Kent National Trust Volunteers  (KNTV)

Event Reports

WINCHESTER WALKING WEEKEND  -  29,30 April 2006

In my 40th birthday year I decided to mark the occasion with a combination of exercise and indulgence. Unfortunately it was a wedding anniversary for one walker, however my thanks to his other half for releasing him for the weekend. Our merry band consisted of Val (replaced by Cheryl for day 2), Colin, Martin, Mike, Nigel and I.

Mike had previously suggested the Winchester area for a February walk and this seemed an ideal location. Winchester is very tourist-orientated, so finding a single reasonably priced venue there proved impossible. After a lot of Internet searching, Martin located the Cricketers Inn in Kingsley, some 20 miles from Winchester. This meant changing my original fiendish plan but as this offered days of walking in different scenery, it proved to be an advantage.

So at 09:45 on the Saturday, we met in a Car Park in Itchen Abbas, some 5.5 miles North East from Winchester. The walk to Winchester followed south of the river Itchen along the appropriately named Itchen Way. Initially through green meadows and squeezing through very narrow kissing gates. (Some people have obviously never worn a rucksack!) Having passed through the little Village of Martyr Worthy, we left the path at Easton and after pausing to check that the pub (oddly named the Cricketers Inn) had yet to open, we took a different path to a subway under the M3. For about a mile or two we then had the M3 on our left and the Winnal Moors Nature Reserve on our right. I had identified a suitable venue for lunch via Mike's good pub guide and, armed with a GPS (or two), we headed for the rather non-politically sensitive Black Boy. This proved to be on the far side of Winchester which gave us the opportunity to wander through some of the historically interesting sections of the town.

The Black Boy proved to be somewhat quaint and whilst Mike perused some recent editions of Hansard, other party members wondered just why a Christmas Tree was nailed upside down to the ceiling! After some locally brewed indulgence (Treacle Stout!), we paid our £4 each and strolled around the Cathedral for a while. Again this was excellent timing because a choir and the Cathedral Organ were accompanying a marriage service. The Cathedral is well worth visiting, just avoid the Dan Brown Tour - blergh!

Having left Winchester, we picked up the Kings Way on the west side (this time) of the Winnal Moors Nature Reserve, until after passing through the villages of Kings and Abbott's Worthy, we walked under the M3 once more. This led us to pass next door to an imposing mansion we had seen earlier that morning (Worthy Park House - now a school). We strolled down St Swithins Way which eventually became the Itchen Way again. Soon we were revisiting scenes of that mornings walk and found ourselves back in Itchen Abbas once more.

Val could not join us for the evening so we said goodbye and she drove off in the direction of the M3 and home. Our destination instead being our Inn at Kingsley, which we soon arrived at due to my excellent map reading! This proved very suitable for our needs, the accommodation being twin rooms in a former stable block. Now refurbished obviously - I've had enough of being kept awake by Horses. (Those of you who have been on weekend tasks will understand what I mean.) We set down to watch Dr Who and to await Cheryl's arrival in advance of dinner being booked for 8 o'clock. Various failed mobile phone conversations had failed to confirm her location, until I wandered outside, realised she had already arrived and was ensconced in her own room.

After the Dr had dispatched another villainous Alien Invader (and unfortunately repaired K9), we strolled over for dinner. The Pub specialised in cooking on hot rocks, where the food is bought to the table cooking on a heated rock. Only Cheryl braved this option. However, all the food was beyond reproach and the desserts mouth-watering, so the thought of walking the next day and removing some excess calories did not seem such a bad idea.

After the standard Inn cooked English Breakfast (with fried bread - somebody still does it!). We set off on the directions provided in a Ramblers pamphlet that the Inn had lent us. This was a circular walk, encompassing the Villages of East Worldham and Oakhanger and all sorts of different scenery, from walking along disused 18th Century Railways, amongst unused Battery Chicken Farms, to being surrounded by some of the most ancient woodland in England, from traversing sunken roman roads to seeing very modern Military satellite installations. (Why are they always shaped like golf balls?). Finally of course one could not fail to mention the very deep holes covered by immovable manhole covers. (Credit to Mike for trying his hardest to shift one).

Lunch was in the Pub at East Worldham, which although a trifle expensive was nevertheless filling. I don't profess to know the exact route because Nigel was co-opted into the navigation role which as usual he undertook with good grace. The weather was not as fine as the previous day but it nevertheless managed to stay dry. After walking approximately 9 to 10 miles we returned to the Inn for Tea before returning to our respective homes.

Thank you to all participants for sharing a weekend walking (nearly all) in Winchester. Whatever might be said, I have my suspicions as to who Cleggy and Foggy might be but Compo remains a mystery. Gary………….