Length: 20.0 km (12.4 mi) [for longer and shorter options check the webpage
or the pdf]
Ascent/Descent: 154m
Net Walking Time: ca. 4 to 4 ½ hours
Toughness: 3 out of 10
Take the 09.05 Basingstoke train from Waterloo (calls
CJ, W’don, S’ton, Woking etc), arrives Hook 10.14.
Return trains from Winchfield: xx.27 (67
mins journey time; shave off 10 mins by changing at Woking).
Buy a return to Hook.
The start of this walk is affected by Hook's proximity to the noisy M3,
but after crossing it on the edge of Bartley
Heath nature reserve the motorway is soon out of earshot. The walk then
alternates between stretches alongside the River Whitewater and the Basingstoke
Canal, with the weatherbeaten ruins of Odiham
Castle at their intersection. After passing through the attractive
village of Greywell with its ancient church and mill the route doubles
back to a lunch stop in the elegant town of Odiham, with its wide
Georgian-fronted High Street.
In the afternoon the walk rejoins the canal at Odiham Wharf and
continues along the towpath to Broad Oak Bridge, where there is a choice of
routes (see Walk Options below). The Main Walk goes through the
extensive Dogmersfield
Park estate (once a royal hunting ground) and past Tundry Pond
to rejoin the canal at Blacksmith's Bridge. It then heads back along the
towpath before going across fields and along country lanes to Winchfield
station.
Lunch: The Bel
& the Dragon (food to 15.00) or the Red Lion (food all day),
both adjacent to each other in Odiham (9.3 km). Ten minutes further on the walk
route passes The
Waterwitch (Chef & Brewer, food all day).
Tea: The Winchfield Inn.
2 comments:
There was some mud and also some standing water, mainly on woodland stretches but also on the heath, but it was no comparison to yesterday's outing (Kintbury to Bedwyn). Not much wet from above though, as the forecast had improved even from the night before and apart from a few very short squalls it was w=mainly-dry-and-often-sunny
The rivers though were full and rushing, so much so that stretches of the Whitewater looked ready for hosting a rafting competition!
n=5 walkers, 4 of which lunched at The Bel & Dragon, starting with some bubbly to send off the year. Walker 5 was only ever caught again on the platform in Winchfield where we all had just about missed the 16.27 train. The later journey was enjoyable insofar as we could admire the youth of Britain going to town for NYE parties and clubbing. Bless them.
The walk itself was thoroughly enjoyable, varied as it is and with plenty of interesting buildings old and new(ish), as well as some very pretty villages and churches and some fine scenery. We saw egrets and a heron and along the canal were overtaken at head height by a couple of swans with their impressive wingspan. Later we encountered a herd of Highland cows and some sheep. We were also treated to several rainbows as well as some amazing light towards the end, when dark and brooding skies suddenly gave way to the sun setting right behind us, visible in the back along the canal and through some trees, followed by the ever lower sun setting the remaining fluffy clouds 'on fire'. The trees caught the red and orange tones as well. A fitting end to the walking year.
Now bring on 2024, and 'Keep On Walking'
Two omissions from the report: I forgot to mention the mudfest that were the pastures just after lunch, along the fringes of Odiham. They are linked by about 10 metre wide gaps fringed by bramble patches. Cattle had turned those grassy gaps into deep gooey masses of treacle. One booted walker had to be pulled out, thankfully with the boots still on. The two sneakered walkers had to just suck it up and ship it in, the mud that is.
Also, the pub at the end was closed over year end. Not that their website tells you that. But their Facebook page does ...
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