WALKING
There are numerous walks around the Apperley and Deerhurst area so you are sure
to find one which suits your requirements. The footpaths are in the main well marked and
well looked after, although some can get a little overgrown in the middle of summer.
In Apperley, the village hall car park offers a good starting place for many walks. You can walk along well marked footpaths to Deerhurst – there are various paths to choose from so you don’t have to return along your outbound route.
At Deerhurst, you can park your car by Odda’s Chapel (English Heritage). There is a small car parking charge. From here you can walk the short distance across fields to the River Severn, along the river bank towards Apperley or in the opposite direction towards Tewkesbury. It is also only a short walk from this car park to Deerhurst Church, always well worth a visit.
For details of walking routes with maps and pictures to help you find your way see our
Suggested Walks page. (Please note this page is temporarily unavailable pending update to new Ordnance Survey software)
You can also visit the Walking in Gloucestershire website. for detail of hundreds of FREE walks throughout the county.
On their site you can download and print the walks plus details of all the walking clubs in the county plus maps and books
Heritage Apple Trail
The Heritage Apple Trail runs from Deerhurst Priory to Cooks Green, Lower
Apperley. You can join the trail wherever you want as most of the trees are
next to footpaths. To find out more about the heritage apple trail and the varieties please visit the Apperleydeerhurstheritagealive website……
WILDLIFE
In the south and south east of the parish there are footpaths leading from Lower
Apperley to the Coombe Hill Canal & Meadows, a Gloucestershire Wildlife
Trust nature reserve. Coombe Hill Canal and Meadows is an SSSI, a place of floods and farming, an ancient landscape fringing the Severn. It is a very special site for wetland birds, particularly waders and migrating waterfowl but here you can also see birds of prey, including hen harrier, peregrine falcon and goshawk. Coombe Hill is an ideal place to revel
in the peaceful serenity of the countryside; bring binoculars to bird watch, or simply enjoy the wildlife and scenery on offer. It was one of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s biggest restoration projects after the damage caused by the great flood of 2007.
Snipe, redshank, oystercatcher, lapwing and curlew are just a few of the many species sighted here, as well as less familiar species such as egrets and spectacular numbers of over wintering wildfowl during times of high water.
For more information visit the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Website
http://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/reserves/coombe-hill-canal-meadows