Gallery

Viewing galleries from November, 2024

Winchester walk on 27th November 2024

We met up at St Catherine’s Park and Ride car park for our 4 mile walk led by Tim and Jane. Once gathered we headed towards the Tun Bridge where a small number diverted to a café while the remainder scaled the heights of St Catherine’s Hill.  At the top we enjoyed the panoramic views and demonstrated our amazing skills finding our way out of the St Catherine’s Mizmaze.  It is only one of two surviving historic English turf mazes in the country with the path being grooves in the turf.  Flushed with success we admired the British white cattle, walked the ramparts of the Iron Age fort before descending the 333 stairs down to the River Itchen Navigation where we caught up with our friends who had partaken of refreshments.  Staying on the path beside the Itchen we took St James’ Way over St Cross Bridge over the River Itchen and stayed on the Itchen Way trail skirting and wading through puddles until we reached St Cross Hospital.  We stopped to admire the buildings of the hospital founded in 1136 to support 13 poor men too frail to work and to feed one hundred men a day at the gate.  It is rumoured that today you can still received a cup of ale and bread.  It was put to the test and we can confirm the tradition is still going strong, adding some extra vittles to our coffee break.  Staying on the Itchen Way beside the river, we passed Winchester College playing fields and buildings before taking the back roads into the centre of the city to the Cathedral Christmas market where we scattered to buy our preferred lunches from the variety of stalls.

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Liphook walk on 20th November 2024

 Isabel’s 5 mile walk started at The Links Tavern on the old A3 just outside Liphook.  After debating how many layers to wear and donning the appropriate clothes determined by our individual weather crystal balls, we headed up the old A3 towards the Post Office and took the left path at the outskirts of the town.  Crossing fields and the edges of woodland we stopped at the lakes of Foley Manor to watch the bird display before moving on through Stag Wood, crossed a field and back into the woodland of Birch Piece and followed the contours of the land heading south west through marsh and with occasional glimpses of Weavers Down to our right.  When we got to the southern point of our walk we had great sunny vistas across the Down, accompanied by the odd siren from Longmoor Camp.  At this point we milled around for our coffee break and then walked the Sussex Border Path in woodland past Folly Pond onto the extensive groundworks underway near Home Park.  Skirting Wheatsheaf Common we linked up with the historic Shipwrights Way path that guided us back to the Links Tavern where we had a splendid lunch.

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Bosham walk on 13th November 2024

We met up at the Bosham car park for Linda and Pauline’s 4.5 mile walk where the sun managed to break through for most of it.  Starting off on Bosham Lane down to the elevated path above Shore Road with the tide in, listening to the banter of the birds swimming about.  Turning off between houses, crossing Taylor’s Lane we followed the path at the edges of newly ploughed fields, crossing Old Park Lane and carried on beside more fields.  Heading north on more paths, skirting around a copse, we arrived at Old Park where we stopped for a coffee break where the sections of tree stumps provided welcome stools.  With empty thermos flasks we turned West onto Old Park Lane again, but leaving as we approached the ponds and walked past the greenhouses of Walton Farm and spilled out onto Walton Lane before meandering past the local houses to Bosham harbour and the car park.  Lunch was a short journey away at The Berkeley Arms for a fine lunch and hearty rendition of Happy Birthday.

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Chalton walk on 6th November 2024

Maureen and John’s 4.4 mile walk started at The Red Lion Chalton crossing South Lane past St Michael and All Angels church climbing gently on Chalton Down on the Sussex Border Path and Staunton Way that take the same paths at this point.  Passing Idsworth Down to the east, we skirted The Folly and turned east down to the railway.  We crossed under the railway through a cattle creep where some bovine bellow imitations set the scene then wandered up the slope to the 11th Century St Hubert’s church, Idsworth with its medieval wall paintings to provide the perfect backdrop for our coffee break.  We passed the church on its north side, crossed the field and road to pick up Staunton Way again heading north.  When we got to the disused quarry site on Huckswood lane we turned to the west and then north onto Shipwrights Way heading up to Woodcroft Farm.  Taking the footbridge over the railway we made the steep clamber up Chalton Down back onto the road by Manor Farm and the downhill scamper back to the pub.  The Red Lion, believed to be one of the oldest pubs in Hampshire dating from at least the 16^th Century served a delicious lunch.

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Redford walk and 2024 AGM

There was no problem starting our walk on time because everyone turned up earlier to leave their fantastic contributions to the AGM faith lunch before walking.  Three talented volunteers stayed at Redford Village Hall to set up and decorate the Hall for our AGM and lunch after the walk. 

Jay had prewarned us about the mud and changed the route from the pre-walk to avoid some excessive marshy parts of Stedham Marsh.  We set off crossing Linch Road, across Stedham Marsh to Titty Hill where we turned south climbing up through Upper Bowley Copse to Bowley Farm.  A gradual descent through fields brought us to Oakham Common to continue down a wooded gully to cross the stream in the valley and pick up the New Lipchis Way heading north east.  The path followed the contours of the hillside and we took advantage of some logs and stones to perch on for our coffee  break.  We left the New Lipchis Way soon after Woolhouse Farm back on Stedham Marsh, squelching our way back to Linch Road for a short spell before detouring off into the Marsh again and back to the Village Hall. 

A magnificently decorated feast was laid out before us to sample a variety of delicacies ahead of our AGM.  We returned to sample the excellent selection of desserts once the AGM was over.

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