SPRING IN OUR STEP

Wayfarers Walk 5

Here we are at the start of this leg - where we finished last time.  I put this in because it was such a lovely morning and such a contrast with last time, when it was miserable, cold, pouring with rain and flooded.  You can see the sandbags still there in the background.

And we didn't even get round to seeing the village last time.  It is a pretty little place, birthplace of Sarah Ferguson.  The Queen Inn is the pub where she and Andrew used to meet (and maybe canoodle).  Here's one of the thatched cottages.

 

A local craftsman building a new bus shelter.

After crossing the M3, 

 

we found we were three quarters of the way through our journey.

 

But, although it was sunny and warm, and although the way was lined with daffodils and primroses, and there was vernal blossom in the hedgerows,

 

 it could still look autumny in the fields.

And, although the storms seem a thing of the past and the floods are receding, we still found our way blocked at the next village, Deane.

 

Which was a pity because, from a distance, it looked pretty.

We eventually found a way past.

Some blossom on the outskirts of the village.

 

 Cottage with weasel and crocodile.

Some more blossom.

The path from here was not very distinct.

An Iron Age fort and tumulus.

 

From here we decided to deviate from the route and walk along the ridge.  It was just such a glorious day with views across tens of miles of open country.

 But the drop down the other end was rather precipitous.

But this path led to a nice walkway through trees along the side of the road

 

into Kingsclere, where we stayed the night at the old Swan Inn.

  

This is the dining/bridge room.

DUMB AND DUMMER

Wayfarers Walk 4

We continued on from Arlesford in continual rain, alongside the swollen stream.
 

The 13th century mill now looks somewhat precarious straddling the stream.

 

The no fishing notice is still there.

I wonder who Hambone Jr was, and why he's buried beside the river.

The path was often obstructed.  And still it rained.

But the snowdrops brightened our way.

The view of the valley.

The view across the hills.  Still raining. 

And a long muddy trudge up Abbotstone Down.

Finally at the summit.  Not stopped raining yet.

We broke for lunch in a bus shelter which was not yet waterlogged.
 

Then passing a nice house with more snowdrops

and sheltered in the Queen Inn at Dummer until the taxi arrived from the station.

A long walk, made longer by rain.  Did I mention the rain?

GOLF TO GOLF

Wayfarers Walk 3

I seem to be forever writing about weather.  But, as a further indication of how much rain we have had recently, the lovely town of Hambledon, that we passed through on leg 2 of this walk (qv), has just flooded.  

Leg 3 began eventually on Wednesday last, after delayed trains and a long taxi detour to circumvent a fallen tree across the road at Meon.  We were fortunate that the start of the path round Corhampton Golf Course was sheltered from the weather.

 

Only complete fools would be out and walking about today.

On the other side of the hill, the track was cut off by a new river.

This is the main road we had to walk along.

Next into open countryside, leading (disconcertingly) into Betty Mundy's Bottom.

The forest in the Bottom had clearly also suffered from the weather.

 

But we were cheered throughout this walk by the profusion of snowdrops.

 

We found a convenient, dry barn for lunch.

 Another saving grace on this walk was the stunning Hampshire  scenery.

You could see for miles across the rolling hills without any sign of habitation.

If this notice is aimed at birds, surely it should say 'Don't be so stupid - nest in trees!'.

Over the next hill, we entered Hinton Ampnor, with a new river for us to cross.

Another saving grace - a short break for tea and buttered toasted spotted dog cake in the tea-rooms.  This is the church in the Hinton Ampner. gardens

The gardens were full of snowdrops and winter aconites.

But, outside the gardens, the fields were full of water.

This is Cheriton, not only a raging river, but the adjoining road now a parallel river.

Jeff spots the Wayfarers Walk signpost in Cheriton.  Only another two thirds to walk . . .

 

The water flows off saturated fields onto the road, rather than the other way round.

Here is a local land-owner surveying the damage to part of her land.

But, eventually, we squelch across Alresford golf course into Alresford for the night.

An attractive walk - not spoiled by weather.  Despite the season, it is still quite warm.