Walks Around Harbury & Ladbroke

Walk 6 The Ufton Woods Walk

OS Explorer 221/2.     GPX File

Turn right to the east out of the Village Hall (P) to walk along South Parade, turning right into Vicarage Lane and left into Butt Lane to join the B4452. At the "Give Way" sign, continue ahead in the direction of Ufton for about 200 yards to where an access road leads to the right into a small office and warehousing estate.

Walk past the entrance and immediately on your right is a smallholding called Water Tower Holding.

Keep the buildings on your right and pass through a gap onto a track. Follow the fence on the left with a hedge and ditch on the right to reach another gap in the corner of the field. Follow the waymark and gap in the hedge and continue along the side of the field with the hedge on the left. If you look to the east you can see Napton Hill and the communication tower at Hellidon.

Where the field bends right, go through a gap in the hedge and cross the stile into a long field heading towards the high chimney at Southam. The woodland to the northwest is Ufton Nature Reserve. Pass under pylons and head for the far right hand corner of the field. Go through a kissing gate, and keeping Ufton Hill Farm on your left, keep to the right away from the farm yard and equipment but go straight ahead along the farm buildings edge to reach a kissing gate beside a horse trough.

Pass into the next field. BEWARE there may be a BULL(s)!  Keep straight on with the fence and with the waste tip on your left with methane capture equipment in evidence and pass through 2 more kissing gates. You are now in an area of derelict buildings. Turn immediately left and follow a grassy track past a small barn with corrugated iron walling and keep left by a blue monitoring pipe sticking out of the ground. Keeping the old tip on your left keep on the track between trees and ponds.

Keep the hedge on the left and pass over two stiles, and then bear slightly right, going downhill towards a large oak tree (and lake when wet) on the far side of the field. Go through a gate to the left of the oak tree with the hedge on your right (way marked) to cross a bridge over a small stream (hardly noticeable) feeding the River Itchen. With the hedge on your right, go across the field to a stile that leads onto the A425 Leamington - Southam road.

Cross the A425 with great care to a kissing gate. You are now on land belonging to the 17^th century Stoneythorpe Hall. Go straight ahead crossing the ridge and furrow parkland, following the waymark post. The Polo grounds are well over to the left. Aim towards the impressive entrance gates for the Hall. Pass through a metal kissing gate and go straight on with a hedge and Stoneythorpe Hall on your right. Go straight ahead to follow the track down the side of the Hall to a point close to the site of the old watermill. (Note the odd buildings beyond the hedge). Four routes join here. Beyond the kissing gate to the right is a weir - take a few minutes to explore this area!  The river and weir make it a lovely picnic spot.

Return to the "crossroads" and follow the hedge on the right to a kissing gate. Cross it and bear diagonally left up the field to a metal kissing gate. Pass through to cross an estate road and go through another kissing gate. From this point to the road the polo grounds are on your left hand side.

Having gone through the kissing gate, keep the hedge on your left and go through a small wood. Go straight on along the edge of the wood, and then through a gate to leave it. Follow the left hand hedge and a track with a new hedge growing along the right hand side. After the second gate go straight across the pasture to a kissing gate to reach a road. This leads to the small hamlet of Bascote Heath with a pub to your right about half a mile. Closer still is an interesting war memorial and graveyard under which the high speed (HS2) train route is likely to pass in a tunnel.

Cross the road diagonally right, and then turn left onto a footpath with Ufton Wood on your right. Keep along the edge of the wood (which is full of bluebells, primroses and wood anemones in spring) until close to Ufton village after a metal gate beside a horse jump. Cross the large field diagonally left to a gate into a small fenced paddock and out into the village by the 13^th century church and the village stocks. The White Hart pub is just to your left should you wish to take break.

Keep the church on the right and follow the road to the main A425. Cross the road taking great care - it is busy and visibility at this point is not good. Turn right to the roundabout, turn left on to Ufton Fields road and follow the route of Walk 1 in reverse, back to Harbury.