We joined forces with the Pang Valley Ramblers on Sunday 9th September for a 6½ mile walk led by PVR members Pauline and Alistair. There were twenty-one of us in total, mostly PVRs but there were seven of our group, one from the BW 20s & 30s group and one from the Chiltern Weekend Walkers.
Setting off from the White Hill car park, we followed the Wayfarers Walk heading south-eastwards across the fields of Freemantle Park Farm. Crossing a quiet lane, we continued on the Wayfarers Walk as it passed through Walkeridge Farm and a small caravan site, down to Tidgrove Warren Farm. Here we stopped to look at the recently excavated footings of the King's House at Tidgrove.
Believed to be the site of a 12th century house, used as a stop-off point for Henry II when journeying between Southampton and Windsor, this was discovered by observing 'crop marks' in aerial photography. All that is visible now is some chalk footings and a surrounding ditch.
We left the Wayfarers Walk as it passed through the hamlet of North Oakley, diverting across The Manor Farm and into the picturesque village of Hannington. Here we passed The Vine pub without stopping for a drink! Don't panic! This walk didn't include a pub-stop or lunch-stop en-route as a pub lunch was planned for the end of the walk.
Leaving Hannington, we headed north through farmland and then west, through a thin strip of woodland to Cottington's Hill. Here stands a mighty transmitter mast, providing TV and radio (and other services) to North Hampshire and Berkshire since 1970. The walk leaders persuaded me (without too much trouble) to tell the story I know about this transmitting station.
Around 5pm one Saturday in November 1977, the sound channel for ITV was hi-jacked and a strange alien voice was heard, claiming to be from an extra-terrestrial being called Vrillon of the Ashtar Galactic Command. The six-minute message warned us of the terrible damage we were doing to our planet.
The vision channel continued to show the ITN early evening news but without the news reader's voice. The ITV telephone switch-board was jammed with calls from worried viewers and the incident was reported in the Sunday papers. It's believed to have been a hoax but the perpetrators were never found!
The last part of the walk involved a steep path straight up Cottington's Hill and then a more gentle down hill route through farmland back to the car park at White Hill. See our route on Google Maps. After this enjoyable walk, the group divided into those who were staying for the pub lunch in Kingsclere and those going straight home.
Thanks to Pauline and Alistair for leading the walk and for inviting our group to join them.
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