Corhampton Down, Hampshire

Date: 2013-05-25

From: Beacon Hill Car Park

Region: Hampshire South Downs

Walk :  Circular

OS Sheet: Explorer 119

Start Grid: SU 599 227

Distance: 11.5 ml, 18.5 km 

Height Gain: 737 ft, 225m

Height Lost: 737 ft, 225 m

Walking with: Katie (dog)

Notes: Tracks and minor roads, field and woodland paths. This route was published in the June 2013 edition of Country Walking. The details, descriptions and comments below are all mine.

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

From the car park just to the W of Beacon Hill head NW on lane at bend take track (South Downs Way) to Lomer Farm where the South Downs Way, Monarch’s Way and Wayfarer’s Walk all meet. Head SSE on the Wayfarer’s Way passing Betty Mundy’s Cottage and St Clair’s Farm towards Steynes Farm. Before reaching Steynes Farm turn R on footpath across field and road (B3035) through the woodland passing Hazel Holt onto lane, R to the corner below Galley Down, R follow bridleway NW to the B3035, cross to lane down into Dean. At junction turn R, passing Cleverley Cottage and Deans Farm, joining the Monarch’s Way back to Lomers Farm and back to the car park.

Journey

Spring Bank Holiday and we were back in Portsmouth to visit the mother in law and Mrs G’s family here. The trip down on Friday morning had been rain and wind start to finish with some very heavy traffic, a fairly miserable journey.

Saturday could not have been more different, a lovely day to be walking on the South Downs.  Earlier in the week when I had been looking for a walk further east around the Goodwood area but when my County Walking Mag. came and I saw this walk in there I went for it as it’s not often you get to walk on a National Trail and two long distance trails in one 11 mile circuit.

Getting to Beacon Hill was a thrash along the M27, and then off onto one of the nicest drives in the area, north up the Meon Valley along the A32, with remarkably little traffic.

Route finding by memory I turned off the A32 at Corhampton. I then turned into the wrong little narrow lane then turned left instead of right. I eventually admitted to the dog that we were a bit lost and it was time to stop to get the OS map out of my rucksack, in the boot, and then re-orientate myself.

We were only the second car in the car park, although there were numerous bikes wizzing about. Anyway Katie and I were soon sorted out and off along a short section of the South Downs Way to Lomers Farm then several miles down the Wayfarers Walk through the lovely pastures and woodland with Katie running around like a mad thing chasing real or imaginary rabbits, squirrels or game birds. Whatever they were I never saw them.

Lomer Cottage

Below King's Copse

St Clair's Farm

After such a wet spring it was great to see the sunshine and the countryside so green, lush meadows, trees in full leaf, many also in blossom. Banks of Bluebell’s in the hedgerows and large swathes of wild garlic flowers along the track and through the woodland. Dandelions were everywhere, surprisingly, after all the winds and rain, with their seed heads fully intact.

However, the damage done by the winter and spring weather could be seen in the recently cleared ditches, small landslips on the steeper hillsides, in the arable fields areas of bare earth and where the crops are late, growth stunted.

Dean

North from Dean, a tiny hamlet but the largest place on the walk, The Monarch’s Way is all paved lanes and tracks which definitely became a bit of a trudge. Another factor could be that the Monarch’s Way here is generally uphill and the Wayfarers Walk is pretty much downhill.

Caterham Seven

Track Monarch's Way

Katie cooling her feet

Just south of Preshaw House, major works being undertaken to remove some five to six hundred metres of the existing track/bridleway and re-routing it further north. It is disappointing that work of this order is being carried out without any form of diversionary signage to assist walkers, riders etc. One wonders if permission/approval has been obtained from Hampshire County Councils Rights of Way Team for the closure and the diversion of the bridleway.

Beacon Hill

Cowslips South Downs Way

Overall the walk was very enjoyable and the time just flew by. Should I do this one again, or if anyone asked my opinion, which they never do, I would suggest re-planning the walk so as to start from the south, parking near to Dean or one of the other hamlets in that area, and walk the Monarch’s Way leg first. It gets that bit of a trudge feeling out of the way while you are fresh.

