Walks and Rambles
The pretty village of Wherwell is about 3 miles from the busy town of Andover and the A303. The village is renowned for its thatched and timbered cottages and the River Test with its many tributaries. There are a number of walks where The White Lion Inn can be used as the centre point and a place to gain refreshments and rest before or after your walk. The Inn's car park is a practical place to park your car off road and in a relatively secure enviroment, but please note the premise owners and landlord cannot take any responsibility for loss or damage to your vehicle or loss of possessions from the vehicle in your abscence.
"Sprat and Winkle Line"
The railway line ran from Andover to Redbridge, near Southampton until 1964 when it was closed to passenger traffic. This section makes up a large stretch of the popular off road path of the lower Test Way. The line above Fullerton junction via Wherwell and Longparish closed to passengers in 1931 and finaly to goods in 1956 once the large war time bomb storage depot deep in Harewood Forest had been cleared.
The Walk
Distance about 5 miles
Allow around 3.5 hours
Our walk begins and finishes at Wherwell skirting the neighbouring village of Chilbolton and hamlet of Fullerton before returning across the River Anton Valley and back to the village. It follows disused railway lines, lanes, tracks and field paths, includes beautiful river scenery on both the Test and the Anton.
The First Step:
Leave the White Lion Inn car park turning right into the Fullerton Road passing a number of large thatched house and cottage gardens on the way. Continue walking for about half a mile until you come to a long wooden foot bridge on your left that crosses the River Test. Go over the bridge and onto Chilbolton common, an information board is located close to the end of the bridge that provides the reader with many interesting facts about the wildlife and fauna to be found on the common. Follow the track that runs to the left handside of the common, crossing a small bridge over another river at the far end. Once crossed follow the path to a small car park in front of a group of cottages and then bare right onto the gravel track and footpath which runs right to a large thatched cottage (picture 2, left of page) and the village playing fields beyond.
Pass through the kissing gate next to the cattle grid and onto the playing fields and walk along the right hand edge of the field past the pavilion to another gate on the far side of the playing fields. Again pass through this gate and walk along a narrow path up a slight incline that borders the river to your right until you reach a small grassed clearing with a park bench at its centre. Turn left from the narrow path to the gap in the fence that borders the small lane that runs between Chilbolton village and the main 'A' road to Stockbridge; cross this lane onto Hampshire County Council's West Down site. A kissing gate is immediately to your right, take this marked footpath and head uphill along a path that borders woodland and runs paralel with the road below but along the upper reaches and side of the hill. You will see if you look carefully just beyond the perimiter of the woods, concerete air raid shelters and dispersal points belonging to the old disused aerodrome. Beyond these implacements the path and hill curves around to the left with the path dropping down to a kissing gate and the lane below. Cross the lane to a marked footpath with a large brick wall running beside it. You will see a substantial Victorian property behind this wall. The property is called 'Test Combe House' and if you look directly opposite the house and across the road you will see large indentations in the hillside. This is where a stick of bombs fell short during the early stages of World War 2 when the Luftwaffe was trying to knock out RAF Chilbolton, the Battle of Britain aerodrome beyond the hill you have just walked down.
The house and its occupants had a lucky escape that day but the explosions blew out all of the glass in the house and the large green house within the walled garden.
This footpath takes you down to the disused railway line now the Test Way but once known as "The Sprat and Winkle Line" said to be Queen Victoria's favourite railway journey to Osbourne House on the Isle of White. Turn right at the bottom of the drop to the Test Way and proceed along the 'Way' with the old railway bridge behind you. It is alledged that Queen Victoria called this railway line the "Nile Line" as it is said to remind her of a railway journey once taken in Egypt that followed the rivers course, not unlike the Test Way that follows the Test.
This section of old track eventualy takes you to Fullerton Junction and you can still see the two stations although now converted to houses, if you look closely you can still make out the old platforms in the under growth. The large house on the left was the former station that serviced the Romsey to Andover line and the two houses on the right, the twin stations servicing the Romsey to Basingstoke line via Wherwell. The service road eventualy joins the main Stockbridge to Andover 'A' road but before this the road divides into two with one track going off to the left. Take this track which takes you onto the disused Romsey to Andover railway line and follow the path under the bridge and over the rail bridge that crosses the River Anton, take a little time here to enjoy the view, you can see the pretty thatched cottage to your right as you stand on the bridge and the old mill before you (pictures 3 & 4 taken from the road). Turn left directly after you leave the bridge to the lane with the thatched cottage now on your right, turn right and walk along the lane which will be sign posted for Red Rice.
This is a quite country lane which has a relatively steep incline, when you reach the white posts halfway up the hill that borders Fullerton Manor turn right off of the lane and follow a path that borders a large field with extensive views of the Anton Valley. In the distance you will see the radio telescope at Chilbolton built on the site of the old Battle of Britain aerodrome RAF Chilbolton. It takes little imagination to be transported back in time when young pilots in their Hurricanes and Spitfires would be buzzing the hillsides as they shuttled between RAF Middle Wallop and Chilbolton or gaining height for advantage in the battle with the enemy.
At the end of the field go through the gap in the hedge and on along the left edge of the next field before following a grass verge through to a gravel track. Go left along the track to a metal gate and turn right through this and a kissing gate beyond and then cross the water meadows.
As you cross a small wooden bridge and a meadow you will see a river curving in from the left. Follow the path right before crossing a bridge to follow a cleared path through some woodland. You will shortly come to a T-Junction in the path and turn right along the edge of a field to reach a gate beyond. Cross the busy Andover to Stockbridge road and go through a gap in the hedge opposite before heading right up a steep hill keeping to the right of a small tree plantation.
Go through a gate in the corner of the field and then along a fenced path. Continue uphill beside a hedge and tree lined route to a field with views ahead and below. Turn left along the right edge of the field downhill following the field boundary, first around to the right then, as the track heads right keep to the field edge before leaving via the left of two gaps in the hedge. Follow the path uphill beside a house and alongside an area of downland with two copses. The path climbs to lead out through a hedge and onto a sharp bend in the 'B' road that leads down and back into the village of Wherwell and The White Lion Inn.
More walks to follow......................
