# 🥾 Walk 617 - The Dogmersfield Loop with Mince Pies, Stollen Cake, Mulled Wine and Spiced Cider

On Saturday 23rd December, nine of us plus a miniature fox terrier (or "mini foxie" as they are known in their native Australia) called Nina, met up in the Barley Mow slipway car park for a six-mile walk that would include the Basingstoke Canal, some bridges, a hunting lodge, a large pond, and some festive treats en-route.

We set off along the canal towpath, passing under Barley Mow Bridge, following the "Dogmersfield Loop". This is a section of the Basingstoke Canal that loops around Dogmersfield Park. As half the route is along the towpath, we broke it up a bit with a couple of diversions into nearby fields and woodland.

We left the canal for a footpath across a slightly soggy field and through the mixed woodland of Hellet's Copse to return to the canal at Stacey's Bridge. On reaching Sprat's Bridge, we crossed the canal and continued to follow it from the vantage point of a raised wooded embankment. A couple of squirrels were taken by surprise by Nina, who gave chase until they found safety up a tree.

![On the Basingstoke Canal towpath, near Sprat's Hatch.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume46/images/basingstoke_canal_sprats_hatch.jpg)

We stopped on Sandy Hill Bridge for a short break, with mince pies and mulled wine. I'd heated the mulled wine before leaving home and filled a large (1.5 litre) flask.

As I poured the mulled wine into plastic cups, Emma passed around a pack of mini minced pies for the first of two festive intervals on our walk.

We left the canal, crossing some farmland on our way to Odiham Common. Here we stopped to look at Odiham Hunting Lodge (aka King John's Hunting Lodge and King Henry's Hunting Lodge) with its elaborate façade of three pointy gables. From there, we passed Wilks Water (which probably supplied the lodge with fresh fish) and re-joined the canal towpath close to Broad Oak Bridge.

![A woodland path near Sandy Hill Bridge.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume46/images/sandy_hill_woodland.jpg)

Crossing the bridge took us into Broad Oak, a small hamlet of smart, up-market houses. A footpath took us through a boggy paddock and into some very soggy woodland. We squelched our way through Forest Park and passed the privately owned Dogmersfield Lake before entering Dogmersfield Park.

We then followed a nice dry footpath uphill and then downhill, which gave us some good views of the park, including the Four Season Hotel and Tundry Pond. We stopped on the downhill stretch for our second festive interval of the walk.

Here we finished off the mulled wine. There wasn't much left, but Phil had kindly brought a couple of bottles of spiced cider and some pieces of stollen cake to share around. Very nice they were too. Thank you Phil.

![The façade of Odiham Hunting Lodge.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume46/images/odiham_hunting_lodge.jpg)

Next, we continued along the footpath to Tundry Pond, where we stopped to have our packed lunches and watch the wildlife. During the pre-walk, this large pond was covered with ducks, geese and swans, with the occasional heron flying past, but today it was rather empty. Perhaps it was too windy, or maybe the birds had migrated.

After lunch, we crossed Blacksmith's Bridge and re-joined the canal towpath. This we followed as it wove its way through the mixed woodland of the Arch Plantation, bringing us back to the Barley Mow slipway. See our route on Google Maps.

![Stopping in Dogmersfield Park for spiced cider and more mulled wine.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume46/images/mulled_wine_and_cider.jpg)

![On the Basingstoke Canal towpath, approaching Barley Mow slipway.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume46/images/basingstoke_canal_barley_mow.jpg)

*Thanks go to Rob and Emma for leading the walk and to Phil for brining the extra treats.*

## 📸 Back to Volume 46

Return to volume index