🥾 Walk 505 - Eversley and the Blackwater Valley

On Saturday 26th March, seven of us set off from the parking area near St Mary's Church in Eversley. The weather was glorious! Blue skies, sunshine and golden daffodils painted a picture of the perfect spring day, all accompanied by plenty of birdsong.

Our route took us along Church Lane where we joined the Three Castles Path and the only ascent in the walk. From there we entered Heath Warren Wood and made our way through the plantation using the wide forest paths, soon passing the bronze-age bowl barrow called Cudbury Clump. Woodland maintenance in Heath Warren Woods has been ongoing for a couple of months, with areas of trees having been cleared; neatly stacked tree trunks and branches were seen at the side of several paths.

Crossing Bramshill Road, we then followed a line of pylons through Bramshill Plantation, where we had to navigate around several large puddles, as the ground was still fairly muddy in places. We left the plantation near to the ford at the New Mill sluice, where we joined the Blackwater Valley Path along the River Blackwater. As this was a short five mile walk, there was to be no lunch stop, but a drink/snack stop was made by the river. Paths through fields then took us to the busy A327, where there was a short stretch of road walking before heading off on another footpath. Since pre-walking the route, Storm Eunice had left a trail of destruction and we were met with large trees that had fallen across our path, which we had to climb over.

The final section of the walk passed two small farms with bearded goats, llamas and a large pond which attracted many ducks and geese, including Muscovy Ducks, Graylag Geese and Egyptian Geese. A short walk through a field led us back to St Mary's Church, where we were able to see Charles Kingsley's grave and the Wellingtonia tree that his daughter planted in his memory; the tree having been grown from a seed that she had brought back from her travels. Charles Kingsley was the rector at the church for 31 years between 1844 and 1875; he also founded the local school and it was while living in Eversley that he wrote The Water Babies. On finding the church open, a few of us explored the interior before heading back to our cars.

Thank you to Sue from leading this walk, for writing it up and providing the photos.

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