Grand National Champions and a Pair of Sore Shins; Weekly Walk #21

Desperate for a well-worn, scenic walk after my recent overgrown, confusing trail from Pepperbox Hill, and in need of a longer walk than last week before work, I turned to my Hampshire and New Forest guide for a walk from nearby Rockbourne, Fordingbridge. I discovered a famous training stable at Whitsbury Manor and didn’t get lost, which was a plus, although I still had to wade a nettle-ridden path in my shorts (and hide the pain of throbbing legs all night).

Once in the village, I parked on the road as the hall and its car-park were in use, and met a fellow walker who'd just enjoyed a similar route. I set-off confidently along the track past a farm and followed a local as he bounded his way past sheep under the blissful sun of the open field. I could've easily cracked a cider and had a picnic, but instead continued my way through gates to a cool, tree-lined path.

 

I walked past a stud before crossing the road to Whitsbury Manor Stables, which are famous for training Grand National champion horses Red Rum and Rhyme‘n’Reason. I’m not a big fan of horse racing, but there was a definite air of professionalism and respect as I skirted the grounds. I continued a path overlooking fields and descended to the bottom of the valley.

I turned right onto a wide track and walked quite a distance past two farms, before turning right again through a gate and heading uphill. I was planning on taking lunch a little further up, but the sun took its toll and forced me to take a breather. Once refuelled, I continued uphill before entering woodland and taking a sharp left down a muddy, forest path.

I emerged from woodland near another farm, turned left down a country lane and right into a field. At the end of the field I found what was meant to be a narrow path, but was little more than a jungle. A pair of walkers and their dog met me halfway; their arms raised high as they waded through thick bushes where the path should’ve been.  “How sensible,” I commented, as I looked between their trousers and my now red-raw, bare shins.

Finally, the path (and the pain) ended at a stile on the left into an open field with horses, which led me back to Rockbourne and my car. All in all, this had been exactly what I wanted from a walk; a good six miles, scenic and straightforward to follow, though it's seems I'm currently doomed to take on overgrown paths, but I suppose they only add to the adventure.

This walk was taken from the Hampshire and New Forest Walks pathfinder guide.

Click the link to read more about Whitsbury Manor Stables on the website for Marcus Tregoning Racing.

In Keats' Footsteps; Weekly Walk #20

This week I retrace the steps taken by poet John Keats between Winchester Cathedral and the nearby hospital of St. Cross, a walk which inspired his poem, To Autumn, reliving the sights and sounds he might once have felt in the hope of finding inspiration for my own seasonal poems.

I parked in the centre of town and made my way through the bustling market to the Cathedral front. Its majestic energy resonated through happy people buzzing about their day, most attending some sort of event, which I later learnt to be the Symphony of Flowers, flower festival. I made my way through the inner-close, which features lots of old buildings, including the iconic Cheyney Court, the former Bishop’s courthouse, and left under one of two remaining city gates, Kingsgate.

Jane Austen completed her novel, Persuasion along College Street, which I followed towards Wolvesey Castle, where you can go inside and explore its ruins, but I left it for today as lots of children were darting about for a cricket match on the neighbouring field. I turned right down College Walk and right again towards the footpath to the water meadow. It was quieter in the open fields along the waterways, a photographer’s paradise, and I even saw a Swan with her Cygnets; I had to keep stopping myself to ensure I completed the walk.

I crossed a road and continued the way-marked Clarendon Way footpath, and took in St. Catherine’s hill to the right, which rose above the grass, with its ring of trees atop it like a crown. I soon arrived at the hospital of St. Cross, which the leaflet taught me was less of a hospital as we think of it today and more a sanctuary for people seeking food and shelter. I hadn’t realised it was still a working institution, still offering its wayfarer’s dole, a cup of beer and some bread to visitors who request it at the gate. When I found the ticket office locked, one of the brothers kindly offered to find the porter, and trundled off with his groceries to help me out. I felt transported back in time to a humble and charitable land.

Once inside, I admired the historic architecture on my way to the serene garden, where I could easily have spent hours beside the pond, listening to the fountain splash. I also explored the Brethren’s Hall, where the brothers would’ve eaten, and had a look at the old kitchen and cellar, navigating the tiny doorways and stone-steps as if in an old castle.

 

I took the same route back, but detoured on a footpath at Wolvesey castle, which took me alongside the river and back to the bottom of town near the King Alfred Statue, marking the end of my historic, and inspirational day. I’m yet to write more poems, but certainly feel in the mood, and have written one already incorporating Keats’ techniques and style.

