On Monday 31st May, I led a walk for the Berkshire Weekend Walkers that wasn't in Berkshire and wasn't at the weekend - although it was a Bank Holiday. Twelve of us met up in Hartley Wintney on what proved to be the hottest day of the year so far. We had good mix of regulars, not so regulars and newcomers. I'm sure we have more people trying us out these days than we did before the pandemic.
This walk was a patchwork quilt of bits of walks I'd done during lockdown, which were all quite local to me, in North-East Hampshire. We started the walk by following the High Street and joining the Brenda Parker Way as it went through Hartley Wintney into Hazeley Heath. On entering the heath, we almost immediately left it, heading now to West Green through woodland and then farmland.
On the way, we were stopped by an elderly dog walker who enquired about our route. He seemed to approve of our itinerary and suggested a good pub to visit on the way. Much appreciated though the advice was, in the current situation it can be difficult to organise pub-stops on our walks.
Leaving West Green, we made our way to Mattingley, crossing the River Whitewater on route. Before we got to the river, there was a metal swing gate, guarded by what were either large ponies or small horses. They seemed quite friendly and after a bit of gentle nose stoking, we were allowed through.
We stopped to have our packed lunches in the grounds of Mattingley Church, a Grade I listed timber framed church, dating back to the 15th century. It was getting quite hot now, and the cereal bar in my packed lunch had gone from crunchy to gooey.
After lunch, we crossed farmland to Dipley, where a public footpath went through the private gardens of Dipley Mill. These picturesque gardens are sometimes opened to the public. Equally impressive is the view of the mill from the road bridge in front, so a detour was taken to have a look. Mentioned in the Doomsday Book, this was still a working flour mill until its conversion into a country house in 1927.
Crossing a meadow and some farmland, we reached Hazeley Heath. Here we saw a small herd of deer, drinking from a pool before they noticed us and disappeared into the woodland. A long walk through the heath took us past the gatehouse to Bramshill House, once used as a police college.
Out in the open again, a board walk led us though more heathland and then a steep slope took us up to a viewpoint. This hill had once been used for training tank drivers and there was a concrete ramp down the steepest side of the hill. After admiring the view, we crossed the southern tip of Hazeley Heath and soon found ourselves back in Hartley Wintney. See our route on Google Maps.
Thank you to Liz for one of the photographs. (The rest are my own handiwork.)
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