Saturday walk - Alton Circular T=2.10
Length: 12.7 miles (20.4 km) 4 out of 10
"The quiet corner of Hampshire through which this walk passes seems like the kind of countryside in which nothing much ever happened. Yet in the late 18th and early 19th century it inspired two famous writers - Gilbert White and Jane Austen. After a section over wide upland fields to East Worldham, the walk first plunges into the delightful arcadia of woods, hangers and hidden pastures that surround Selborne. From there, it crosses wooded Selborne Common and gentle ridges of downland to Chawton, the home of Jane Austen for the last eight, and most productive years, of her life. "
Trains: Get the 0854 Alton train from Waterloo arriving 1010. (you can also get the 0900 Portsmouth Harbour train, changing at Woking (0924- 0930) for the above train). Oddly, the 0854 train does not show up in the journey planner unless you select direct trains only. It does on the South Western Railway site. Return trains are x44 & x15
Lunch is at the Selborne Arms, which serves food until 2pm: it is 6.3 miles into the walk
Tea: Seems to be in the pub or tea room in Chawton. From there you have two routes back to Alton.
3 comments:
8.54 train fine by me, but may put off others, possibly. Any particular reason? Thanks for scheduling a lovely walk BTW.
To enable all-comers to get to the lunch pub on time!
13 off the train and a late arrival makes n=14 The day was w=cloudy-first-then-hot-and-sunny
It didn’t take long before Lucky Number 13 was on his own. I don’t like to use the L-word but near Monks Wood I had trouble working out which way to go. Like I'd been spun round with a blindfold on. But, eventually, with my trusty compass and maybe a little help from Google, I was on my way again.
I wasn’t out of the metaphorical woods yet. Took a wrong turn in the next (real) woods, didn’t I. I don’t like to use the L-word, as you know, so let’s just say I approached Selborne by a circuitous route.
Arrived at the Selborne Arms just in time to see the others (six of whom had eaten there) leaving. The afternoon was easier to follow. Or, rather, Walker number 14 was. He had caught us up at the pub. Up we went, up the zigzags , all twenty million of them. A sharp-eared listener might have heard me cursing Gilbert White a few times.
Up on the Common, where the recovery bench was occupied, the air was thick with butterflies. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my butterfly spray and had to resort to swatting them. Red Admirals, Holly Blues Peacocks and a Silver-washed fritillary, all fell beneath my blows. (Only joking. I stopped to admire them, as did walker 14).
On we went, eventually reaching Chawton and the Greyfriars where a much-needed pint of cider was demolished in record time. (If only I could walk as quick as I can drink cider ‘sigh’). Others of a more refined nature had taken tea in Cassandras Cup. On we went, past Jane Austen’s House where her washing was still on the line, across Alton (surely the chip-shop capital of the world) and onto a train.
It’s a long time since I’d done this walk and I’d forgotten most of it. Good day out.
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