Saturday Walkers' Club

Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1

Walk 48 : Whitchurch to Andover

Longparish, thatched cottages & River Test

Length 17 km (10.6 miles), 5 hours. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 9 hours.
OS Landranger Map No.185. Whitchurch, map reference SU 464 489, is in Hampshire, 16km north of Winchester.
OS Explorer Maps Nos.131 and 144.
Toughness 3 out of 10.
Features

This is a longish walk that is neither steep nor particularly liable to mud. Several changes have been made to the walk route and directions since the last edition of the TO Book – some enforced – due to footpath closures and diversions – others desirable, to avoid dangerous crossings of the A303 road. Whilst these new directions alone should be sufficient to get you around the walk’s route, it is advisable to take along the two OS Explorer maps and have a compass to hand, for reassurance.

At lunchtime the walk comes to so many thatched cottages that a visitor to this country might suppose thatch to be the most popular roofing material for English country villages.

The route initially follows the line of a dismantled railway and passes the Church of All Hallows in Whitchurch to go along the River Test – “England’s most famous trout stream”, then on to the village of Tufton, with its interesting church. A new path detour returns you to the route of the dismantled railway as you by-pass Paper Mill Farm (closed footpath). Then on to Longparish where you stop for lunch at one of its two pubs. The church at Longparish, with punishment stocks beside it, is your first stop after lunch. The walk then goes via a hamlet of more thatched cottages along the River Test before it follows a new detour over the A303 road to go up into Harewood Forest, past a vast piggery. A new route then takes you through a tunnel under the A303 before you rejoin the Book’s original route by Bere Hill Farm, to continue on a straight footpath all the way into Andover, with its tearooms, pubs, church and museum.

Just before Longparish is a three storey brick-built working flourmill (Longparish Upper Mill) on the River Test. If you give the owner a call (and some pre-warning: tel. 01264 720344) they may open it up for a guided tour, which is not normally available to the general public. One walker has described it as “fascinating and well worth the detour”
Shortening the walk The first part of the walk is perhaps the more interesting, so you could catch one of the hourly buses to Andover, at lunchtime (after 8km of walking) from the Plough Inn at Longparish: or ‘phone for a taxi from either of the pubs in Longparish.
History

Whitchurch has a working silk mill, still powered by a waterwheel – visiting this involves a 1km detour from the main route. The Mill (tel. 01256 892065) at 28 Winchester Street, is open 10-30 am to 5 pm daily (closed Mondays, but open Bank Holidays). Admission £4. Family ticket £ 9-25.

All Hallows Church , Whitchurch, has Norman arches and pillars with Victorian embellishments, and a gruesome 1602 story picture about those who disobeyed the commandments (for instance, “one stoned for gathering stocks on the Sabbath Day”).

St Mary’s Church, Tufton, has a late Saxon chancel arch and an 800-year-old wall painting of St Christopher, depicted unrealistically so as not to infringe the commandment “Thou shalt not make any graven images”.

Stocks for the punishment of offenders were erected in every village during the reign of Edward III. Those in Longparish are among the few still remaining. The Church of St Nicholas, Longparish, was perhaps used as a stable by Cromwellian troops. It has a stained glass window in remembrance of Major Hawker VC, an air force pilot shot down in 1916.

Andover had its ancient heart of timber-framed buildings removed courtesy of a Greater London Council Town Development Scheme in the 1960s. The town has a museum (tel. 01264 366283) at 6 Church Close, just to the east of the church. It is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, admission free. The church closes at 4 pm. It is made of Caen stone brought up the old canal from France; the stone was wrongly faced so the church is crumbling. George II used to stay at the Danebury Hotel in Andover on the way to his beloved Weymouth. Lord and Lady Nelson also stayed there.
Saturday Walkers Club

Take the train nearest to 09-30 hrs (Salisbury train) from London Waterloo Station to Whitchurch, Hampshire. Journey time about 1hr 05 minutes. Trains back from Andover to Waterloo run twice an hour, weekdays, once an hour at weekends. Rail ticket: buy a day return to Andover.

