Eighteen people showed up for our walk on Saturday 6th August. This included five newcomers and a couple of visitors from other walking groups. The forecast was for a warm dry day and we got the weather we were promised with almost continuous sunshine and temperatures of 24°C.
Leaving Hook railway station, we walked down to Bartley Heath, which we crossed to reach a track that would become Holt Lane as we followed it back into Hook. Crossing the A30 by The Crooked Billet pub, we followed another lane that became a footpath at Hook Mill. This footpath gradually drew parallel with the River Whitewater as it approached Borough Court.
Crossing the Whitewater at a wooden bridge, we passed through a farm and then through a narrow woodland path, overgrown with brambles, finally emerging at West Green House. Glimpses of the National Trust gardens at West Green could be seen from the last section of this path.
Here we joined the Brenda Parker Way, a 78-mile long-distance path connecting Aldershot and Andover, which we followed westward toward Rotherwick. We stopped for our picnic lunch by the River Whitewater near Mattingley before crossing the B3348 Reading Road at a rather hazardous bend in the road. Passing through a field of sheep, some woodland and a field of barley, we arrived in Rotherwick where we stopped off for a drink at the Coach and Horses pub.
Departing from the pub and from the Brenda Parker Way we left Rotherwick and headed for the Tylney Park Golf Club. Carefully crossing the greens, we entered woodland behind Tylney Hall, a grand Victorian mansion and now a hotel.
We emerged from the woodland onto a lane that led us to Newnham. Walking through this picturesque hamlet, we then took a footpath through a field of maize at Naishes Farm. The plants were about eight feet tall! We were soon back in Hook and joined the A30 by the War Memorial, which followed into the centre of the village. After passing various shops we were back at the station. See our route on Bing Maps.
Thank you to Julia for providing the photographs.
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