Wherwell

One of the many thatched houses

We decided to fit in a mid-week walk plus pub lunch and go further afield than usual for it, as it was such a nice start to the day. Wherwell is a very pretty village just south of Andover, and the walk starts at the White Lion Inn.

You walk down the round away from the village and turn onto the Test Way. You cross the river and emerge on to the splendidly named Chilbolton Cow Common. You cross a tributary of the Test and, looking back, enjoy the view of the common, with the other side of the Test Valley in the distance.




You then follow a path parallel to the river and soon have this striking view of a series of water courses, with the Test now in the background.



Next you cross the road and climb up and over West Down Countryside Park, with great views on the way back down to the river valley.



After following the line of the Test again for a while, you cross it ...



... and then you enter the valley of the River Anton. You climb up a lane to then walk along fields on the side of the valley and enjoy lovely views. Descending again, you cross the river. Here we finally got a close up view of the striking, bright orange trees which we had seen at various points in the valley.



I am pretty sure these are purple willow - which grow by river banks and are used for withies. The name comes from the colour of the young shoots.

The final stretch took us past a section of the long-closed Andover to Southampton railway, the Sprat and Winkle line.



We returned to the pub for a good lunch, chosen from its surprisingly extensive menu.

From: Pocket pub walks: Hampshire by Nigel Vile (Countryside Books).

Map: Explorer 131 (Romsey, Andover and Test Valley).

Distance: 5.5 miles.

Rating: three and half stars. Very varied, and some great views, but we felt that the various elements had been joined together a bit arbitrarily.


Sightings

We saw a Little Egret on the river at the far side of Chilbolton Cow Common. I tried to take its photo but every time I advanced close enough to be in range of my zoom lens it flew off. It seemed to have an exactly calibrated safety zone.

Amazingly, we also saw a lone butterfly flying vigorously. I am virtually certain it was a Peacock, but I suppose it might have been a Red Admiral.