Wayfarers Way, Hambledon to Portsdown Hill

Date: 16 July 2011
Area: North of Portsmouth

Distance: 8.5 miles, 13.5km

Start: Hambledon

OS Sheet: Explorer 119

Grid: SU 6465 1504

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.
The Wayfarers Walk is clearly marked on the 1:25,000 Map

Journey

Once again I’ve been down to Portsmouth to visit my mother in law and family, which also gives me an opportunity to go for a walk. While peering over the maps trying to work out a walk around the Hambledon area where I had done a couple of walks before I started this blog, I noticed the Wayfarers Walk. This starts way up in North Hampshire at Inkpen Beacon, the highest point in Hampshire and works its way down through New Alresford to Hambledon and on to Farlington / Bedhampton near where my mother in law lives, before going on to finish along the coast in Emsworth. I covered most of the Farlington Emsworth part of the walk in a blog October 2010 see HERE.

So on Saturday morning I caught a couple of buses to Hambledon and started walking south back to Farlington. Once I got myself orientated it was a short walk to the Wayfarers Walk, down a lane and up a short but steep climb through a flower meadow over Speltham Down.

It was pretty, but the flowers were just past their best, I wish I had seen them a few weeks earlier. Just over the top of the slope into the first of many fields the rain turned heavy and for twenty minutes the whole landscape became a watery, wind swept blur. After that it just rained without really stopping until I reached Portsdown Hill some 7 miles later.

Most of the walk was through or along fields, with, because of the rain, not much in the way of views and no photographs. For the most part the going was fairly flat. Between Hambledon and Denmead I actually met a runner and two couples walking dogs. Somewhere in this section I hit a field growing one of the two crops I most hate to walk through, Maize (corn on the cob). “As high as an elephants eye” is one thing but this was WET, dripping, drooping, slap, slop in the face in a malevolent green way sort of way. But least it doesn’t try to grab you like the other horror, oil seed rape, does.

Denmead is an old village that has expanded into a small dormitory town. It seems to be keeping its shops and pubs and looks a comfortable place. After a trudge through its northern parts I reached the village centre and found a nice coffee cum cake shop where I bought a big date flapjack. Passing through the southern bits of Denmead and across the golf course the rain persisted.

South of Denmead the going stayed pretty flat although the bulk of Portsdown Hill was evident in the distance. All the streams and ditches were swollen and the lanes I walked along or crossed were covered in puddles, thankfully there was little traffic. I kept hoping to find somewhere to stop for a brew, but there was no shelter anywhere. Passing through a stretch of woodland before turning east towards Purbrook Heath I listen with some trepidation to peels of thunder away to the west.

From Purbook Heath the path started to climb, finally getting steep as the path tracked straight up the hill along the back of a long row of houses. While this walk so far had been uninspiring this stretch was crap, literally, it was narrow with garden fences and walls to the left and a hedge, nettles and brambles to the right and all the way up there were piles of dumped grass, hedge cuttings, other garden detritus wood, brick, slabs, rubble and other rubbish. Going downhill there may have been a view but going up there was nothing. It was a relief to get out on to the road at the top of the hill.

From here I followed the Wayfarers Walk for about half a mile before reaching a viewpoint looking out over Portsmouth but even though the rain had stopped some thirty minutes earlier the views were poor. At this point I headed down the south face of Portsdown Hill and back to the mother in laws and a hot shower. The Wayfarers way continues along the top of the hill towards Bedhamton and on to Langstone Harbour.

This was not the best of walks due mainly to the weather, on a sunny day most of it would have been a bit more pleasant. From experience most long distance walks have less attractive bits, one has to expect that and I suspect (hope) for the Wayfarers Walk part of this walk was it, although I suspect it may include the section from where I stopped down to Langstone Harbour.

