Hagley to Barnt Green via the Clent Hills Walk

Main Walk Directions first checked: 08/09/2025 Circular Walk Directions currently draft version only! Wychbury Hill Loop not walked yet

Hagley Station to The Four Stones (4.3 km)

1. Alight from the train at Hagley Station (on platform 1 from the direction of Birmingham and platform 2 from the direction of Worcester) and exit from platform 1 through a gap to the left of the station building into a cul-de-sac with a car park. Veer left along the pavement and continue along Station Road's pavement towards a signalled road junction. Turn left along Worcester Road's pavement (the B4187). The road ascends gently out of Hagley, curves to the right and the left, and just before a 'Welcome to Stourbridge' sign, you turn right across the road and follow a signposted public footpath ('Hagley 1/2'), also signed as the Monarch's Way (MW) and concurrent with the North Worcestershire Path (NWP).
2. You walk along a fenced path, with horse paddocks and pastures on the right and initially a hedge and trees on the left. When that discontinues, you can see the wooded rise of Wychbury Hill ahead half left, site of an Iron Age hillfort and an Obelisk and destination of an optional extension. After a right and left turn, you emerge on the A456/A491 dual carriageway by NWP and MW signposts and a bus stop and cross the road at a set of lights a little to the left. Turn half right on the far side, along Bromsgrove Road. In 140m a tarmac path turns left between wooden fences.
3. Here you have a choice:
   For the Extension up to Wychbury Hill, turn left and follow the route shown on the route map, which re-joins the main route a little further along.
   For the Main Walk, continue in the same direction and in 70m, with The Lyttelton Arms just ahead, turn left along Hall Lane. You have a shallow valley on the right, dropping to the Gallows Brook and at a three-way road junction, with a drive for visitors to Hagley Hall forking right and the drive to the house turning right as well, you turn right along a signposted footpath along a fenced path. The Extension has re-joined.
4. There are glimpses of Hagley Hall (a 'sham castle') up on a rise through the foliage and when you cross the Gallows Brook, you ignore signposted footpaths through a wooden gate into the pasture on the right to bear left with the fenced path. At a four-way path junction, turn left gently uphill, with a NWP marker post. At the entrance gate to 'Ruskin Mill - Sunfield', you bear left along a car wide gravel track with a footpath sign and in 60m turn right at a hedge corner and follow the fence uphill (this is different from the right of way shown on the OS map). The path enters a wood and veers right then left. At the corner of the field away to the left, you enter the Clent Hills Country Park (National Trust) and cross a broad track to the left across a stream and continue uphill into the wood along a narrow path (50°). You have entered Access Land.
5. Continue uphill with a marker post where a path joins from the left and cross a path further along to continue more steeply uphill. You can see the apparent top of the rise ahead, beyond the treeline, but once there you continue gently uphill through some scrubland with developing views on the left into the plain. Stay to the left of a fenced plantation and you will find some metal plaques describing the skyline on the left in a viewing area. You can spot The Wrekin (315°, 41 km away), the Clee Hills (260° and 280°, 34 km away), Woodbury Hill (235°, 24 km away) and the Malvern Hills (210°, 42 km away). Higher up still, you get to The Four Stones (erected around 1763 by workers of the eccentric landowner – George, Lord Lyttleton of Hagley Hall) with another toposcope to the right of them.

The Four Stones to Waltonhill Farm (2.7 km)

