Length: 20 km (12.4 miles), or 16¼ km (10.1 miles) with shorter afternoon. Toughness: 3/10 (longer) or 2/10 (shorter)
10:07 Basingstoke & Alton service from Waterloo (Clapham Jct 10:15, Wimbledon 10:22, etc), arriving Hook at 11:14. You need to be in the portion for Basingstoke when the train divides at Woking. Buy a return to Hook.
Trains back from Winchfield are hourly at xx:27. While it's waiting at Woking for the Alton portion to arrive you could nip across to Platform 2 and get a faster train back to Clapham Jct and Waterloo, saving about 10 minutes.
This Hampshire walk has plenty of water features, with contrasting stretches alongside the River Whitewater and the Basingstoke Canal. It also includes some unusual sights: the ruins of an 800-year old castle, a medieval pest house and an 18thC hunting lodge among others.
There should be sufficient lunch places in Odiham to suit all tastes, but as it's Father's Day you'll almost certainly need to book to secure a table. Half an hour into the afternoon leg you can decide whether to do the full 20 km walk or stay on the canal towpath for the shorter route. There's a pub with a beer garden near Winchfield station for post-walk refreshments.
Please bring the directions from the L=swc.84
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N=9 A thankfully flat walk for a w=hot-sunny day. Cohesion almost 100% (one sped ahead) .
We said hi to some horses sheltering under the motorway footbridge, then we were off along pretty stretches of the Whitewater, with water crowfoot in flower.
We done all the sights. Odiham Castle (King John’s gaff) was impressive, then along the canal to Greywell, where there was an early refreshment stop. Then to Odiham for a second refreshment stop at the Bel and Dragon, after investigating the Pest House. Most picnicked in the churchyard.
Mr Tigers hopes of a 3rd refreshment stop were dashed when the group sped past the Waterwitch ‘sigh’ and along the canal.
On we went, on, on, stopping only for a look at the hunting lodge. We kept to the canal, eschewing the longer option (it was hot, right?)
Where we would have turned off, we were persuaded to carry on to look at a bronze horse in someone’s garden. There was one and we looked at it. This proved worth the 10 minutes required to view and return.
One last snifter in the Winchfield Inn (a pub not overly endowed with choice) then home.
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