This walk appears in the TO Book’s rota on the last Saturday in November or first in December – when you have to keep a close eye on the time in order to complete the walk during daylight: slow walkers will struggle to make it.

Thus the walk is more enjoyable in summer, when you can relax over lunch and take your time over the nicer parts of the route without worrying about failing daylight.
Lunch

You have a choice of two pubs for your lunchtime stop in the village of Longparish.

The first you come to is the Cricketers Inn (tel. 01264 720335), which has an extensive menu of main courses, lighter meals (such as ciabattas) and starters to share. Food is served from 12 noon to 2-30 pm daily, in comfortable surroundings, which include a large beer garden. The owners like diners to ‘phone ahead and book: they have been known to refuse to serve walkers turning up on spec, even when tables are available. Note: this pub is closed on Mondays.

Some 20 minutes further into the walk in Longparish you come to the Plough Inn (tel. 01264 720358), which specialises in seafood dishes, with food served between 12 noon and 2-30 pm daily, and all day on Sundays in summer. Groups of six or more are advised to ‘phone ahead to book.
Tea There are several tea shops and many pubs in Andover, but the suggested place is the Copper Kettle (tel. 01264 720335), in Shaws Walk, off the High Street. It is open until 5pm daily, offering cream teas. An alternative is Art and Soul (tel.01264 392436) at 92 Upper High Street, open until 6pm daily.
Travel by Train
  • Out:
  • Back:
Travel by Car

Start: Whitchurch (Hants) Station is near : RG28 7BZ [gmap]

Finish: Andover Station is near : SP10 3HW [gmap]

Return to your car by train:

  • (park at the start) at 4pm
  • (park at the end) at 10am
OS Explorer Map

131 : Romsey, Andover & Test Valley [Amazon]

144 : Basingstoke, Alton & Whitchurch [Amazon]
Revised

This walk was fully revised in : Aug-09

For the walk map, please see the Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Updates

Many updates : use the revised version. [details]
Other Hampshire Walks Netley to Botley, Overton to Whitchurch, Dunbridge to Romsey, Hook to Winchfield,

Walking Instructions 

[Numbers refer to the map]

