East Meon and Izaak Walton

Walk Date - July 4th 2015
Walk Time - 2 hours 19 mins
Distance - 6.59 miles
Ascent - 463 feet

"Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter" Izaak Walton (author 1593-1683)



This was a walk we had planned the week before, Liz's brother was down for the day and it seemed like a plan, our youngest daughter was joining us as well, so in the words of Izaak Walton good company indeed, however after a mile the weather closed in and rain started, although not heavy and we did have water proofs, we walk for fun and this wasn't fun, so we returned to the car and aborted the walk

A week later and the weather was sunny and warm, an ideal start of the English summer, we parked in the pub car park of the Izaak Walton in East Meon, at around 10.30, I saw the landlord and asked if it was okay and we would be back in a few hours for lunch, I have found during these walks landlords are very accommodating to walkers (as long as you partake at some point) and if I can see someone I always let them know we'll be back




We walked out of the pub car park and turned left onto High Street, which we followed for just over a mile, a finger post at South Farm showed us the path to follow, through the farm itself (past some friendly lama's) we crossed a small bridge over the river Meon and followed a short track with a very lush wooded area to our right, in here is the source of the Meon.



The path was a gravel farm track with a slight incline as we headed up towards the South Downs Way, the tracked ended and we took a path through a field and the incline did get very steep at this point, although only a short walk, you can see from the altitude chart between mile 1.5 and 2.5.

Turning right picking up the well signed South Downs Way, which was now going to be our route for the next 3.5 miles, although after about a mile we came to the Droxford road and walked past the Sustainability Centre which had a cafe, we didn't stop so I can't comment on its services, shortly after this we crossed the road and picked up a very good track for the South Downs Way.

Turning right off the main track just before Hen Wood we headed onto a field path, some of these paths are better than others, this one was wide and well cut through the crops, remember though in this part of Hampshire there can be some quite large lumps of rock and chalk through these field paths, we followed the path round a collection of barns and picked up the farm road back to Coombe Road which we walked along back into East Meon village and the Izaak Walton for lunch.



The Izaak Walton is a friendly 'local's pub although they do cater for walkers and large groups, we ordered two Ploughmans and two pints plus the obligatory side of fries (for me) again all in at just over £20, as usual we headed into the garden because we were in our walking gear



The Ploughman's was served on a piece of lumber rather than a plate, but I let that slide as the food was excellent and plentiful, three large pieces of cheese, pickle and a pickled onion, warm bread, apple and salad complete the meal, the garden was very nice with ample seats.

Trip Advisor - The Izaak Walton

This was a good walk although the climb near the start was a sturdy one and it was very rewarding to have taken in a few miles of the South Downs Way, some wonderful views of the chalk downs of Hampshire with a filling ploughmans to finish off

The Roebuck Wickham

Walk Date - June 27th 2015
Walk Time - 2 hours 33 mins
Distance - 7.32 miles
Ascent - 234 feet



































We parked in the car park of the Roebuck Inn which is just over a mile north of Wickham in Hampshire on the A32, with it's distinctive giant wicker deer sitting in the garden, there are a few spaces directly in front of the pub and a large car park to the left with access to the garden.



We walked past the pub and took a small side road which took us over the old Meon Valley Railway line, don't miss the small path the leads between the houses, it is marked with a finger post and was a little over grown, this opened out into a small field, across the field we entered some woods with a foot bridge over the Meon river.

A short walk along the side of another field took us to a crossing of Newmans Hill and a finger post took us up a gentle incline of a graveled farm track, this turned sharply to the right and past a large factory or depot (which was closed but looked like it could be busy with large vehicles during the working day). Turning left onto Bishops Wood Road, we now had just over a mile of road walking, the road was quiet and passed some of Hampshire's more modern and grander houses bordering the golf course. At the end of the road we turned right onto Gravel Hill and the left in to Mislingford Road, only a short along the road we picked out the finger post on the left and back across fields again.

We only had a small amount of road walking as we joined Cott Street and soon turned off to follow the foot paths through more fields, fortunately all these paths were marked with fingers posts and were all clearly identifiable on my OS map (I have the OS map app on my phone which is invaluable) we past this beautiful cottage on Cott Street

The path took us from Cott Street through a very large orchard, we walked through two fields full of trees the first having the path head through the centre of the orchard and then following the edge of a field with a small wooded area to our right.




