvenor Hotel.(S/E)

Sections may be muddy or even flooded after heavy rain.