1. From the toposcope, turn right from the previous direction along a wide gravel path which bears left downhill by a large grassy area with a bench on the right (with fine views to The Malverns). At a multi-path junction, ignore the wide right turn (a bridleway) as well as the narrow path ahead (a public footpath) and turn left into trees along an NT Permissive Path. The path dips down a little then re-ascends and turns right. Further along you turn left with the path, now with a road visible to the right below. In 200m turn right at a T-junction with the NWP coming down the hill from the left and at the road turn left along it. You have left the Access Land.
2. In 60m pass the entrance to High Harcourt Farm and in 30m turn right along Walton Hill Road. In 300m you pass through a car park area on the left and in 100m bear right through a gravel car park on the right and take the left of two tracks through a metal kissing gate, marked as the NWP and a Permissive Path, and in 20m cross a track and continue through a wooden kissing gate to the left of a wooden field gate past a 'Nation Trust Clent Hills - Walton Hill' sign. You have re-entered Access Land. [This path has a gentler gradient than the bridleway shown on the OS map as the direct ascent.]
3. The path initially stays parallel to the road, then curves right as does the road below, then curves further right by a three-way road junction below and turns hard right steeply uphill by a wooden memorial shelter (Halesowen Scout Association). Go through a wooden gate to the right of a wooden field gate and turn left towards a bench, with parts of Birmingham's Skyline briefly visible through trees, and left again along the ridge. The other track from the car park joins from the right below en route and in 320m from the bench you pass the trigpoint on Walton Hill at 315m above sea level where some minor paths join from the left and right.
4. The ridge opens out a little with the Malvern Hills dominating the vista and you [!] fork left with a NWP and bridleway marker post, staying to the left of a grassy area (i.e. ignore another clear path to the right along the trees). The path enters shrubland with gorse and low trees and Waltonhill Farm eventually comes into view dead ahead. At the farm, a bridleway track is met at a T-junction.
5. Here you have a choice:
   For the Short Circular Route back to Hagley, turn right and pick up the directions below under Short Circular Walk Ending from Walton Hill.
   For the Long Circular Route back to Hagley and the Main Walk, turn left.

Waltonhill Farm to M5 Crossing (4.0 km)

1. Where the drive from the farm joins from the right behind, you turn right with a NWP and footpath marker post through a wooden gate and follow a grass path to the left of the fenced grounds. You have left the Access Land. In 50m go through another wooden gate and continue with some droppping ground on the left and some slightly higher ground on the right beyond a fence line. Follow the rim of the very pretty valley partly under tree cover, but mostly in the open, lastly with fine views back to Birmingham. After 520m from Waltonhill Farm you go over a stile of sorts into trees and turn right (a faint path bears left here). The path is narrow and serrated by tree roots with a steep wooded slope on the left. Turn to the left, now with Calcot Hill on the right and after 480m in the wood you turn right with the path by a footpath marker post, where a faint footpath bears left. In 110m go through a metal kissing gate to the right of a metal field gate into a sloping pasture.
2. Here you have a choice:
   For the Long Circular Route back to Hagley, continue ahead and pick up the directions below under Long Circular Walk Ending from Calcot Hill.
   For the Main Walk, turn left downhill with a 'BM23' marker.
3. You leave the first small pasture through a metal kissing gate to continue downhill along a clear path. Lower down you get fine views to the left up the valley just walked along, while staying to the left of the highest point of the descending field. You aim for a marker post and stay to the right of a wood corner, then veer right to a metal kissing gate leading onto a road. Turn right along Shut Mill Lane and in 40m turn left up along Winwood Heath Road. In 90m by Farley Cottage, you turn hard left with the road and follow it for 1.0 km to the top of the rise at a road T-junction on Romsley Hill. Turn right along Farley Lane, signed 'Fairfield' and 'Bromsgrove'.
4. After passing the last house on the left ('Foxgloves'), turn left across the road and follow a signposted footpath through a metal kissing gate and across an arable field along a usually well-cleared path towards a metal field gate in a hedge, some two-thirds up the field. In 180m go through the gate (last seen lying on the ground) and follow a larger arable field's right-hand boundary. You descend through four fields, along their boundaries and with a wood on the right from the third field onwards, and turn left unmarked near the bottom of the fourth field, where a rusty field gate leads into the wood. Stay to the left of a white house and go over a stile and turn right along a road, along a mixture of grassy margin and tarmac path. In 100m turn left across the road and go up a cul-de-sac road with a NWP and Public Road marker post. In 100m turn right along a row of trees with a footpath signpost. In 50m the concrete track turns left to cross the M5 Motorway on a bridge.