I’m already planning the next stage, New Alresford to Hambledon 16m, possibly in early September. I’ve sorted out the bus from Farlington to New Alresford, I now need to work out how I get back to the mother in laws when I finish.

Langstone Habour Farlington to Emsworth

Date: 30 October 2010

Area: Farlington to Emsworth, Hampshire

Distance: 9 Miles 14.5 k

Start Location: Farlington Marshes Car Park

OS Sheet: Explorer 119 and 120

Grid Ref: SU 6755 0429

Outline: Farlington Marshes, Havant, Langstone, Warblington, Emsworth

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1 : 25,000 map. They are not walking instructions.

I left my mother in laws house in Farlington, walked down the Eastern Road, past Sainsbury's and the Hilton, then under the M27 to the start of the walk in the Farlington Marshes Car Park overlooking Langstone Harbour.

From here head east along the sea wall around Farlington Marshes, into the Hermitage River and under a road bridge where you turn sharp left up the bank to join the road above, head east. After about 400 metres take a path on the right following a small stream south towards the sea, head east and cross the footbridge into Langstone.

Continue to follow the sea wall east, then cross the field to Warblington Church. Take Church Path across the fields until the sea wall and beach leads you around to the huge Mill Pond from there, there are various routes open to you to explore Emsworth.

Journey

As we were in Portsmouth to see my mother in law I was looking for a walk to do while Mrs O-n-G spent some time with her mother. Looking at the maps this walk seemed to link together a number of places from my childhood and later when working in Havant and offered the choice of bus or train for getting back to Farlngton/Cosham.

The day started off with a lovely big blue sky and a warmish breeze, the tide was out leaving the harbour a flat, grey and green desert with the sea a glimmer in the far distance. Luckily, the cool weather meant the never to be forgotten smell of rotting sea weed was thankfully missing.

The walk was largely flat and generally followed the sea wall. Several long distance walks cover the same ground, the Langstone Habour Waterside Walk seemed to predominate, I also spotted signs for the Wayfarers Way and the Solent Way.

As I walked around Farlington Marshes the twitchers were out by the by the score, some with camera lenses on tripods  looking like anti-tank rocket launchers, or camouflaged heavy machine guns, just right for sorted the geese out. Although the way the twitchers blocked the path it was them that needed sorting.

  

Some of the walk is quite close to the M27 and to the south of Havant through an industrial estate, past a sewage treatment plant and a sand and gravel quay. It added interest and makes one appreciate the wilder countryside.

In Langstone I got to walk along a track that had once been the railway line for the Puffing Billy, a steam train that ran from Havant to the sea front at Hayling, the highlight of the 50’s for me.

Crossing the road into old Langstone I had a look in the Ship Inn and around the corner the Royal Oak both well visited in the 70’s  I wanted to see if they had changed much but I couldn’t tell, it was like I was seeing them for the first time.

The old cottages, the mill and mill pond didn’t appear to have changed much. The mill was one of a large number along this coast that were built in the late seventeen hundreds to grind grain and gun powder to be shipped to Spain and Portugal for the Armies fighting in the Peninsular War. 

While looking at the maps I was intrigued by a right of way shown on both 50,000 and 25,000 maps as crossing the harbour from Langstone to Hayling, to the east of the present bridge. I did a bit of searching on the internet and found out that it’s the route of an early medieval track way, see link below. Needless to say I couldn’t spot it.

 (http://www.conservancy.co.uk/assets/assets/Wadeway_Summary_2010.pdf)

Warblington Church is well worth a visit it is unusual and picturesque and it is one of those places that makes you feel the past is not so far away.

Unfortunately, Emsworth disappeared in a prolonged shower of cold rain and as I reached the town center my bus pulled up so in seconds I was on my way back to find out how Forest got on against Pompey.

This was an interesting and enjoyable walk with plenty to see and I’d rate it as a good walk albeit very different from the quiet, more rolling countryside I am used to. Perhaps next time I’m down I’ll catch a bus to Emsworth and have at look around and see what I missed this time.