Fairfield, Pepper Wood & Chaddesley Wood, A Walk (BOOKING ESSENTIAL)

A WALK DESCRIPTION: Leader – Peter Searle. ~11.5 miles, ~260m total ascent. Starting along a lane from the B4091 in Fairfield we soon enter Pepper Wood, a remnant of the medieval Feckenham Forest. It was clear felled following the second world war but has regrown as mixed forest, now owned by the Woodland Trust and a site of special scientific interest (SSI). We continue through the grid-plan village of Dodford, which was originally founded in 1849 as a Chartist settlement to help working-class people to have enough land to vote and be self-sufficient. From here we continue through Randan Wood, Santery Hill Wood and Chaddesley Wood, another remnant of medieval forest and now a National Nature Reserve, then on across fields to a community orchard on the outskirts of Chaddesley Corbett, for our picnic lunch. We return to Fairfield by an alternative route that skirts Chaddesley Wood, running close to Hockley Brook for a while, through Dordale, Hurst Farm and the outer edges of Pepper Wood, finally returning to the waiting coach in a lay-by on the B4091 near Mayfield Farm. The fare is £20.