Gravel route: Croft Wood & Wigmore Rolls
Enjoy a satisfyingly lumpy ride along gravel, C-roads, forest tracks and bridlepaths through conifer woods and quiet country lanes.
Don't Miss
Croft Ambrey hillfort and Wigmore Castle – evidence of settlement and defence spanning many centuries. The Oak Wigmore and the Riverside Aymestry are both superb gastropubs.
Route Guide
From Mortimer’s Cross, take the B4362 east towards Ludlow. After 3/4 mile, at the staggered crossroads, turn left alongside the war memorial to climb the steep lane up to Croft Wood. Go through a gate and onto a good gravel track, continuing uphill through the forest. Turn left at the crossroads and, passing the Iron Age hillfort to your right, go through a gate, contour around the hill on the bridlepath and prepare for a steep descent back to tarmac.
Turn right onto the lane and follow it northeast to Leinthall Earls, continuing round to the left and on to the A4110. Turn right (north) for a short spell to Wigmore – hop off to explore the village and namesake castle, founded by a Norman follower of William the Conqueror and then home to the powerful Mortimer marcher lords for three and a half centuries. The Oak Wigmore is a wonderfully renovated coaching inn with top-notch food.
Continue north to Adforton, forking left at the church and tackling a good climb towards Wigmore Rolls. At the top of the hill, the road bends sharp left; shortly after, fork left onto a gravel trail for a fast descent on forestry tracks on the back side of Wigmore Rolls. Turn right where you meet a tarmac lane, continue downhill and then right along Ongar Street, turning left at the crossroads (the ‘Cross of the Tree’), signed for Lye and Aymestry, to follow mixed gravel and tarmac round the back of The Camp. Continue through Lye to meet the A4110; turn right through Aymestry – home of the Riverside, one of Herefordshire’s finest gastropubs, and a good stop to cool your toes in the River Lugg – and on south back to Mortimer’s Cross.
