Pub walk! The Olive Branch to Pickworth village
This walk is an easy three-mile circuit from the front door of the Olive Branch that takes in pasture and woodland as well as Clipsham quarry, which has provided limestone for the Palace of Westminster, Windsor Castle and King’s College Cambridge. You should allow two hours to complete the walk and don’t forget your walking boots.
Why not nip into The Olive Branch after your stroll? The Olive Branch was named UK Pub of the Year 2021 by the Good Pub Guide and has won countless other awards, including Great Food Club Dining Pub of the Year.
THE ROUTE
1 Cross the road from The Olive Branch and walk towards a public bridleway sign pointing left. Follow the sign and go through the gate, out into the field.
2 Walk diagonally left across the field to another gate and follow the Rutland Round arrow, going downhill between two fences towards trees.
3 At the bottom of the hill, cross a small wooden bridge and walk uphill, following the path.
4 When you reach the quarry, turn left, following the sign. Then follow the path around the quarry’s edge.
5 Soon the path takes you into the quarry. As the grass turns to limestone, turn right and go downhill. Now cross the quarry road, following the bridleway signs, and then go uphill into a wooded area.
6 Follow the path, with the old part of the quarry on your left, until you come out into an open field. Here, turn left and walk along the field’s edge, with Pickworth Great Wood on your left.
7 Continue all the way to the corner of the field, where you see Rutland Round arrow markers on a tree. Don’t enter the wood here but turn right and you’ll soon see a bridge on your left.
8 Go over the bridge and through the edge of the wood before going through a gate and walking diagonally across a field.
9 Go through a gate and bear left along the edge of the field until you reach a road. Turn left and enter Pickworth village.
10 Turn left at the first public bridleway sign, walk past farm buildings and enter a field. Here, follow the path left around the edge of the field and then enter Pickworth Great Wood.
11 Keep going straight on through the trees, ignoring the paths on your left and right, and then exit the wood and walk downhill on the track.
12 when you come to a road, cross over, turn left and then take an immediate right, following the footpath sign. After around 50 yards, turn left and follow the track to a metal gate.
13 Go through the gate and follow the stoney bridleway for around one kilometre until you reach a field. Then go diagonally across the field to emerge in Clipsham. Go straight on along the pavement, then turn left to The Olive Branch.
