Weekly Walk 14 - Walk Leader Training in Selborne

Last week in Selborne, I went to walk leader training with Vicky from the Hampshire 20s and 30s walking group. I learnt how to read a map, a bit about how to use a compass, and planned a route up the famous zigzag path and around Noar Hill, before a chance to hone my new skills by getting lost.

I met Vicky in the car-park at the Selborne arms, which wasn’t yet open, so we took a stroll through the village to the Queens. We poured over a map for about an hour, where I learnt about the different types of public pathways and how to make a grid reference. I helped Vicky plan a route, then she used good old fashioned string to estimate distance at about 8 miles. She recommended I later use the OS ‘get a map’ service to devise a route card.

The zigzag path, built by naturalist and ornithologist Gilbert White, wound its way to the edge of Selborne Common with lovey views over the village. We picked our way through the woods to the edge of the common and down the other side before crossing a few lanes and fields.

As we climbed Noar Hill, the pathways muddled together, and we ended up debating our options with a pair of walkers who also couldn’t figure it out. In the end, we found we needed to walk a bit farther to find the cross-road of paths we needed. It was a steep climb down through woods, but before long we found a picturesque house by a stream, and sat on a fallen tree to have lunch. A few grazing sheep were unlike any breed I’d seen before, but they didn’t seem to mind us.

I took the reins with the map over what must be the worst style in England; a wobbly cylindrical post over a waist high electrified fence. We took a byway down the middle of a field before a gate up a narrow byway to a road. Once we’d crossed, we took a footpath up to another road and past a large new-build house, then walked a path past a rickety, abandoned house, before a series of orchard paths. It got muddy here, and we had to delve further into the undergrowth to get around, but soon we were in a tranquil narrow valley, where I could easily imagine fairies might live.

The final stretch took us once again through orchards before finally heading up a few footpaths and back to the Selborne Arms. Vicky said she’d be happy to be a back-marker on the walk should I lead it soon, which I think I might, so if interested, keep an eye on the Hampshire 20s and 30s website for future events, which you can see here.

This event was from one of the walking groups of UK walking charity, the Ramblers.