A glorious autumnal morning greeted sixteen of us as we met at Beacon Hill car park for a walk which would take us optionally up the hill then merrily on our way to Sandham Memorial Chapel, a distance of approximately eight miles.
After our ascent of the hill, and with such favourable weather, we were able to see Highclere Castle from the top, the setting for the television series Downton Abbey, and we also encountered the grave of Lord Carnarvon who, along with Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt in 1922. Fortunately the group didn’t appear to be cursed and we all made it back down the hill safely.
Once back down the hill three more intrepid ramblers joined the group after the optional hill part of the walk and we ventured eastward towards Old Burghclere where we turned northward on to a footpath following the same direction as a disused railway line. This was previously the Newbury to Whitchurch line, part of the former Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR). The line served the area until its closure to freight in 1960 and passenger traffic in 1962.
Forging on in a northerly direction we made our way into Burghclere and stopped at the National Trust property, Sandham Memorial Chapel, where the murals of renowned artist Stanley Spencer reside. When pre-walking the route we had spoken with the staff at the chapel to ask permission to have our lunch stop here to which they very kindly agreed. Some of our group who are NT members scanned their membership cards, which the property very much appreciated, and viewed the impressive artworks in the chapel.
After lunch, we left Sandham to proceed in a southerly direction back towards Old Burghclere and with the weather continuing to be very kind to us we took in some tremendous views of the surrounding area.
Once back in Old Burghclere we retraced our steps on a westerly bearing past All Saints church towards our start point at the Beacon Hill walk car park. After recording the walk the distance appeared to be just under eight miles with 891 feet of ascent. See our route on OS Maps
Some of the group then enjoyed a well deserved after walk drink at the nearby Carnarvon Arms where it was still warm enough to sit outside as we caught the last of the sunshine on what had been a great day for a walk.
Thanks to all who came along and made leading such a pleasure, we both look forward to seeing you again on another BWW walk soon.
Thanks go to Steve for leading this walk and for writing it up.
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