There was an ominous weather warning in place for the 25th July along with the threat of lightening. Nine people (six regulars, two guests, and one new person) gathered outside Basingstoke Station and patiently listened to my prepared spiel developed as a result of the excellent walk leader training I had received.
We headed out of Basingstoke on a footpath which runs alongside the railway track. I described this section of the walk as "urban meets the countryside", but in actual fact, this footpath was a fairly leafy affair.
We crossed the road and then headed over the field to make our way behind Barton's Mill pub. Next, we trekked over Mill Field, a mixture of grass and scrubland aimed at attracting wildlife. A footpath took us to a meadow whereby we followed a reliable pathway alongside it. After about a mile, we took a right turn where I had planned for a proper coffee stop. As we were now downwind of Basingstoke Sewage treatments, this was shifted along a little to a crossing over a pretty stream.
Walking back down the River Lodden required a fight through the undergrowth (it had been so gorgeous earlier in the year with the bluebells and snowdrops). When we emerged from the undergrowth we were on The Street, a charming road in Old Basing.
This we followed down to St Mary's Church. Some of the group had a quick look around this 16th Century Church (14th Century in some places). Perhaps its best appeal was the popular discovery of a set of toilets. Following a passageway which winds its way around the church and alongside a graveyard, Lawrence told us an interesting fact about a blind French person learning to read by running his hands over the gravestones. It had started to drizzle on and off by now and there was a lot of coats putting on and then taking off.
Heading now for Basingstoke Common where I did my duty as leader and advised of the presence of horses. They weren't interested in us at all. We took our life in our hands to cross the London Road. The remains of the classical arch to the Hackwood Estate are still impressive now as they must have been in their day.
We trekked up the side of the Crabtree plantation, a nature reserve, furthest away from the footpath. I had spied a picnic bench situated under a tree on an early recce where I planned lunch. However, this possibly might have been a figment of my imagination as I couldn't now find it. There was another bench in the field where a race developed amongst some of us as to who could get there first. Everyone was then too polite too actually use it and most sat of the floor.
We then meandered our way through the Black Dam ponds. We crossed over the dual carriageway and into The War Memorial Park. There was an amazing area of wildflowers here (although this did include some Sweet Williams.) We passed the bird cage which provoked mixed feelings, although I think they seemed happy enough.
Essentially it was now a matter of walking through the council buildings and heading back towards the direction of the station.
Thank you to Pat from leading her first walk for us, for writing it up and providing the photos.
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