Early Autumn walk

On a beautiful warm and sunny day at the weekend we decided to take another walk from the lovely village of Hannington. We first enjoyed a super lunch at The Vine and then set off on a walk which covered some new territory for us although I have walked part of the route before. It is always fun to walk somewhere different and thanks to an informative leaflet produced by Hampshire County Council called Exploring Hannington we have plenty of routes to choose from.


I hope you enjoy coming along on this walk with us!


Here we are passing the beautiful village green ...

before turning down Ibworth Lane and up the track by Michael's Field which proved to be somewhat muddy, I guess after the heavy rainfall in the week it is to be expected that in shady spots it is going to be muddy and sticky.


As we turn right at the end of the track and onto a more solid surface we suddenly feel that we are on top of the world as we enjoy the panoramic views.

We spot a couple of Wheatear, a Summer visitor to Britain and a bird that mainly frequents the uplands further north from us or heathlands and coastal areas and one which we have only rarely seen.

We pause and watch these birds for a little while as they flit low over the ground with their distinctive white rump showing as they fly. According to my bird book they like to perch on a prominent stone or clod of earth (pleased to say they followed the text book)!


We pass the reservoir and then turn left down a farm track to Summerdown Lane.

After crossing the road I am now back on familiar territory although it is some years since I have walked these parts (must be getting on for 40 years ago as still new territory to DH) and I had forgotten what a steep climb it was up to Plantation Farm.

At the top of the hill we turned left and follow the bridleway across the ridge of the downs with its spectacular views (if you are a regular follower of my blog you will recognise the TV mast on top of the downs in the distance from previous walks we have undertaken).

Time to take a left turn and follow the farm track back towards the village - now we are both on familiar ground and know how steep the hill we still have to climb is, however the thought of a drink when we get back to the village keeps us going. This track proved to be extremely wet and muddy especially in the bottom of the dip but we managed to negotiate it without getting stuck although cleaning our trainers is not going to be fun.

It was a relief to get back to Meadham Lane and hard surfacing and make our way back to the centre of the village. We were delighted to see these cyclamen growing on a bank as we approached the village - so pretty.

Another enjoyable walk (despite the mud) on such a lovely warm day and the drink at the end of the walk certainly went down well!