M5 Crossing to Lickey Hills Country Park (3.9 km)

1. Beyond the motorway, follow the lane to the left and in 60m to the right, passing Chapman's Hill Farm to its right. You turn left with the lane, ignoring a signposted bridleway ahead ('Chadwich and Bristol Road') and pass some houses on the right. In 200m bear right with the lane and in 60m veer right along a signposted footpath, still with the NWP. A metal gate leads into a pasture and you follow its left-hand boundary. In 230m in the far field corner go through a metal kissing gate into a sloping pasture and turn right uphill with a marker post along its boundary. In the top-right corner, go through a wooden field gate and turn left in the next field. In 100m go under an HV pylon line and in 70m veer left to a metal kissing gate 30m away.
2. You have entered the Waseley Hills Country Park and continue along a fence on the left and with a steep drop on the right. You are on Chapman's Hill and have entered Access Land. You can walk either side of the fence as in 230m a gate enables crossing the fence back to the right-hand side, just after going through a metal kissing gate to the left of a metal field gate. Here, ignore the NWP ahead through a metal gate, descending between rows of trees, and instead [!] fork right through a metal kissing gate to the right of a (missing) field gate along a clear grass path on the level, aiming to the left of a mature plantation. There is a newly planted fenced Miyawaki Woodland just to the right of the clump of mature trees and past the clump you start to descend gently in the same direction, with fine views to both sides. You go through a wooden kissing gate to the right of a metal field gate where the Monarch's Way and NWP re-join from the left and continue ahead, with a wood on the right and a fence on the left. You have left the Access Land.
3. In 90m go through a metal kissing gate to the right of a metal field gate and follow a left-hand field boundary uphill and in 160m in the field corner, ignore the Monarch's Way turning right and continue ahead with the NWP and some trees on the left. In 60m fork left gently downhill along a grassy track then along a fenced wood. In 130m go through a metal kissing gate and in 110m enter the Waseley Hills South car park. In 100m turn left along Holywell Lane and in 50m turn right along a main road to cross the A38 Birmingham Road on a bridge. On the far side of the bridge, where the road turns left, you turn right with a bridleway signpost and NWP marker, then turn left with the path by Chadwich Reservoir, past a metal field gate.
4. The broad gravel path rises gently amongst trees (you could walk in the grassy fields on the left of the hedge and trees as several gaps in the growth allow re-joining this path before it turns right). Turn right with the path and in another 100m [!] turn left with a footpath and NWP marker post, ignoring the continuation ahead (a bridleway). In 110m you have garden fences on the left and in another 110m go through a metal kissing gate and cross Beacon Hill Road with a NWP signpost and [!] turn right with a NWP marker post along a short boardwalk and then uphill just inside a wood and parallel to the road.
5. Soon you have the Lickey Hills Golf Course on the left and in 125m continue in the same direction by a footpath marker post, while the road turns right by a footpath signpost. At the top of the rise, now close to the road again, you emerge from the trees and bear left across a large grassy area into the Lickey Hills Country Park towards a large but low castle structure 200m away. Beacon Hill Castle was erected in 1907 upon the gifting of the area to the people of Birmingham and Worcestershire and it and the surrounding grassy plateau provide for some superlative views from a spot at 298m above sea level. There is a toposcope in the castle folly and the best views of the plain and of Birmingham can be had from near a couple of benches at the scarp of the plateau.

Lickey Hills Country Park to Barnt Green Station (4.3 km)

