Saturday 2nd January 2021.
It was such a nice morning that I was keen to get out trying a walk a little further away from home. I drove to Cheriton and parked near the school.
The first path out of the village was a narrow one up onto a small down overlooking the Cheriton Battlefield Site of 1644. The Parliamentary forces would have had this view of the ridge where the Royalists where stationed. Of course, the modern farm buildings would not have been there!
I chatted with some dog walkers, with some hikers and a couple on horseback at the junction of the Wayfarers and Itchen Walks before turning towards Hinton Ampner. Conditions on these two paths were variable but not too muddy. However, I was glad I had put on wellies and had my stick.
The War Memorial with long-lasting poppies!
The infant River Itchen running through the village.
The rooks are already building!
Birds' Eye View of my walk.
Tuesday 5th January 2021.
 |
Last day for the Christmas Decorations
at the mill next to the Soke |
A cold day with some sunshine at first, gradually clouding over with a few spots of rain later. I decided to try and avoid the mud by largely using the roads. Met a couple of my neighbours doing a similar circuit but in the opposite direction. Then another lady whose brother is also a resident of de Lucy avenue.
I paused to take this picture of the Old Alresford branch of the River Arle. Lovely clean spring water.
My luck continued as I climbed the hill by Pinglestone Farm when Jane and Sue two of my Winchester CTC chums caught me up as they climbed on their bikes.
Of course, we had to exchange greetings and have another natter.
A rest break at the bridge and to admire the water rushing down over the sluice.
By the time I had got to the top of Drove Lane I was ready for a drink to celebrate my longest walk on Strava.
It had been a most enjoyable walk.
Thursday January 7th 2021.
Drove a few miles to get away from the busy paths around the town. Parked on Bramdean Common and re-explored the paths from there up to West Tisted which I'd last used about 12 years ago.
The first part of my route was through mixed woodland, beech, oak, sycamore, ash and once coppiced hazel. Plenty of fallen trees of many ages providing habitat for many small creatures, though the only one I saw was a squirrel.The paths were very muddy in places so I was glad I'd opted to wear wellies. Then in places on the hill there was a deep chalky channel down the middle of the by-way where it had been eroded by water. This made it quite tricky with a choice of walking in the gully or walking on the slippery banks. The paths were well used with traces of many feet, hooves and trail bike tyres.At the top of the hill, it was quite foggy and the trees were hoar frosty.
A winter wonderland.
This pond is just beside the junction of the by-way and the metalled road. I think even my friend Caroline would not fancy it for one of her wild dips.As I approached the village the mist was even thicker. I was about halfway now so I decided to visit the church to sit in the porch for a rest and to enjoy my snack lunch. Here I discovered this massive yew. Must be about as old as the church.My route back was through a different part of the woodland where the trees were more of an evergreen type which were being harvested.Two trucks were being loaded blocking the by-way with piles of logs and churned up mud beside the road I squeezed past startling the two truckers who spoke with a Welsh accent. They seemed to be from Pontrilas Sawmills in Herefordshire.Even the tree stumps seem to have their winter woollies on!The church in the woods with some recent gravesSome new chairs to rest in while admiring the little church and its graveyard.
I sat there for a while enjoying the peace and quiet before walking the last half mile to my car.
I only met about a dozen other walkers including a family of 4 with a dog who stopped to chat with me.
Please remember that by clicking on pictures you can see them full screen and see them as a slide show.
Saturday 9th January 2021.
A dreary day with little sunshine saw me out with my favourite daughter retracing paths across the Alresford Golf Course that neither of us had even been on for many years. We had Luna with us exploring all the rough on either side of our path.
Alresford was almost lost in the mist.
A demolished molehill revealed the entrance hole to the burrow.
The Tichborne estate had been felling many ash trees that had been stricken with Ash Die Back. This had led to a lot of muddy ruts made by the machinery making walking a little more difficult for me.
We returned via the woods adjacent to the golf course enjoying the patterns created by the trees against the sky and by their various barks.
A most enjoyable walk for all three of us of about 2.3 miles. Here is a birds-eye view.
A very good week altogether for me with walks spaced every couple of days. It is definitely helping my recovery.
Total miles walked in the week 11.3 miles. A lot in quite sticky muddy conditions.
Gridironman.
