# 🥾 Walk 222 - Basingstoke Canal Figure-of-eight

On Saturday 14th May, twelve of us met up in the free car park at Odiham Wharf for a figure-of-eight walk. (This being a walk where the route passes the start location about half way through, allowing people to stop after a short walk or continue for the full walk.)

We set off along the Basingstoke Canal tow path heading east, passing under the A287 Odiham bypass and stopping off to look at Wilk's Water, a picturesque pond by the side of the canal. While we were looking around, we were joined by one of our members who had arrived late after getting slightly lost on the way to the car park. Now we were thirteen strong.

![Wilk's Water. Back a bit. Back a bit more. A bit more... Woah!](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume16/images/wilks_water.jpg)

Continuing on the tow path we passed under many old bridges as the canal wove its way through woodland and fields. We stopped when we got to Barley Mow Bridge, to take a swig of water and maybe have a snack. When I led this walk a couple of years ago, we had to leave the canal at this point as there had been a land-slip blocking the canal and its tow path.

After our short stop, we continued along the tow path - including the recently repaired section - until we reached Blacksmith's Bridge. We crossed the bridge and left the canal behind as we entered Dogmersfield Park. We sat on the grass by Tundry Pond to have our picnic lunch.

![Tundry Pond in Dogmersfield Park.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume16/images/tundry_pond.jpg)

After lunch we followed a footpath through Dogmersfield Park and down to Dogmersfield Lake. On the way we saw some large highland cattle and a stag standing perfectly still under a tree. It stayed so still for so long that we began to suspect it wasn't quite what it seemed. In fact it was a wooden sculpture!

We entered the muddy woodland of Forest Park. This was the muddiest part of the walk but it didn't last long before we left the woodland for an open field leading to the tiny hamlet of Broad Oak. Passing through, we were back on the canal tow path again, retracing our steps back to the car park. With the first loop of the figure-of-eight done, only one member departed.

![A cow cleaning her calf in Dogmersfield Park.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume16/images/cow_and_calf.jpg)

The second half of the walk took us further west on the canal before leaving it for Lodge Farm and then The Derby Inn for a drink. After a pleasant rest in the beer garden, we continued our walk, now following the River Whitewater instead of the canal. We made our way through North Warnborough, crossing the Whitewater at a ford before rejoining the canal at Odiham Castle (also known as King John's Castle).

After a wander round the remains, we continued on the canal, over the aqueduct (blink and you'll miss it) and on to Greywell. On the way we saw various aquatic birds, including a number of mallard ducklings and a pair of swans with four cygnets.

![Stopping to look at the remains of Odiham Castle.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume16/images/odiham_castle.jpg)

We left the canal at the entrance of the Greywell Tunnel. (This tunnel is closed to river traffic and is now home to various species of bat.) We walked out of Greywell and crossed a field to the edge of North Warnborough, where we rejoined the canal at a swing bridge. Crossing the swing bridge, we followed the tow-path and canal through North Warnborough and back out into the open, where we retraced our steps to the car park. See our route on Bing Maps.

It was about a quarter to five by the time we'd finished and we'd covered over 12 miles, a bit longer than the 10 miles stated in my description on the programme but nobody seemed to mind.

![A pair of swans with their cygnets by the Basingstoke Canal.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume16/images/swans_nest.jpg)

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