  1. [1] On exiting Whitchurch Station, go straight ahead, then bear left on Greenwoods cul-de-sac, passing the closed and boarded-up Railway Hotel on your left-hand side, your direction 195°. You come to a car road T-junction with a ten-foot-high railway station sign on your right-hand side.
  2. Turn right downhill , your direction 255°, on Evingar Road. In 200 metres, as the road bends left, turn right downhill on Ardglen Road, your direction 260°. In 100 metres you pass an ambulance station on your left-hand side.
    • At the end of this building, [!] you should not follow the TO Book’s directions by taking the path to the right on the other side of the road, down into allotments, as this is not a public footpath.
    Instead, continue along Ardglen Road, soon passing light industrial premises on your left, then on your right. This road ends in a cul-de-sac, but 90 metres before the dead-end, turn right, your direction west, and in 25 metres go through a metal barrier on to a tarmac path. In 35 metres you come out onto Bloswood Drive – where you turn left - to rejoin the TO Book’s directions.
  3. You pass a row of bungalows on the right-hand side and in a 160 metres you come to a car road T-junction [2].
  4. Cross straight over the road and cross a stile in a wooden fence to the right of a wooden barrier and locked wooden field gates. Take the left of two signposted public footpaths. In 15 metres you go over a stile and follow the direction of the yellow arrow, half right towards a field exit, at 165° from you, which adjoins the embankment of the disused railway line.
  5. In 200 metres go through a metal swing gate and onwards, uphill on an earth and gravel path, with the embankment on your left-hand side, and a fence to a new housing development on your right. In 25 metres you pass on your left-hand side a pedestrian tunnel under the embankment.
  6. In 35 metres the path goes up on to the embankment and straight on, with the old railway station (now a private house and garden) behind a fence on your left-hand side. In 45 metres the path swings left, then right, and now has a tarmac surface. In a further 15 metres you come out to a T-junction with a new cul-de-sac (Park View). Here turn left, and in 25 metres you come to a T-junction with a main road (Wells Lane).
  7. Turn right on Wells Lane (by a house called The Mount), gently downhill, your direction 190°. In 180 metres you come to a road junction (The B3400), with All Hallows Church, Whitchurch, on your left-hand side.
  8. The main route turns left here but if you are in a hurry to get to lunch, the following short cut takes you direct to the village of Tufton.
    • Short Cut : turn right on the B3400 and go under the bridge of the dismantled railway then under the bridge of the A34 road. Either take the permissive path on your left or keep on up this road, in a southerly direction. In 320 metres along this road, as it bends to the right, take the footpath ahead – which can be overgrown in summer. Continue down this path for 200 metres, until it comes out into a meadow. Bear half left and head for the embankment of the dismantled railway. Cross a stile and walk along the bottom edge of the embankment before you follow footpath directions up and over the embankment, and down to cross the river on a footbridge, to come out past Manor Farm in Tufton, to turn right on to the new footpath – to continue with the main directions at [B] below.
  9. Main route : turn left along the B3400 beside All Hallows Church, and in 90 metres you come to the entrance to the church on your left-hand side. After visiting the church continue along the road in the same direction as before.
    • If at this point you wish to detour to the Silk Mill, continue on this road for 450 metres and then turn right – the fourth turning – at a roundabout on to a road for 150 metres. Coming out of the Mill, continue on this road and in 1km rejoin the main route at [A] below.
  10. Continuing on the main route, in 20 metres the road swings to the left just past St Cross House on the right-hand side. Here turn right on a signposted footpath, a car-wide track between walls, your direction 130°.
  11. In 85 metres you come to the river where you veer right with the path, now with the clean River Test (only about 8 km from its source in Overton) on your left-hand side. Keep on this riverside path, with a fence on your right-hand side and in 400 metres, as you approach Fulling Mill ahead of you, cross over a concrete bridge with wooden railings.
  12. 15 metres beyond the end of the bridge, you pass the entrance to Fulling Mill on your right-hand side. Here turn left over a concrete bridge with wooden hand rails and immediately turn right, to continue straight on, your path parallel and 10 metres to the left of your previous path, your direction 140°.
  13. In 20 metres cross a concrete slab bridge with a wooden handrail on its right-hand side and keep ahead on a grassy path, your direction 120°. In 20 metres go over a grassy path crossing and soon pass a Meadow Sluice Notice Board on your left-hand side.
