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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2891 |
2nd May 2017 Hiking - Walking: Old Winchester Hill & Beacon Hill Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: Distance Covered: Tuesday 2nd May – Walks **** Old Winchester Hill (Archaeology Trail) & Beacon Hill + travel – sunny periods :) You could tell the Bank Holiday was over as we woke to lovely warm ‘Simpson’s Sky’ beautiful blue with fluffy white clouds:) The four other campervans who spent the night with us on Esso Beach were gone early and at times we had the carpark to ourselves with only the odd dog walker and cyclist! After breakfast, I wanted to find the carpark that local speedsailor Ian Richards uses to sail Langstone harbour even though I know from a Google Earth check that it has a height restriction :( After a couple of wrong turns down dead end roads we found a couple of great parking spots to access the harbour, I walked down them both to discover large carparks with good access to a large area of Langstone if I could only coincide a visit with wind in the right direction with a good tide! The top carpark looked possible for me to get in as the height barrier was only tied closed with cable ties and rope! We are now heading North so I can pick up a 4.90 Tushingham Mast bought for a good price on Ebay from Basingstoke. I spotted Old Winchester Hill (Archaeology Trail) right on the South Downs Way on our map more or less straight up from Portsmouth which looked easy to find. How wrong we were as we got really lost on tiny South Down lanes many with no road signs or just dead ends:( Eventually back on track and after having to stop for two lovely hares to cross the lane, I spotted 6 paragliders above a hill which turned out to be our destination. The narrow road with passing places lead to the top and for the second time today we were greeted by another height restriction, we just don’t see the point as it forces us to park on the side of the narrow road:( The Archaeology Trail turned out to be a stunning walk around the top of a bowl to a Bronze Age Hill Fort:) A notice board gave an artist’s impression of how it was and the circular earth defensive mound was still completely intact, amazing really as it is 3800 years old! It originally contained about 25 round houses surrounded by the earth mound with a wooden wall on top in a truly magnificent position. We followed the good path suitable for disabled access to the fort and walked most of the wall. The views were out of this world made even better by the warm sunshine. You could clearly see the Solent, Isle of Wight and New Forest one way and beautiful rolling countryside the other with trees of every colour and vibrant fields of still yellow rape, although sadly it is starting to go off. A herd of sheep were keeping the fort well-trimmed and I got some lovely pics. We walked a slightly different way back inside the bowl with paragliders flying overhead, I must admit I do miss it a little:( Stopped briefly to talk to a nice couple out walking their old black dog. Back at the van we wanted somewhere nice for dinner and I spotted Beacon Hill just across the valley and again got lost trying to find it! In the end, we found it - a nice wooded carpark right on the South Downs way just a short walk from the top ideal for our delicious beef sandwiches. Again, we spoke to a nice couple out in their campervan before taking the walk to the top. By this time, it had clouded over and we could see it was raining down near the coast. While we were there two pairs of hikers were walking The South Downs Way and we would love to bike it as it runs from Winchester to Eastbourne but it would be difficult to do without stopping in Guest Houses on the way and that doesn’t sound like us! Setting off north again we were surprised how close Basingstoke was so Mag rang Marcus the mast seller to arrange pick-up. The sat-nav let us down as the post code was new and our device needs upgrading but Marcus helped us find him on the phone and the deal was done. As for the mast, it looks brand new and for the bargain price of £65:) With plenty of daylight left Mag programmed Oxford in and it was only 45 miles away. We turned off at Abingdon-on-Thames trying to find somewhere to park so hopefully we can bike into Oxford on the Thames Path but couldn’t even find the Thames! After a bit of toing and froing we ended up in a small carpark in Lower Radley with the path about a mile away. We think it might be a school carpark so have already packed tomorrow’s picnic and will drive a little closer to the path for an early start:) Photo Gallery Here |
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