Blackmore & Birch Spring Walk

Blackmore has what any good village has Duck ponds a Green, Tea Shops, Pubs, Church and a Priory but on this walk you have to wait to the end after walking through stunning woodland and wide open spaces which is Ideal when you have dogs but beware there may be horses and cattle in some fields.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 06/05/2018

• Distance: 4.68 Miles

• Car Park: Fingrith Hall Lane near the Crossroads CM4 0RL

• Refreshments: Leather Bottle & Prince Albert, 2 Tearooms Jericho Cottage & Blackmore Tearooms.

• Photos Taken on Walk

We left the car walking away from the village for about 1/2 mile along Fingrith Hall Lane passing by Orchard Piece and crossing Redrose Lane and just past High house on the left we turned right over a bridge and through a gate and up the left edge of a field. We carried on through another gate and the a short distance along to a bridge and a stile and the next field we had five horses approaching us and as we had the dogs we made a speed exit to the next stile with them all following us.

We carried along past a feed hopper to the left of us and a through a rusty gate and then between farm buildings to reach Spiggs Lane. We turned left here and walked along the road about a 100 yards until we see a concrete foot path sign where we had to turn right on to a wide grassy right hand edge of the field. Near the end of the field we had to cross a bridge slightly to the left and then go left alongside a ditch.

We kept with this field edge to a way-marker in the far left hand corner then kept going forward to the right of an oak tree and over a stile and again we kept on the left edge of the next field. We then crossed yet another stile in a fence turned left at a way-marker and over a bridge stile combination. At a fork we went right in to the woodland along the path through Parsons Spring wood

Once through the wood we went on a concrete track which is lined with Daffodils in the spring then we came to a lane which we crossed straight over and into Birch Spring we forked right at the start and followed a track, which almost goes straight through the deciduous wood. We eventually reached a path junction by an old gatepost and finger-post. We turned right here to walk just inside the wood edge and the track is lined bu ancient field Boundaries-banks so old that they are surmounted by mature trees and the path dwindled too arrive at a lane.

Here we turned right and went over a stile to the left of the grand white gates to Stony Lodge and walked along the drive passing a elegant pond and stylish house on the left and kept going on a track that follows the right edge of a field the red disc on the way-marker told us we were now walking along St Peter's Way which runs from Chipping Ongar to the Dengie Peninsular which is 45 miles long. At a way-marker with multiple arrows, go left across the field to trees which surround a fishing lake, here is we had a sit down by the side of the lake and took the photo that appears as the main photo on the site with just our legs and booted up feet.

After taking the photo and having a rest we carried on keeping to the left of the lake and to a gap in a hedge. when through the gap we went half right to cut of a corner through another gap in a hedge and straight across the next field to a road. We crossed the road and turned left then right to pass a duck ponds then we veered left over the green where we stopped for a refreshing cup of tea and cake at Jericho Cottage which is like a Aladdin's cave of antiques. We continued our walk through the village looking at all the buildings and found our way to the crossroads and here you can find a pub, tearoom and shops where we had to cross to go back to the car.