If you’d like to retrace Keats’ footsteps, download the leaflet.

All my research came from the Winchester Council leaflet on Keats’ walk and the tourist leaflet from the hospital of St. Cross. More information on St. Cross can be found, here.

My seasonal poem can be found on my creative writing blog, mycosmicshed.blogspot.com.

The Pitfalls of Planning Your Own Route; Weekly Walk #19 from Pepperbox Hill

Planning a route on paper can often be misleadingly simple, appearing to connect where it doesn’t, and showing paths where they may no longer exist. My circular walk from Pepper Box Hill Nature Reserve a few miles South East of Salisbury led me across over-grown, long-since-used paths, but was a test of my map-reading skills, and had me ready by the end to find more successful routes.

I should’ve known when I swung off the A36 onto a tiny byway that things were going to get interesting. It was a peaceful, pretty place with good views all around, but I was surprised at how difficult it was to access for a National Trust site. Its named after the brick tower atop the hill, which was built by politician Giles Eyre in 1606 as either a viewpoint for ladies following a hunt, a place for highway men, or a lookout post for the home guard.
 

I set off right from the car-park along the byway and, after passing a footpath hidden behind trees, followed it down the right-hand side of an open field to Whelply Farm. After a bit of trial and error in my attempts to find the path, I continued through the farm and left across another field and eventually into the village of Whiteparish. I followed a footpath the other-side of a single track lane and took a right at another path, where I had to wait to pass a man trimming the over-grown grass and weeds.

Two deer running along the footpath

I turned left at a cross-road of paths and back through a field with friendly donkeys to a busy segment of the A36. Here the path turned into a barrage of nettles and I had to cut through a field to get around. I followed into woodland near Brickworth Quarry and had to double back to find a footpath leading into a field. I had a snack stop before continuing across the field for what I hopped would be an easy stretch.

At Moor Farm, I spent about 20 minutes trying to find the footpath. The map showed it going directly past farm buildings, but I found either a sea of nettles leading to what looked like a fence or a boggy section behind the barn. I almost gave up and walked the farm track, but decided to duck under part of a barn and walk around the field, and found the style was on the other-side of the nettles; not exactly a great path to walk!

After two minutes I was lost again but eventually cut through a field to reconnect with a footpath following the edge of woodland. Now on the final stretch, I had to use my compass to find my way uphill and into a thicker section of woods. Perhaps it was my foul mood or tiredness, but I swear the woods were out to get me, tricking me with their enclosed branches, tripping me up where they sought fit. I even stumbled upon a mossy tree stump surrounded by bluebells, and seeing as I couldn’t imagine many people walking this way, figured I was trespassing upon a fairy home.

I finally found myself back at the A36 where I’d swung my car in earlier, and once again had to dive across the busy road. Despite the hardships, I had done it, and was proud to have at least walked my circular, though next time I may have to pick a more tried and tested route, one with less farms and fewer fairies!

I used the National Trust website to research Pepperbox Hill. You can read more about it, here.

You can see a summary of the route, here.

Rooksbury Mill Nature Reserve; A School Outing for Weekly Walk #18

I spent last week at Broughton Primary School on a work experience placement, and as such I didn't get away for my usual weekly walk, but I did join the children on a school outing at Rooksbury Mill Nature reserve near Andover for a short walk and some pond dipping.

Rooksbury Mill refers to the grade two listed building that straddles the River Anton. The two lakes or ponds were formed by gravel extraction to build the A303 and now the site has become home to a wide range of habitats, making for a nice area to escape daily life, go fishing, or learn about the pond.

A CSI esque mobile lab and the team from the Hi-Teck Wild-Trek Trailer greeted us and I remember thinking how I never had anything that cool when I was a child. After they'd scooped pond into their nets and examined for pond life, the children got to see their creatures in high definition on a big screen, which was really interesting as I've never, for example, seen a baby-pike or Mayfly up so close.

I'll have to come back again to enjoy the serenity of the walk, but I must admit it was interesting to stop and determine types of trees by their leaves and examine bugs in one of the fields. The reserve have worked hard to improve water quality and encourage species to thrive, and it really does make for a more beautiful walk, and is actually one of the main routes into town, giving even more of an excuse to get out and take in the aesthetic.

Information on Rooksbury Mill from the Test Valley Council website.

Read more about the Hi-Tech Wild-Trek Trailer and their wildlife discovery days, here.