The Bluebells are Out! Weekly Walk #16

I love this time of year when the bluebells are out, and thankfully, so does Mark of the Hampshire 20s and 30s who today led a walk in and around Farley Mount Country Park, a few miles outside of Winchester, Hampshire. We ventured into ancient woodland and soaked up the mystical atmosphere, before getting a little wet, and drying out at the pub.

I got lost through Kings Somborne, but it was a fun drive down the narrow lane to the two free car-parks at Farley Mount. After a slight delay for those who also got lost, we set off uphill towards the monument, where beneath lies a horse aptly named, ‘Beware Chalk Pit’ after it fell into a chalk pit a year before it famously won a race in 1734. It gave spectacular views, and is unsurprisingly one of the highest points in Hampshire.

We continued uphill before descending a narrow path at the edge of woodland overlooking a manor house and a splashing of lovely yellow oilseed rape across the hills. The path led through a field to a road, where we took a left uphill through dense woodland.  We took a short-cut through trees to get around a muddy patch, and caught our first bluebell snaps, and a glimpse at another monument to four German airmen.

Four German airmen, now named on the plaque below the engraving

I did my best to be sociable and spoke to most of the members, who were lovely, and as such I only remember snippets of the rest of the walk, but noticeably we emerged on a path through fields past a sprinkling of bluebells, before we hit the bluebell Mecca; a track running through ancient woodland, with bluebells all around us. As one member joked, it’s where unicorns are hiding, and I think possibly a host of fairies too. We stopped for a few minutes to let others catch up, when the cameras and phones came out to capture the beauty around us. And that’s when it started to rain.

It was light, so we chanced it and left the woodland towards our lunch stop by a field, when it got heavier. Luckily, there were a few trees to hide under. Some members had waterproof trousers, which I was gutted to be without, but thankfully I had packed a warming flask of tea. Then, as we set off, the rain subsided to a refreshing drizzle.

The path led through a farm past an old church to a road, which we followed until a junction, where we turned left and past a lovely farm cottage with a barn conversion. We followed a path up between fields, until eventually we reached a road and crossed over to a field, past cows whose horns made them look like grazing mammoths, and back to the cars.

Our final adventure involved a convoy of cars down narrow lanes to drinks at the Bridge Inn in Shawford, where our group of tired walkers consumed sugar and caffeine, and had lots of laughs and a good chat about what for me was one of my favourite walks of recent months. If you like the sound of this walk, check out the Hampshire 20s and 30s website for details of upcoming events. 

Research courtesy of the Hampshire Council website.