  14. You now cross this “Millennium Greens” project which is regenerating this meadow from its previous wasteland state. In 30 metres cross a concrete slab bridge and keep ahead on the grassy path. In a further 70 metres make for a wooden kissing gate to exit the meadow and come out on to a tarmac road, where you turn right, your direction 210°.
  15. [A] - The route from the Silk Mill rejoins here. In 165 metres turn right on a crescent drive towards houses. In 65 metres you pass the rebuilt Ivy Cottage on your right-hand side.
  16. In a further 65 metres go over a signposted stile to your right (half hidden by a cypress tree) to continue on, your direction 200° – not in the direction shown by the signpost, but diagonally, half-left, in 240 metres coming to the furthest corner of the field. Note: this field tends to be overgrown with nettles in summer – so wear trousers.
  17. Go over a stile (with a metal fieldgate to its left-hand side) and in 30 metres you come out on to a road where you turn right, in 30 metres going under a bridge (and so under the A34), your direction 220°. 20 metres past the bridge, turn right on a signposted footpath, your direction 320°.
  18. In 40 metres, by a metal fieldgate to your left-hand side, carry on along a narrow path between fences, your direction 350°. In 130 metres, follow the path to the left, your direction now 255°. In 100 metres the field on your right ends and you keep ahead along a path with a hedge on your right. In 70 metres, at the end of the path and just before a private property, go over the stile on your right-hand side.
  19. Go left on a surfaced driveway, your direction 240°, in 20 metres coming to a churchyard on your right-hand side and in a further 30 metres a phone box on your left-hand side. [3] Here you turn right on the road, your direction 320°, passing St Mary’s Church, Tufton on your right-hand side (well worth a look inside).
  20. Coming out of the church, [!] you now appear to have a choice of route ahead.
    • The last TO Book route has you turning left on the road, passing the surfaced driveway which you came up on, on your left, to continue along the road, your direction 140°. You are now faced with some 840 metres of road walking if you continue on this route, as follows: in 170 metres at a road junction, turn right, your direction 240°. In a further 670 metres the road comes down to a junction with a road on your right signposted to Hurstbourne Priors. The recommended (new footpath) route from St Mary’s Church joins the road route here at [C].
  21. The recommended (new footpath) route : from the church, turn right along the road which heads towards Manor Farm. At the farm, the road swings left and in 150 metres you pass on your right-hand side a two-armed finger post with a path on your right leading to a footbridge. [B] [!] This is the footbridge crossed when taking the short cut route from All Hallows Church, Whitchurch [!].
  22. In 35 metres follow the Hampshire County Council (HCC) footpath post left, up through a metal kissing gate, to turn right along a field edge with the embankment to the dismantled railway on your right-hand side, your initial direction 230°.
  23. This new footpath follows the railway embankment for the next 600 plus metres. In 325 metres pass through a field boundary and keep ahead, your direction 200°, keeping beside the fence and field edge on your right. In a further 300 metres the field comes to an end and you turn left along its bottom edge.
  24. In 80 metres turn right through a metal kissing gate and in 20 metres drop down to the road junction, where turning right heads to Hurstbourne Priors and Paper Mill Farm, and the road ahead heads towards Longparish. [C] [!] The road route from St Mary’s Church, Tufton, joins here [!].
    • Do not turn right down the road as the footpath through Paper Mill Farm is now closed [!].
  25. [!] Instead, you have another choice of route ahead: the direct route takes you up the road in the direction of Longparish, bearing 215°, until in 600 metres the former route from Paper Mill Farm joins you from the right.
    1. The new Hampshire County Council (HCC) footpath: dropping down to the road junction, cross the road and turn right through a metal kissing gate, to turn half right between new saplings, your direction due south. In 80 metres pass through the fenceline to turn right along a field edge, your direction 225°. You now follow HCC footpath signs across a number of fields, soon turning left (inland) before turning right to keep ahead (southwards), until after some 900 metres you come to a farm track (Firgo Lane), where you turn right, to join the road route beside Garden Cottage.
    2. The road route: from the junction with the Paper Mill Farm track on your right-hand side, you keep ahead along this road, your direction now 210°. In 400 metres you pass Firgo Lane (where the HCC footpath route rejoins), then Garden Cottage on your left-hand side.
  26. In a further 100 metres you pass the rather beautiful Britwell Priors and garden on your left-hand side [In 1927 a colonel and his wife had these timber-framed farm cottages moved here from Oxfordshire, with – in those days – unhealthy water piped in directly from the River Test: at the cottages’ previous site, the well came up into the dining room].