1. The route continues to the left of the wood beyond the castle, passing yet more benches with views towards the city. At the end of the grassy plateau a path joins from the left and you turn right into the wood with a NWP and Permissive Path marker post past a trigpoint (at 286m above sea level). In 70m a path joins from the right and you fork left, gently downhill. In 75m another path joins from the right and you continue ahead, on the level. In 40m bear left at an oblique four-way junction with a NWP marker post and in 100m at a T-junction with a broad path, turn left downhill along a permissive path (and the NWP) with markers high up a tree and a steep wooded bowl beyond. In 100m turn right with a marker post.
2. [!] In 80m turn left down some steps along the unmarked NWP continuation, ignoring the more prominent continuation ahead. You approach the Lickey Hills Golf Course clubhouse, some tennis courts and a bowls club and stay to the left of all buildings. A pond is visible to the right just before you reach The Duckpond Café at The Old Rose & Crown Hotel and some toilets. Turn right around the buildings and turn left towards the duckpond past a map. Bear left this side of the pond and pass a smaller lower pond to continue past The Old Rose & Crown Hotel.
3. Turn left at the corner of the hotel to pick up a path to the right across a grassy section, parallel to the busy road on the right. The path meets the road where a bridleway joins from the left and you turn right in 20m across the road to follow a Drover's Way signpost and bridleway and NWP markers across a ditch. In 10m [!] bear left steeply uphill to ascend Bilberry Hill, leaving the NWP which stays low along the flank of the hill. Bilberries, heather and birch dominate the hill and higher up you pass a fine viewpoint by a bench and higher still a wooden plank viewing area.
4. Once on the ridge, follow the fence on the left, ignore any right forks and pass some info panels, usually in some breaks in the growth with fine views towards Birmingham Airport. At the far end of the hill with a car park visible to the right, follow a path to the right of a fence, curving to the right to the tarmac lane into the car park and turn left immediately along a broad gravel path up along Cofton Hill. The NWP runs along the tarmac lane and the route has now left it for good.
5. In 80m ignore a left fork into trees and eventually you go over the top of the hill at 263m above sea level, with more fine views on the left. The path enters trees and where the broad gravel track curves to the left, by a marker post with yellow, red and blue markers, [!] you turn hard right down a few easy-to-miss steps into the steep wooded slope and negotiate your way down to a broad forest track. Turn right along the track along the base of Cofton Hill.
6. In 220m at a T-junction by a bench, turn left along a broad track (a public bridleway) with blue and red markers. In 100m you pass a decaying shed on the left and in 100m bear right with the track across a stream and start to re-ascend. In 140m curve to the left with the track and continue on the level and in 20m ignore a right turn with a blue marker. In 40m a narrow path joins from the left and you cross another stream. In 300m ignore a right turn uphill and in 30m a path joins from the right behind by a bench (you pass a backwards bridleway marker post here). In 350m you leave the Lickey Hills CP onto Cherry Hill Road and turn left along it. In 15m the marked Barnt Green - Lickey Hills Walk turns right.
7. For the The Barnt Green Inn Loop, continue along the road and in 300m you pass Barnt Green CC on the left. In 180m at the junction with the B4120, you have the Inn on the right. Turn right along the B road and in 140m turn right along Fiery Hill Road. The station is 430m away. Birmingham bound trains depart from platforms 1 and 3, Worcester bound ones from platform 2.
8. For the Main Walk, turn right along this tree-lined path through an area called Fordrough. In 380m you reach Fiery Hill Road, with Barnt Green Station opposite. Birmingham bound trains depart from platforms 1 and 3, Worcester bound ones from platform 2.
9. For the Loop past The Victoria Inn and along the main street through town, turn right uphill along the road and turn first left (Hewell Lane) to go over the railway line and turn left along Hewell Road to go under the Redditch line. The Victoria Inn is next on the right and further along the road you pass a wine shop, an Indian, a micropub, an Italian, a coffee and tapas bar and a wine & pizza bar before turning left up Station Approach to the station 150m away. Birmingham bound trains depart from platforms 1 and 3, Worcester bound ones from platform 2.

Short Circular Walk Ending from Walton Hill (5.5 km with 43m ascent)

