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\nAfter leaving the railway we spotted a sign \u2018Ladies Walk Path to Church\u2019. No doubt a shortcut but why \u2018ladies\u2019 had their own path was beyond us. We were soon at the most southerly point of the walk and went around the Parkhill Enclosure back to the cars, passing Whitemead park on the way. Good paths throughout the walk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
It was still very warm, so we sought out a local hostelry where we parked up the road to avoid – 1. stray cricket balls from the game on the pitch opposite and 2. blocking the view of the match for customers sat out front.
\nWalk 8.4m 900ft Map OL14<\/p>\n
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\nMindfulness<\/b><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\nMy ability to walk has been restricted by sciatica for the last few weeks so I have explored the area around the village, as I did during lockdown. I started around the Redrow estate, to the garden centre and up Burdons Hill, along the side of the golf course, past a House called Fairview and back to the main road via the golf club access road.
\nPaying attention to the natural world is relaxing and enhances my experience. Just using my senses to notice nature took my attention away from my pain. I was delighted to spot several apple trees in one garden followed by a mock orange with its heady scent. When the flowers were decimated by a heavy fall of rain I was momentarily disappointed but was very happy to be smothered by the heavy scent of Jasmine at the top of Burdons Hill. If you carry on for a while you will find a gate into the Elizabethan Orchard which is looked after by the Wenvoe Wildlife Group (they always need volunteers if you are interested). Retrace your steps and you will notice a gate which gives access to Wenvoe golf course, don\u2019t go through it but keep it to your right as you continue down a track. The rose hedge belonging to the golf course is on your right and depending on the season there will be glorious deep pink roses or large red rose hips.
\nThere are lots of trees on this stretch and you might like to focus on their bark, leaf shape, height or even the scent they emit. When you get to the golf club access road turn left and be aware that there are usually vehicles every few minutes. The roadway is lined with some splendid oaks and lots of other trees, plus an open area of grassland both sides, currently full of thistles. Butterflies are in abundance here in the summer.
\nEarth footpaths are a pleasure, the ground beneath one\u2019s feet is softer so feet and joints don\u2019t get sore and silence is deeper away from roads. And, for example, after a rain shower the soft pitter patter of raindrops falling from leaves at the top of trees onto lower leaves can be heard.<\/p>\n
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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0Forest of Dean It was another warm day as we set off to the forest of Dean, parking at the RSPB Nagshead nature reserve car park. Our route was taking us north to the water at the edge of Stonyhill Green, then west towards The Barracks where there is a picnic spot, from there to Parkend and along the Dean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-13431","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10102,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10102","url_meta":{"origin":13431,"position":0},"title":"Forest of Dean","author":"Alan Williams","date":"23rd August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Forest of Dean \u00a0 We ventured into England (just) for this walk in the Forest of Dean on the Wales\/England border, parking in a large layby opposite Broadstone Park, Staunton. Returning down the hill we picked up a track leading to the Kymin, a National Trust property with stunning views\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Picture4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10278,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10278","url_meta":{"origin":13431,"position":1},"title":"A Child In The Forest","author":"Alan Williams","date":"18th September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We discussed \u2018A child in the forest\u2019 by Winifred Foley (no longer in print, but available as an audio book or second hand). The book was originally written for broadcasting on \u2018Woman\u2019s hour\u2019. It is the autobiography of a young girl, born in 1914, growing up in a mining village\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15385,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15385","url_meta":{"origin":13431,"position":2},"title":"Lliw Reservoir & Nuppend, Alvington","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Lliw Reservoir After a longish drive, more of us than usual, arrived at the lower Lliw reservoir, and were happy to see a caf\u00e9. The caf\u00e9 has a handy leaflet describing local footpaths and points of interest. The reservoir was built in 1867, following an 1859 cholera epidemic which gripped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Picture5.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4130,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4130","url_meta":{"origin":13431,"position":3},"title":"Chartist Cave & Abercarn","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Chartist Cave We started at Trefil on a cold but sunny morning, much better than the weather forecast. Walking north we followed the Brinmore tramroad which opened in 1815. We soon arrived at a quarry and the footpath led us through it. It has been used as a set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8351,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8351","url_meta":{"origin":13431,"position":4},"title":"Footsteps – Hensol Forest","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hensol Forest On another sunny day, Wenvoe walkers met as a group (12 of us), for the first time since the beginning of March, to walk in Hensol forest. We crossed fields with long grass heavy with dew which soaked our trousers, but we knew they would soon dry in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture2.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16588,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16588","url_meta":{"origin":13431,"position":5},"title":"Our Biggest Wild Animal","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Our Biggest Wild Animal The biggest wild animal we have in the Parish is the Badger and this has been the case for hundreds of years ever since the last wolf was hunted to extinction. But this could all be about to change. The deer is Britain's largest land mammal,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/wild-boar2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13431"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13463,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431\/revisions\/13463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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