WHEN Hereford was under siege during the Civil War, there weren’t many trees on Aconbury Hill. The old Roman fort on the top was in a commanding position.

The oval-shaped entrenchments enjoyed unimpeded views over the road coming from Monmouth, across to the Mynde and Much Dewchurch and the approaches to Hereford Castle.

In the autumn of 1642, the Royalist forces of Lord Herbert had pushed their way from Raglan Castle via Monmouth on to Aconbury Hill. Thus ensconced, they could reconnoitre a means of recapturing Hereford from the Earl of Stamford’s small Parliamentary army.

The roles were reversed in August 1645 when an army of Parliament’s Scottish allies deployed detachments on both Dinedor and Aconbury Hills. Their disciplinary commander, the Earl of Leven, orchestrated the operations of his siege from a tent on the very summit of Aconbury Hill.

His infantrymen applied themselves to strengthening the hill’s ramparts and the lookout posts would give early warning of any royalist troop reinforcements from the Monmouth direction.

They also overlooked the fortified mansion at the Mynde of the king’s loyal friend, Sir Robert Pye. A Royal garrison had debunked from here when Leven’s force of some 14,000 had arrived and movements towards any re-grouping could be espied from the eagle’s nest.

By the time they had besieged Hereford for nearly five weeks, the Scottish soldiers hadn’t received a groat in payment for six months. Not only were they combatting the city’s redoubtable defenders under Sir Barnabas Scudamore (who owned a farm at Little Birch) but they were also hungry.

Forced to plunder the neighbouring parishes for bread from the ovens, they were also eating peas, cider apples, green wheat and Aconbury’s acorns.

In the event, the attackers got wind of the rapid advance to Hereford from the Worcester direction of King Charles, albeit with a relief force on horseback inferior in number. Barnabas Scudamore was able to report on September 1, that “the Scottish mist began to disperse and on the next morning vanished out of sight”. The vistas from the walk around Aconbury Hill are not quite so unimpeded as they used to be: many of the trees which hold sway six miles south of Hereford were planted in about 1835.

It’s an easy walk from a lofty start at Little Birch to the Earl of Leven’s previously unwooded strategic pitch, marked by a trig. point a few paces away from a fine view of the city.

Descending from the camp to Aconbury the walk drops directly on to one of the old trackways proposed by Alfred Watkins. His main precept was that tracks followed straight lines marked out on a sighting system from hill to hill using mark points in between.

The alignment we bestride starts and finishes on a beacon camp. It runs from British Camp in the Malverns to Aconbury Camp, once a beacon station in the care of Richard Kidley from neighbouring Bromley. The leyline is marked by three churches, Aconbury, Holme Lacy and Woolhope, a pond, Gospel oak, mark stone, cave and about eight small fragments of old roads. The buildings of two of the churches are oriented exactly to the alignment, thus setting the ley.

After leaving disused Aconbury church behind, the walk back up to Little Birch is quite a stiff one. But the views are good, including to the British Camp. Some commentators have suggested, of course, that the old straight track theory, like Parliament’s army at the time of the king’s coming is illusory. Or ‘Scotch mist’.

Little Birch, Aconbury Hill and Aconbury.

Good woodland paths, old hill fort, views, leyline.

3 1/2 miles. Gentle slopes until last mile of return climb. Two stiles.

Map: Explorer 189, Hereford and Ross-on-Wye.

Public transport: Buses no. 37 to Aconbury Turn, or 38 to King’s Thorn, Little Birch Turn.

THE ROUTE 1. Start from Little Birch Village Hall. Find contribution box, and with your back to the hall, TR past telephone box, wave to May Hill and TL sharp along public footpath at Methodist chapel. After 120m TR through kiss-ing gate, gently rising into Aconbury wood, ignoring turns, straight ahead to R or L marker post. TR 150m to next marker post beneath hill fort ramparts, then sharp L 45m, and TR to the visible trig. point.

2. Aconbury Hill trig. point (Earl of Leven’s tent in 1645). Sample views north a few paces beyond trig. point. (When ready) continue on same line, drop a few paces from top fort and turn immediately very sharp right above modern camp back to the previous marker post. TL and drop gently, following marker posts, to the lower woodland edge at a walk junction to the left above kissing gate and left of water ductile numbered AV4 OO. TL along broad woodland path past Xmas trees, keep to left upper path at fork at a bend, through conifers, to reach gravel track in clearing at obvious path junction.

3. Dinedor View. Tree trunks. Pause for view in clearing towards Dinedor Hill. Then continue on same line along lower right grass path, beyond tree trunks. Follow this waymarked track for 380m to marker post on your left, then further 30 paces to find another marker post on right, and TR down through kissing gate along left edge and hedge of field, through gate on to Aconbury Road.

4. Aconbury Road. TR along quiet lane towards Aconbury, and as you crest the lane just before (what is) ‘The Cots’ with red letter box, you are visibly walking the leyline between Aconbury and British Camp(s) - in the Malverns. At bend just beyond cottage, climb left bank through waymarked gap in hedge. Follow the (ley)line of the road you have just left across the vast meadow, with views opening out north, east and to Aconbury church below right. TR at 20 metre gap in hedge to follow right edge, past old marker on tree, down to the left of a line of trees, through gate R, along lane to Aconbury church. 5. Aconbury. Follow bend in lane past Aconbury Court, farm buildings and Aconbury Lodge to leave road L at next bend just beyond the pond. Go through gap and up field left of trees quite steeply to find unsigned gap into wood at 11 o’clock. Pass up past oil drum through trees to gravel track. TR for 30 paces then sharp left up bank to where path levels and look for first stile of walk above right. Cross stile and climb right edge of field. May Hill and the Malverns reappear behind. Near top take stile on right back into Aconbury Wood.

6. Aconbury Wood. Take first left. Through gap after 30m can you see Holme Lacy church on the ley to British Camp? Drop down bridle path to the road at Priory Stone on Barrack Hill. TR for Little Birch Village Hall.