  27. Some 60 metres past the front gate of Britwell Priors [4], [!] fork right on a signposted footpath, your direction 235°, going through 3 wooden posts to go along a path through brush heading down to the river below on your right-hand side. In 400 metres you come out on to a tarmac road and turn right to follow it alongside the river, your direction 280°.
  28. In 145 metres, fork left with the road, ignoring a path to the right leading to a footbridge. You now have a shallow stream on your right-hand side.
  29. In 325 metres, by a mini-weir and a farmhouse to the right-hand side, follow your road over a bridge with white railings, and in 45 metres go over a second such bridge, with the farmhouse and old mill closer now on your right-hand side. In 20 metres go over a third (smaller) bridge with white railings.
  30. At the far end of the millhouse, the road swings right to cross a bridge over a weir. Do not cross this bridge but keep ahead, in 5 metres going through a gap to continue on the path, with the river on your right-hand side, your direction 315°.
  31. In 80 metres go over a wooden bridge with wooden railings and at its end go through a wooden kissing gate. Follow the direction of the yellow arrow on the gatepost and in 50 metres go through a wooden kissing gate to continue with the field fence on your right-hand side, due west. In 100 metres go over a wooden bridge with railings in the middle of a field, past the moderately imposing Longparish House (marked on the OS map) away on your right-hand side.
  32. In 80 metres go through a wooden kissing gate and on to a 40-metre-long wooden bridge between wooden railings (the bridge can be slippery), over the River Test, and through another wooden kissing gate at the end of the bridge. Now head for the wooden kissing gate to the right of a stile less than100 metres ahead of you, your direction 260° – in the direction of the thatched buildings beyond. Once through the kissing gate, continue across the grass towards the thatched buildings, your direction still 260°.
  33. In 130 metres your path bends right, hugging the field edge on your right-hand side, and in a further 90 metres you exit the field through a wooden kissing gate and keep ahead, in 20 metres coming out on to the B3048 road, by the thatched Yew Cottage.
  34. Turn left on this B road, your direction 225°, and in 30 metres you pass a Londis Convenience Store on your right-hand side and in a further 25 metres you come to the Cricketers Inn pub, Longparish, on your left-hand side (the first of your possible lunch stops). 130 metres past the pub, and by Little Newton thatched cottage on your left-hand side and Aston thatched cottage on your right, [!] you turn right up a driveway (that runs to the left of Aston Cottage), your direction 315°.
  35. In 40 metres, by a garage shed, go left on a clear grassy footpath, your direction 240°, with the field edge now on your left-hand side. In 385 metres ignore a wooden kissing gate on your left-hand side to continue straight on. In a further 155 metres go through a wooden kissing gate (a metal fieldgate to its right-hand side) to continue straight on, across a field, in 100 metres passing a long wooden shed on your left-hand side, then a house. In 50 metres go through a metal kissing gate to come out on to a tarmac road, where you turn left, your direction 130°.
  36. In 10 metres [!] turn right on a signposted footpath (opposite Lower Farm House), passing the front gardens to a terrace of houses on your right-hand side, your direction 205°. In 60 metres go through a high wooden panel gate and turn left around the edge of a soccer pitch, then right. In a further 60 metres – and directly behind one of the goals – turn left through a gap in the hedge, your direction 145°. Follow the path ahead through trees and in 25 metres you come out into the car park of the Plough Inn. The entrance to the pub is some 30 metres ahead on your right-hand side. This is your second lunch pub option.
  37. Coming out of the pub, turn right on the main road, opposite a bus shelter, your direction 210°. In 150 metres, as the road swings to the right, fork left, your direction 235°, on the driveway now shared with the new Longparish Church of England Primary School – on your left – and the Church of St Nicholas, Longparish. In 70 metres you go through the lychgate into the churchyard – but before going through the gate, note the punishment stocks 3 metres to its right.
  38. Take the left fork through the churchyard, passing the entrance to the church on your right. Leave the churchyard by the far (western) lychgate and pick up the clear, grassy footpath going right (past a thatched barn on your right-hand side), your direction 255°. In 90 metres you go through a wooden kissing gate and continue on, across a field, with the river over to your left.
