DUMB AND DUMMER

Wayfarers Walk 4

We continued on from Arlesford in continual rain, alongside the swollen stream.
 

The 13th century mill now looks somewhat precarious straddling the stream.

 

The no fishing notice is still there.

I wonder who Hambone Jr was, and why he's buried beside the river.

The path was often obstructed.  And still it rained.

But the snowdrops brightened our way.

The view of the valley.

The view across the hills.  Still raining. 

And a long muddy trudge up Abbotstone Down.

Finally at the summit.  Not stopped raining yet.

We broke for lunch in a bus shelter which was not yet waterlogged.
 

Then passing a nice house with more snowdrops

and sheltered in the Queen Inn at Dummer until the taxi arrived from the station.

A long walk, made longer by rain.  Did I mention the rain?

GOLF TO GOLF

Wayfarers Walk 3

I seem to be forever writing about weather.  But, as a further indication of how much rain we have had recently, the lovely town of Hambledon, that we passed through on leg 2 of this walk (qv), has just flooded.  

Leg 3 began eventually on Wednesday last, after delayed trains and a long taxi detour to circumvent a fallen tree across the road at Meon.  We were fortunate that the start of the path round Corhampton Golf Course was sheltered from the weather.

 

Only complete fools would be out and walking about today.

On the other side of the hill, the track was cut off by a new river.

This is the main road we had to walk along.

Next into open countryside, leading (disconcertingly) into Betty Mundy's Bottom.

The forest in the Bottom had clearly also suffered from the weather.

 

But we were cheered throughout this walk by the profusion of snowdrops.

 

We found a convenient, dry barn for lunch.

 Another saving grace on this walk was the stunning Hampshire  scenery.

You could see for miles across the rolling hills without any sign of habitation.

If this notice is aimed at birds, surely it should say 'Don't be so stupid - nest in trees!'.

Over the next hill, we entered Hinton Ampnor, with a new river for us to cross.

Another saving grace - a short break for tea and buttered toasted spotted dog cake in the tea-rooms.  This is the church in the Hinton Ampner. gardens

The gardens were full of snowdrops and winter aconites.

But, outside the gardens, the fields were full of water.

This is Cheriton, not only a raging river, but the adjoining road now a parallel river.

Jeff spots the Wayfarers Walk signpost in Cheriton.  Only another two thirds to walk . . .

 

The water flows off saturated fields onto the road, rather than the other way round.

Here is a local land-owner surveying the damage to part of her land.

But, eventually, we squelch across Alresford golf course into Alresford for the night.

An attractive walk - not spoiled by weather.  Despite the season, it is still quite warm.

WEATHER OR NOT

Wayfarers Walk 2

After a short journey back to Denmead, we were soon on our way across open country again.  The weather was rapidly clearing, after even a light fall of snow in the night, but it was so cold on the exposed stretches.

  

Just to give you an idea of what an Arctic wind sounds like, here's a short video:

 

 But the sun was trying to break through.
 

Maybe we would reach it down Speltham Down in the village of Hambledon.

And sure enough here was the sun shining on Hambledon cottages.

We popped into the interesting Saxon church here and found it being put to excellent use serving soup to visitors.

We pressed on however, taking pleasure from the autumn colours.

And, just to show that I am not off trend, here's a selfie showing me in the middle of nowhere in my present Lee Van Cleef persona.

Our next stop was in Soberham,

where we warmed ourselves with a coffee in the excellent White Lion.  Here we crossed what must have once been a railway line.

 

More lovely colours.

 

The path then crossed the River Meon, famous for the cleanliness of its water and its extensive watercress beds.

 

Yet another kissing gate.

 

And the last stretch to Corhampton, from where we will pick up the path again in a couple of months time, no doubt in even less balmy weather.  But first we needed to turn off to find a town.

A glimpse of the lovely Hampshire countryside as we descend to habitation.

And there it is - the villages of Corhampton and  Meonstoke and (more importantly) the Buck's Head.

But we can't stop Jeff, even at this late stage, from picking up strange females along the way.

WAYFARER WEATHER FRIENDS

Wayfarers Walk 1

We began our assault on the Wayfarer Walk on Wednesday.  This footpath is an old sheep drovers' route, which helps you understand how it starts off in the conurbation of Portsmouth city and habitation gradually peters out as it wends its way into the hills.

We got off to an inauspicious start as a slight drizzle meant that none of the trains were running on time and a problem with the door lock on the train meant that I was unable to board with the others and had to catch a later (even later!) train.  We then of course missed our connection to Emsworth.  Anyway, here we are at last on the beach at Emsworth, blessed this time with the presence of Jeffers' wife, Gillian.

 

The walk began with a trek out to sea on the harbour wall.  The sun was trying to break through, but those clouds were already ominous.

 

Further along, the beach became a series of idyllic coastal lagoons with Hayling Island large on the horizon.  Still with those clouds also looming large though.

So pleasant was it at that time, that we sat in the sun for elevenses (actually about onesies by then) and admired the view.  I don't know where the dog came from.

 

This is the interesting lighthouse at Warblington.

  

The path led here through a churchyard, where there was a rather moving children's graveyard.  I don't think I've ever seen so many identified child's graves before.  Nor was it clear why so many children had died round here.

 

It was after this that the heavens finally opened.  The bleakest stretch of coast was suitably beset with gale-force Arctic winds, torrential rain, hail and streams of expletives.

 

As we then turned inland, we started to come across Wayfarers' Walk waymarks and a signpost reminding us how far we still had to walk.

And it seemed that it was unlikely to get any easier.

As we climbed the hills above Portsmouth, we crossed the motorway, with the sea still clearly visible in the distance.

Having decided, thanks to the South West Trains imposed delay to our start, that we would miss out the customary pub lunch , we sat on a roadside bench and admired the view over Old Pompey and snacked on sandwiches instead. 

As we then progressed further inland, the weather cleared and became much sunnier (if no warmer).

Some woodland residents that liked this sort of weather.

There was after that a contretemps with one local resident over rights of way.

The decision not to stop for lunch (taken only with reluctance and regret) was turning out to be sensible as the light began to fade.

But we struggled eventually into Denmead

where we came across the White Horse, which turned out to be a very suitable location in which to tarry a while as a taxi came to take us to our overnight stop,
 

the Ship and Bell in Horndean.  You can see the old Horndean brewery alongside.