1. You follow a fence on the left along a good earthen path on the fringe of the common, with fine views developing on the left down a grassy valley with a wood on the far flank of it. In 300m by a marker post a path joins from the right behind (an unmarked public bridleway) and in 20m, in a grassy area with a metal gate about 30m ahead, you bear right past a bench and in 40m turn left along another unmarked earthen bridleway. The path clings to the fence on the left with that grassy valley falling away to the left and a wood falling away to the right.
2. In 20m you enter trees and the ridge gradually descends from the hill. In 150m you ignore a right forking path steeper downhill (an unmarked public footpath). In 300m another unmarked public footpath joins from the right behind and in 180m you reach a marker post at a fork in the path. The bridleway forks left (the Long Circular Walk comes up that way) and a public footpath (and the NT Butterfly Trail) continues ahead towards a metal kissing gate about 80m away. Continue in the same direction downhill along the footpath.
3. In 30m turn right with a Butterfly Trail marker post along a narrow forest path, leaving the public footpath, and in 50m bear left downhill with the path. In 170m another forest path joins form the left behind (there is a Badger Trail marker on the reverse of a tree between those paths) and you continue steeply downhill along a rutted path with plenty of exposed tree roots. In 60m go through a (currently broken) wooden kissing gate by a 'The National Trust - Clent Hills' sign and bear right with the path towards the corner of a car park where Clatterbach Lane from the right meets Vine Lane. [The Vine Inn can be found 70m down the left along the road.]
4. Cross Vine Lane a little to the right and in 15m turn left along a signposted bridleway between fences, immediately crossing the Clatterbach. In 30m you can see the garden of the Inn on the left across the stream and in 90m ignore a left fork along the fence on the left and fork right uphill. In 70m you cross a path (an unmarked public footpath) and continue uphill. The path curves to the right and in 100m, on a brow, you pass a Badger Trail marker post (backwards) and continue ahead, ignoring a steep path to the right. In 150m, at a four-way path junction by a wooden gate on the left, turn right gently uphill with the bridleway.
5. In 150m, by a marker post on the right, turn hard left back on yourself with the Badger Trail, ignoring the Rabbit Trail uphill ahead. In 100m, at a T-junction by a marker post, bear left uphill and in 65m a very steep path joins up from the left. You curve to the right with the path and in 15m turn left downhill at a T-junction with a broad gravel track (an unmarked bridleway down from The Four Stones folly).
6. In 20m go through a couple of poles with what looks like counters attached to them and turn right immediately with the broad gravel track, ignoring a narrower one ahead. In 100m this curves to the left and in 20m continues as a concrete track, down towards The Hill Tavern 40m away. There is a map and info panel of The Clent Hills this side of the pub and its car park, and you find The Four Stones Coffee & Brunch 50m down the road.
7. Turn right this side of the pub, up a tarmac drive, and in 30m turn left with the drive, soon passing a disused toilet block. At its far corner, you fork right into trees, away from the fence on the left and in 70m turn left downhill at an unmarked four-way bridleway junction. In 110m continue steeply downhill along a brick wall, where a public footpath joins from the right behind through a metal kissing gate and another path from the left along some garden fences. In 100m turn right along the pavement of Adam's Hill road, passing The Fountain at Clent pub on the left. You have left the Access Land.
8. In 80m turn right along Woodman Lane, in 20m passing Violet Lane and a disused bus stop on a triangular green on the left, then ignoring a right turn to the Ruskinmill Sunfield School. You pass the Ruskinmill Sunfield Shop, open 9.30-12.00 & 13.00-17.00 Mon-Fri (but not Wednesday pm) and follow the pavement along a red brick wall. In 150m ignore a signposted footpath bearing right with the wall along an earthen path, and in 80m you cross the drive to St. Elisabeth's Cottage. In 30m, just before the pavement discontinues, you turn right with a footpath marker through a wooden gate to the right of a wooden field gate into a small wood and follow a path along its right-hand side.
9. For a loop past The Woodman at Clent, continue along the road without pavement and in 230m meet Bromsgrove Road, with the pub opposite. Turn right along the road pavement and in 200m, where Field Lane joins from the left, you turn right across the road and go up some railed steps and through a metal kissing gate into a pasture. Bear left along a clear path in the direction of the Obelisk an Wychbury Hill (due N) and in 500m in the far-right bottom field corner by a wooden gate and a footpath signpost, the main route joins from the right. Skip the next paragraph.
10. In 90m go through a wooden gate and down to an earthen track, which you cross a little to the right and continue through a metal gate to the left of a wooden field gate and along a wide fenced path, initially with a house garden on the left. In 50m the house has been passed and in 80m you go through a metal gate to the left of a metal field gate into a pasture and continue in the same direction (ignore a right bearing grass path). In 110m go over a stile in a boundary hedge and into a larger pasture and veer right to head for the bottom-right corner of the field. In 260m you reach the Gallow's Brook by a wooden gate and a footpath signpost. The Woodman Loop route joins from the left behind.
11. Turn right through the gate onto a fenced path (the outbound route) and turn left along it through some bike barriers. You have another pasture on the left and a ditch on the right and in 120m have good views of Hagley Hall up on the right. In 210m go through bike barriers and in 30m turn left along Hall Lane at a three-way road junction, also with two drives into the grounds of the Hall on the right. In 280m cross Bromsgrove Road by The Lyttelton Arms and in 120m follow the right-hand pavement ahead, where the road veers left.
12. You pass a five-road roundabout (three of them A roads) on its right-hand side, using sets of lights to cross the A456/491. Continue downhill into Hagley along Park Road past a War Memorial on the left, after which the pavement switches to the left-hand side of the road. In 650m cross Worcester Road and continue in the previous direction along Station Road, in 150m forking left along Station Drive to Hagley Station. Birmingham bound trains depart from the far platform, reached via an overbridge.
13. The West One bar and The Station Inn pub (Marston's) both lie a few minutes walking off route along Worcester Road: turn left when coming down Park Road.

