If arriving by train, follow the station drive down to the road and turn left. In 25 metres turn right along the waymarked footpath up steps then between fences and through a car park and ahead to the High Street close to the Guildhall. Turn right to join the route.
If arriving by car, just beyond the car park at the end of Prince Harry road, follow the blue sign pointing to the High Street and Shops under an arch and through to the High Street. Turn left.
(A) Henley in Arden is famous for its historic High Street full of interesting buildings and lots of pubs and restaurants. It is in a great location for walking with good routes in all directions. Visit the Heritage centre to find more about the town. Most walkers will also enjoy the famous ice cream shop on the High Street, with its sign showing the cow jumping over the moon. But it is maybe best to leave that till the end of the walk!
[1] From the High Street, walk south, towards Stratford, enjoying the wide range of buildings as you go. On reaching a major road junction controlled by traffic lights, turn left along the road to Warwick. Continue to a footpath on the right immediately beyond two cottages opposite Arden Road on the left. Follow the footpath with the hedge on your right towards Blackford Mill Farm. Go through a gate then ahead to the farmhouse with the hedge on the left and a barn to the right. Follow the path to the left of the house then straight ahead across the middle of the field towards a large clump of trees, where the River Alne joins from the right.
(B) The tiny river Alne rises north West of Henley and meanders its way south before joining the river Arrow near Alcester, staying in Warwickshire throughout its length.
[2] Follow the Alne downstream until a waymark on a kissing gate points half left away from the river. Go across the field towards the left end of the line of trees opposite to a gate out onto a road. Go right for 200 yards, ignoring a waymarked path up a tarmac drive, to the start of a bridleway on the left by a small parking area used by fishermen on the canal.
(C) The Stratford Canal is surely one of England's most scenic canals. It was built between 1793 and 1816 and runs from Kings Norton on the south edge of Birmingham through 26 miles of Warwickshire countryside before joining the River Avon at Stratford. The route here crosses one of its distinctive little bridges. The gap in the middle of the bridge is for the tow ropes used on horse drawn boats to go through, though this one has warped a little after 200 years of use.
[3] Follow the bridleway over the canal bridge then uphill along the left edge of Austy Woods and continue, ignoring all right turns, to exit the woods at a bridlegate. Turn right along the field edge then left steeply downhill with the hedge on your right and ahead through the buildings of Cutlers Farm.
(D) Austy Woods are, sadly, private and there is no public access away from the rights of way. If you come here in spring though, there is a fantastic display of blue bells and the woods are opened up on one or two Sundays upon payment of a small donation to charity.
[4] Turn left on the bridleway beyond the last barn. The track is concrete at first, then swings right and becomes graveled. Follow the track north past Chestnut Rise farm to Kington Lane. Turn left, then right over a stile almost opposite some large barn doors on the left. Cross the field to the stile under the second telegraph pole, cross it and go to the far left corner of the next field to a gate out onto a road. Follow the road right.
[5] On reaching the A4189, cross straight over and follow the path ahead with the hedge on your left. When the hedge turns sharp left in the second field, go a little right of straight ahead to find the path plunging down into trees to a bridge over a brook. Cross the bridge and follow the path ahead between fences to a stile. Ignore the waymark pointing right on the stile and go ahead to the road. Turn right to the Yarningdale Common parking area on the left. A footpath sign opposite points up the bank, left of a bench to a wooden fence with a gap in it. Go through and immediately fork left to a grassy area. Continue along the left edge to the benches at the mill mound.
(E) Yarningdale Common is one of the few open access areas in Warwickshire where you can walk around and explore as you like. Here at the high point is the mound from an old windmill with a few benches and a picnic table around it. It makes a lovely spot for a rest. From the benches the beautiful view south west is framed by the Malverns on a clear day. A sad recent addition is a a tree planted on the mound in memory of a soldier killed in Afghanistan in 2011.
[6] Beyond the mill mound, a path goes into the woods from the left side of a large oak tree, going downhill through another wooden fence with a gap. The path exits the trees opposite Well House. The next house left is Oak Cottage. Walk down the short drive to the gate to Oak cottage then step left into a grassy area. Follow the right edge to the road opposite the drive to 'Spindlewood'. Turn right and follow the road to its end. Take the path to the right of the cottage to the canal. Cross the canal by the bridge at the left end of the lock, turn right and cross over Yarningdale aqueduct.
(F) Yarningdale Aqueduct is one of only four such cast iron aqueducts on the British canal system. Three of them are on this canal and the other is at Pontcycsyllte near Llangollen. This is by far the smallest. It was installed in 1834 after the original wooden one washed away in a flood. Note that the iron trough is longer than it needs to be. Maybe it was made from spares from the other longer aqueducts?
[7] Go down the steps by the aqueduct and left over the stile at the bottom. Follow the path to the far right corner of the field and right through trees to a gate into a large field. Go straight ahead to a footbridge. Cross it and immediately go through a kissing gate on the right. Turn left uphill with the hedge on your left over a stile then between hedges to a road. Turn left and follow the road to the car park for Preston Bagot church on the right.
(G) The scenic little church on the hill has beautiful views to the south. A church has probably been here since Norman times. Look for the ancient sundial scratched into the wall on the right side of the priests' door into the chancel. The stained glass in the church was taken out of a church in Birmingham for safe keeping at the start of WWII. That church was destroyed by bombs and the glass was forgotten about until it was rediscovered in the 1960s and brought here.
[8] The path follows the left side of the fence past the church. (Use the kissing gate opposite the porch to visit it.) At the end of the church yard turn right and continue ahead to two metal kissing gates. Take the one on the left and continue with the hedge on your right and a steep bank to the left through two more gates. In the next field head under telephone wires to a stile in the far left corner. Cross and go half left downhill to a gate in the far left corner which leads onto a road. Turn right to a T Junction and turn left following the signpost to Kites Green and Henley in Arden. In 50 metres by a slight left bend take a couple of steps along gravel track on the right leading to a barn and immediately go through a large gap in the hedge on the left into a field. Go diagonally across the field to a gap in the far corner. Go through the gap then uphill with the hedge on your left. In the far left corner of the field go over a stile on the left and turn right down a drive by a house to the road.
[9] Go left for 20 metres then right through a gate. Go half left across this small field to a stile. In the next field, continue half left to a large gate and stile just right of two big prominent trees. Cross the stile and immediately turn right following the hedge to your right across two fields. In the far right corner of the second field a stile leads to T junction of paths. Turn left and follow the path steeply downhill then uphill over the castle mound and back down to the road by Beaudesert Church. Follow the road straight ahead back to the High Street.
(H) Only the earthworks remain of the large Motte and Bailey castle that once stood here. The site was excavated for Channel 4's TimeTeam programme in 2001 and a lot was learnt. As a result, a model of what the castle probably looked like in its heyday can be seen in Henley Heritage centre on the High Street.