Horsebridge and the River Test (with a Little Railfan Surprise); Weekly Walk #17

I’m still not sure how I rate this walk. It was lovely to be by the Test on a sunny morning, with the cool smell of moisture in the air and the sound of trickling water, but unfortunately my feet didn’t like the stony paths and roads that dominated. I did however make an exciting discovery of the renovated Horsebridge station on the old Sprat and Winkle line, which might just have been this walks saving grace.

I parked at the free Test Way car park opposite the John o’Gaunt and set off left past the pub, over the bridge past Horsebridge Mill and right onto the Test Way towards Inkpen Beacon. This section was once part of the old railway, and I soon crossed a disused railway bridge over the Test. I turned left onto the Claredon Way and onto the first of many stony paths into Houghton. It was very pretty to be by the test, and I caught lots of animal snaps.

Once in Houghton, I turned left along the road before a right along a side road and up a farm track towards Broughton. The views were fantastic and it was nice to find a bench overlooking the valley to sit and have a flask of tea. For the first time in a while I had to stop to put on sun-cream, and tried not to miss the cooler, wetter, more walking friendly weather.

Before long I recognised the path from a short walk I’d previously taken in Broughton. I went down a set of steps, where my guide book informed me was a Millennium Statue by Zoë Whittier, which depicted the Claredon Way. I continued left towards the village, across a bridge over the ford, and up along a lane called The Hollow.

I was glad to once again be on soft soil and turned left along a byway at a junction of paths. I continued across the field into trees and climbed steadily up towards a lane, but not before taking a snap of bluebells. I turn left then right down a no-access road all the way past farm buildings and onto a bridleway, where I found an amazing wood filled with more bluebells.

I was nervous about continuing as the bridleway cut through the middle of a dairy cattle unit where a farmer was shovelling something smelly in his tractor, and I couldn’t see any way markers to indicate access. I chanced it, and emerged without harm and continued the bridle way to yet another road. This relatively short section took me to a gravel track between fields and down to a private fishing area, where lots of fishermen were making the most of the trout fishing season. I crossed the Test twice, then emerged into a field and cut across diagonally left to a style.

I read in the guidebook about the old Horsebridge station, and caught a glimpse of it from the final footpath. It looked amazing, so when I emerged at the car-park, I cut back towards the station to investigate. It turns out, it’s on private land and has been renovated and set-up as a tea room on select days throughout the summer. It was really well done and captured a Victorian station feeling, and even had an old carriage on the tracks. So despite my sore feet by the walks end, I did enjoy it, and shall definitely be back to enjoy a cream tea.

For this walk, I used the Hampshire and New Forest pathfinder guide, which was really easy to use, and features a snippet of an OS map for each walk for ease of navigation. 

You can read more about the Test Way, here.