Walks in Ross on Wye: Sellack

Start: Lough Pool Inn, Sellack on the road between Bridstow and Hoarwithy, 2 1⁄2 miles from the junc on with the A49.

Park: near the Lough Pool Inn.

Map: Explorer 189.

Grid Ref: SO 557 268.

Distance: 3.6 miles.

Grade: Leisurely.

 1. Go right and walk up the road towards Ross. This is one of two gentle climbs on this walk. Before reaching the crossroads at Picts Cross look out for a set of steps leading up to a wooden gate in the right hand hedgerow (it is marked with a finger-post). Go through the gate into a field and walk straight across to a stile which will take you into a garden.

Walk between the house and the garage and at the end of the garage carry straight on across a small common to cross a track onto another small grassy area with a water pump surrounded by railings. Carry on with the pump on your right, between two hedgerows and onto a track. Keep straight on along this track for 60 m and join a lane.

2. Turn right at the lane past Old Chapel Cottage and carry on along this lane until you reach a pond on the right. Immediately after this pond, take the track to the right. Walk along this track passing a cattery on your right and at the end of the cottages on your left, turn right. Walk a little way up this track, passing Quabb Cottage on your right, and a few yards further go through a wooden gate in the left hand hedgerow into an arable field.

3. Walk up the edge of the field with the hedgerow on your right; this is a gentle climb to the top of the field where you go through another wooden gate. Immediately after this gate turn right through a gap in the hedgerow into the next field and then walk up this field keeping the hedgerow on your left. At the top of this field, at the junction of bridleways, turn right into a field and take the bridleway between the fence on your left and the hedgerow on your right.

On a clear day this part of the walk provides excellent views to Garway Hill on the left and May Hill on the right.

4. Continue on the bridleway into the next field, still keeping the hedgerow on your right. Eventually the track has a hedgerow on both sides. This section of the walk can be very muddy in wet conditions. Carry on past some farm buildings on the left and eventually to the road, crossing over to the track signposted to Sellack Church.

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5. Continue on this track for 1.24 km (3/4 ml) and eventually drop down to the village of Sellack.

On the way down the track you will pass stables and then the Elizabethan mansion Caradoc Court. The church at Sellack, dating back to Norman times, is dedicated to St Tysilio, the only church in England dedicated to this saint. From the church across the fields can be seen the suspension bridge over the River Wye built in 1895, replacing the ferry.

6. At the church take the track to the right and join the road. After a few yards and just before the black and white house, turn right and take the stile or field gate into a meadow. Walk across this field keeping parallel to the fence on the right. At the far end of the field go through a wooden gate into a wood. After a few yards take the right hand fork, then ignore the second fork to the right and keep straight on. It can be muddy and slippery on this stretch so take care.

 7. At the end of the wood go through a wooden gate into a large meadow and walk straight up the valley from where you will be able to see the Lough Pool Inn at the top. As you approach a fence at the top of the valley, go right until you find a wooden gate in the fence. Go through the gate and take the path between the fences, over a plank bridge and through a wooden gate back to the road and the starting point at the.