On Foot

On Foot NETHERBURY AND BEAMINSTER

Emma Tabor and Paul Newman

Distance: 3 miles Time: Approx. 1 3/4 hours Park: Parking area in front of St Mary’s church, Netherbury. Walk Features: An gentle walk following the River Brit from Netherbury towards Beaminster and past the grounds of Parnham House. There are some good views across Beaminster and towards Lewesdon Hill and Colmer’s Hill on different points of the walk. It’s also a good opportunity to explore the hills and valleys alongside the Brit. There is just one small steep ascent up to Edmund Coombe Coppice. Refreshments: If taking the slight detour into Beaminster, there are many cafés, restaurants and pubs to choose from- otherwise bring a picnic! >

Each month we devise a walk for you to try with your family and friends (including four-legged members) pointing out a few interesting things along the way, be it flora, fauna, architecture, history, the unusual and sometimes the unfamiliar.

For May, we take a relatively easy route along the River Brit, starting from the 15th Century church and grounds of St Mary in Netherbury, a pretty village with some fine buildings which are worth exploring. This is a walk with a secluded feel and is easy to lose yourself in as you savour the surrounding undulations and folds of the Brit valley. The section through Edmund Coombe Coppice is particularly splendid and the higher route on the return opens up with views across the Marshwood Vale.

Directions Start: SY 470 994 1 From the small parking area in front of the church, follow the high pavement to the right of the church, then turn left just past the war memorial onto a narrow path between hedges. Continue following around the outside of the church and the path soon widens to pass the other side of the churchyard, with headstones stretching down towards the

River Brit, which you can now hear as well as catch

glimpses of. There are gardens to your left, as you pass through trees and you will soon emerge into a field. Keep ahead and along the right hand side of the field. Where the path meets Norton Lane, and just before a Dutch barn, there is a large metal sheep bridge over the river, to your right. 2 Cross this bridge, turn left and head up a sandy track. As the track starts to bend to the left, take a right, along a footpath then go through a wooden gate. Parnham House and its surrounding woodland and grounds is now on your right. Carry on along the edge of the wood for 600 yards and you will soon reach a metal gate leading into a field. Ahead is Edmund Coombe Coppice. Go through the gate and straight across the field, through a gateway with an old kissing gate to your left and then through the next short section of field to arrive at a wooden gate with another kissing gate next to it. From here it is a short walk into

Beaminster if you fancy a detour. 3 Otherwise, turn left in front of this gate and walk straight up a short, steep slope, alongside a wooden fence, towards the coppice. Just before the entrance to the coppice is a good spot for a picnic with views across Beaminster and also towards Crab

Coppice. Go through a small wooden gate and

head up some steps into the wood. Keep ahead through the coppice, which contains a lovely mix of trees including some wonderful large and unusual coppiced sweet chestnuts. After 400 yards you will reach the other side of the coppice, exiting through posts and a stile into rough pasture. Walk though this and start heading downhill towards a big metal gate at the bottom of the field. 4 Pass through the gate and turn right onto a farm track. Keep on this track for a short while, ignoring a bridleway sign to the right towards Knowle

Farm. There are views from here towards the west and Gerrard’s Hill and the Beaminster Union

Workhouse. After 600 yards you come to a small wooden gate on your right with a footpath sign, just above and before the section of track you walked up earlier. 5 Turn right and go through this gate into a field.

Make your way diagonally across the middle of the field, down into a corner with a small wooden gate leading into a wooded glen. Follow the footpath and soon you will meet a wooden footbridge on your left, over a stream. Cross this, then over a stile into a field. Turn immediately right into the field, following the stream on your right. After 150 yards, near the end of the field, there is a small metal gate,

with a dented top, on your left. Go through this, crossing a little wooden footbridge over a brook and head up some steps to a metal gate and then into a meadow. Head for a large metal gate, walking parallel to the valley bottom, and go through this into a field and then through another metal gate into another field; you will see a small metal gate in the far right-hand corner of the next field. 6 Immediately after going through this gate, turn sharp left up some steps and then through another small gate, heading steeply uphill now, keeping the hedge on your left. At the top of this field is yet another perfect picnic spot with a large bench and foot rests carved out of a tree trunk. Behind the bench is a large metal gate, to the left of which is a small metal gate. Take the footpath on the other side of this small gate, which now skirts around the left-hand side of a paddock. Passing houses and a yard, the path then bears slightly left and emerges into a field. Walk along the right hand side of the field, for 250 yards, keeping a hedge to your right until you meet a large metal gate, leading onto a road. Turn left here and head back down the road to St Mary’s church and the start.