Long Circular Walk Ending from Calcot Hill (6.5 km with 96m ascent)

1. In 50m turn right through a metal kissing gate with a footpath marker and follow a fence on the left around Calcothill Farm, in 40m turning left with the fence by a two-way signpost. In 80m go through a metal kissing gate and down onto a car wide gravel track and turn right along it. The Malvern Hills dominate the views to the left far beyond the dropping pasture. Clee Hill is visible due W and Brown Clee Hill just to the right of it (280°), both about 35 km away.
2. In 90m curve to the left with the track and in 140m you ignore a farm track down to the left. You walk between trees and in 140m have a wood on the left for 150m, after which you ignore a track to the left into a field. In 210m ignore another track to the left to Moorhall Farm, now with a wood on the right. In 160m, where the track turns to the left, you walk through a metal kissing gate into an arable field (the swing gate part is currently missing and a wooden stepless stile is mounted to the open part of the kissing gate).
3. The right-of-way across the field runs due W to the opposite boundary (i.e veer left), in practice though the farmer and a stile in the opposite hedge demand a different line: turn left along the field boundary for 40m and turn right along a usually well-cleared path to the stile 160m away. Continue through the next field (a pasture) aiming to the right of some large sheds. In 100m on the brow of this field, you cross an unmarked footpath leading to a metal kissing gate down on the left and in 80m walk through a metal field gate into a larger pasture. Veer right uphill (315°) or follow a gentler, curving path slightly further right, as in 60m at the top of the small rise you realise that both routes lead to the same wide stepless stile by a signpost 100m away, leading down steps onto Walton Pool Lane.
4. Turn right up the lane, ignoring the footpath opposite through a hedge into a car park. In 30m pass the drive of Clarendon Care at The Forester and in 100m, at a fork in the road, fork left, ignoring Highfield Lane to the right. You pass Canadian Cottage and in 50m curve downhill with the lane. In 40m at the bottom of the drop, ignore a footpath to the left through a metal kissing gate and re-ascend through Walton Pool hamlet. In 70m bear up to the right steeply along Walton Rise, where the lane turns left downhill.
5. In 90m you pass the last house on the right (The Mona) and continue along a broad gravel track. In 60m walk through a gap to the right of a metal field gate with a bridleway marker into a wooded area and in 90m you reach a three-way junction of paths by a marker post. The Short Circular Walk joins from the right down from Walton Hill (the continuation of the bridleway). Turn hard left back on yourself with public footpath and Butterfly Trail markers, downhill with a metal kising gate about 80m away and pick up the directions above in the third paragraph of the Short Circular Walk Ending.