Heading through a large arable field we came to a hedge row with a very steep descent down to the main road, you can see the altitude chart just after the 4 mile mark, be careful as you leave through the hedge row directly onto the A32 with no side path or pavement and this is a very straight so fast section of the A32, fortunately the path you need is directly opposite and leads across the floodplain of the Meon valley.

Across a couple of footbridges and then some steps cut into the embankment of the old Meon Valley Railway line and we joined the footpath turning right and heading south for about 2 miles.

The railways track is a good path, this section mostly sheltered with tree's the first mile being along an embankment before dropping through a large wooded area and under the A32, we left the railway and headed up a path back on to the road we had originally started out from, the Roebuck is sign posted from the railway foot path.



The Roebuck is an old Victorian Inn, nice decor and very large, we ordered drinks and food and headed into the garden, we had the local cheese board sharing platter, it was served on a piece of slate - anyone who knows me will understand my views on eating off building materials rather than a plate - and I ordered a side of chips, the platter was £12.50, I can't recall how much the chips and beer cost, but in all around £20, the collection of cheese was good along with chutney, apple and celery plus some crackers, I was glad of the extra chips and would have preferred bread in place of the crackers.

Trip Advisor - The Roebuck Inn

As this was quite a gentle walk with no major climbs we are keeping it in the repertoire for visiting friends or relatives who would like a nice picturesque walk in the Hampshire countryside without expending too much energy and a high quality Inn at the end, there is some good field walking, an orchard, a chalk escarpment, the floodplain and river and finally the railway line with an old station (now converted into a house) along the route, Hampshire at its best!

Old Winchester Hill

Walk Date - June 21st 2015
Walk Time - 2 hours 20 mins
Distance - 6.26 miles
Ascent - 549 feet




This was our first 'proper' walk back in June (21/6/2015), we started from a car park just off the A32 in West Meon, it's the old station car park for the now disused Meon Valley Railway line running from Alton to Gosport Meon Valley Railway - Wiki

We left the car park, back onto the road and turned right up the hill on Old Winchester Hill Lane, it was a steady climb for about 2 miles where we joined the South Downs Way onto the iron age hill fort of Old Winchester Hill Old Winchester Hill - Wiki This was the highest part of the walk.

Fantastic views across the south downs from the top of the hill and it was quite busy, we were lucky enough whilst on top of the hill to have the red arrows fly over on their way to an event in the Solent.

We stayed following the route of the South Downs Way, down a very steep chalk escarpment (see the altitude chart just after the 2.5 mile mark, and took this picture at the bottom

The path was good although a bit muddy in places, and followed a gradual downhill route round the edges of a couple of fields


Just after the 4 mile mark we left the South Downs Way and headed right and north onto the old Meon Valley Railway, this disused railway line has some of the most amazing bridges and this wasn't to be the last time we would include a section on a walk (it's nice and flat and a good solid path to finish off a walk) it was another two miles along the railway back to the car on a gentle incline









We didn't visit a local pub for a post walk drink and luncheon as we had a discount voucher for a local pub/restaurant so I took the liberty of 25% off my meal and went there.

For our first proper walk this really was a good start, it showed us what we could achieve in around 2 to 3 hours of walking (and not at any fast pace), it had a good climb although not massive (not much in Hampshire is that high)

Is walking fun?

With middle age fast leaving us and most people of our age taking up some ridiculous sport, I suggested that perhaps we should go for a walk, with the famous line "I'm sure I could walk forever"

So I looked at a map and the internets and found a short round walk near Titchfield in Hampshire, just a couple of miles, the following day we bought walking boots, backpacks and set off properly, within a few weeks we had walking sticks, proper walking clothes (jeans are not a good idea) and the desire grew from there.

What I'd like to do is share the walks we found, most made up by me to be round circuits (starting and ending at a pub) in and around Southern Hampshire, if we found them fun, so might you

Where possible I'll include maps and other interesting data along with a description of the walk, pictures and of course a review of the pub at the end!

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