  39. Follow the line of telegraph poles and in 225 metres go through a wooden kissing gate following the Test Way long-distance path (a TW green arrow) to the left, on a tarmac road, your direction 215°. Your onward route follows these Test Way green arrows until para 55 below.
  40. In 30 metres you pass a large building (Buckclose House) on your right-hand side, and soon a haven of more thatched cottages. 440 metres further along this tarmac road, it swings to the right, with a farm track ahead leading to Forton Farm Cottages and Lyewoods.
  41. [!] You now follow the TW detour to avoid a dangerous crossing of the A 303 road. [!]. Follow the TW detour sign right, gently uphill, your direction 310°.
  42. In 200 metres, at the top of the hill, you come to a T-junction with another road. Cross over and go through a wooden kissing gate, to follow the TW sign across a large field, your direction due west, initially downhill. In 75 metres go under electricity pylons and now keep ahead up the other side of this field. In 150 metres, at the far side of this field, by a footpath post, follow the TW sign left, your direction 145°, on a broken-surfaced farm track.
  43. In 40 metres cross a stile to the left of a pair of metal fieldgates and in 25 metres you come to a T-junction with a road. Turn right, your direction due west, and follow the road as it swings around to the left, in 120 metres going over the A303 road on a road bridge.
  44. On the far side of the bridge, ignore the turning right into Harewood Forest Industrial Estate, and continue down the road as it bends to the left. In 80 metres you come down to a T-junction with the B3048 road – where you turn right – signposted to Wherwell (there is also a TW sign on your right).
  45. Stay on this road, uphill, and in 160 metres, at the top of the hill, you pass Smallwood Lodge on your right-hand side ([!] You are now back on the TO Book route). In 100 metres as the road descends and swings left, turn right off the road at a footpath and TW sign beside a sign to Pachington Copse and Middleton & Portway Estate, on to a surfaced road, your direction 295°.
  46. In 20 metres you pass through the old railway embankment into Harewood Forest (so marked on the OS map). In a further 20 metres, by a Pachington Copse sign, keep ahead
    • ([!] the road to the left is now marked “Private” and is no longer the TO walk route [!]).
  47. In 25 metres turn left on a gravel track and in a further 15 metres go through a metal fieldgate, to turn right up a concrete track, your direction 310°, following TW signs, gently uphill. In 125 metres the track swings to the left.
  48. In 50 metres you pass 2 large blue coloured circular tanks on your left-hand side. In 15 metres you pass 2 silos at the end of a piggery shed. In 50 metres as the track turns sharply to the left [!] you follow the arrow on a post directly ahead, your direction 240°, into Harewood Forest.
  49. Follow green arrows on trees through the wood and in 275 metres pass to the right of a metal fieldgate to come out on to a concrete track, where you turn right, your direction 260°. ([!] You are now back on the TO Book route [!]) Now follow green TW arrows on posts as the concrete track starts to descend and then swings to the right.
  50. In 270 metres you pass on your right-hand side the first of 3 large piggery sheds – in turn nos, 4, 5 and 6, each with a feed silo attached to its end with Calor gas tanks to the side. After the last of these sheds (shed no.6), you continue straight on, your direction 290°, following a TW sign on a post on your left-hand side, as the path enters woodland.
  51. In 130 metres you come to a junction of paths, just after a metal cable barrier which you need to walk around. Continue straight on, taking the middle path, following a footpath sign, your direction 255°. In 35 metres you pass to the left of a metal gate across a car-wide track.
  52. Keep ahead, following TW arrows, through the forest, and in 480 metres you come to a track crossroads, with a footpath post on your left-hand side. Here you leave the Test Way and [!] turn right, a car-wide concrete track, your direction due north.
  53. In 150 metres you come to a fork in the concrete roads and you take the left fork (the five-foot concrete pillar by the right fork has now lost its top two feet), your direction 330°. Now progress steadily uphill on this concrete track and after 800 metres you come to a crossroads of tracks and paths.
  54. ([!] We are now going to detour from the route in the TO Book and take a new route through the remainder of Harewood Forest in order to avoid the second dangerous crossing of the A303 road [!] ).
  55. At the crossroads, do not turn left – as per the TO Book route – but instead cross over and take the grassy track opposite, passing to the right of a circular drum tank, your direction due north. This track can be muddy in winter.
  56. Continue ahead, between Furzy Croft Copse on your left and Popple Hill Copse on your right. In 220 metres the track merges with a gravel track and swings to the right, your direction now 20°. Keep ahead, and in 90 metres you come to a crossroads. Here you turn left, on a gravel track with grass down its middle, gently uphill, your direction 260°.
  57. In 380 metres, just before the end of the wood, you come a T-junction of tracks. [!] Here turn left on the concrete drive and in 10 metres [!] take the faint path to your right, your direction 245°. In 30 metres you exit the wood and come out on to a gravel track, with large open fields now in front of you.
  58. Turn right on this gravel track and head gently uphill towards Cowdown Farm Buildings, your direction 350°. In 400 metres, just before the farm buildings, turn left with the track and come down on to Cowdown Lane.
  59. Turn right on the lane and in 100 metres [!] turn left off the lane on a clear car-wide track, initially downhill, your direction 350°, towards the A303 road. In 320 metres the path swings to the left and levels out as you approach the road. In a further 280 metres, at the end of the field, beside the embankment of the A303 road, turn left along the bottom edge of this field
  60. In 110 metres pass to the right of a metal fieldgate and head down a surfaced track, in 65 metres turning right under a bridge carrying the A303 road above.
  61. On the far side of the bridge turn left, uphill, up the track. At the end of the track, you are faced with a number of path options. [!] Take the grassy track half left, your direction 310°, with a hedgerow soon on your right-hand side. In 60 metres pass under telegraph wires and keep ahead, gently uphill.
  62. In 360 metres, at the top of the incline, as the hedge on your right ends, the track turns left and heads towards Bere Hill Farm, your direction now 225°. In 170 metres the track comes to a field boundary which you pass through, to continue ahead now on a grassy path.
    • Note: the alternative grassy path heading half right leads down to the metal pipe stile in your route at [D] but this path is not an official right-of-way.
  63. In 120 metres turn right on a path which swings left around the outbuild­ings of Bere Hill Farm. (Note: [!] you are now back on the TO Book’s route [!] ). In 50 metres, just before the field boundary, turn right downhill, with a fence on your left-hand side, your direction 320°.
  64. In 120 metres, at the bottom left-hand corner of the field, you cross over an unusual metal pipe stile with metal footplates [D], and go over a footpath to continue straight on, down steps, following a footpath sign, your direction 320°.
  65. Keep straight on all the way down to the main road (Eastern Avenue). In more detail: ignore all ways off and in 125 metres you have allotments on your left-hand side and a playing field to your right – on the far side of a hedge. At the end of the allotments go down a path between hedges and in 60 metres you come to a tarmac estate road and cross it, your onward path now visible for some distance ahead.
  66. In 40 metres go through concrete bollards and in 60 metres cross an estate road: the sign on your left tells you that this is Dene Path. In 200 metres cross a road and keep ahead. In a further 80 metres Dene Path comes to an end, but you continue straight on, along a tarmac road towards the church soon visible in the distance. In 100 metres your road (Dene Road) comes to an end at a T-junction with Eastern Avenue.
  67. Cross Eastern Avenue by the lights to your right and go down London Street (slightly to the left on the other side of Eastern Avenue), past the Life Cinema, Café & Bar on your left-hand side, and in 100 metres passing the Forresters Arms pub on your left-hand side.
  68. In 30 metres, turn right into the High Street, in 50 metres, turning left under the archway of Shaws Walk to the Copper Kettle, which is the suggested tea place.
  69. Coming out of the Copper Kettle, you return to the High Street via the archway and turn left, carrying on uphill, towards the church, taking the slightly right-hand fork in the High Street which passes to the right of the Lower Guildhall.
  70. At the top of the hill you pass the Angel pub on your left-hand side and you continue ahead, now slightly downhill. In 60 metres you come to a Norman arch on your right-hand side, with steps up to the church. To visit Andover museum, turn right at the church to get to Church Close, then left to the museum at 6 Church Close.
  71. To get to the railway station, however, [!] turn left into Chantry Street, just 15 metres before the church. Carry on down this road and in 100 metres cross the junction with West Street on your left and and turn right into Andover Leisure Centre. At the end of the centre turn left down its flank wall, pass the pond on your right to turn right in front of the courthouse buildings. At their far end, with Cricklade College and Theatre ahead of you, turn left down the flank wall of the courthouse.
  72. Keep ahead to go over the river and under the underpass. In 60 metres at a T-junction with a car road, go right, following the pedestrian sign to the station, your direction 315°.
  73. In 40 metres turn left up Bishopsway. In 400 metres, at a T-junction, turn left uphill on Cross Lane, and in 20 metres you fork right for Andover Station, now visible ahead. Go under the tunnel for trains to London (platform 1).