Alresford Walk

On Sunday we left Winchester and drove to Alresford for the start of another walk. Alresford with its wide streets of Georgian houses and stucco ( plaster used for coating or decorating walls), lies in the broad valley of the River Alre, hence the name pronounced Allsford. It is really two places Old Alresford to the north of the river, which is now no more than a village with an adjoining park, and New Alresford, the attractive busy market town to the south which was new in about 1200.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 27/02/2011

• Distance: 4.3 Miles

• Car Park: Fingrith Hall Lane near the Crossroads CM4 0RL

• Refreshments: Leather Bottle & Prince Albert, 2 Tearooms Jericho Cottage & Blackmore Tearooms.

• Photos Taken on Walk

Sitting between the two is Alresford Pond, created by Godfrey de Lucy, Bishop of Winchester, in the 13th century, its dam, the Great Weir, is the largest non military medieval earthwork in England and the only one that still serves this original dual purpose of dam and road causeway and the pond also feeds the famous ancient watercress beds. We started the walk from Broad Street and walked out of the town down Ladywell Lane to join the Alre River where we turned left to follow the river. It's not long before you come to a chocolate box cottage which used to be a Fulling Mill spanning the river built in the 13th century, it used water-driven hammers to work raw cloth into a useable material.river.

Carrying on you come to The Eel House built in the 1820's this where the water runs underneath and they had nets to catch Eel's on moonless autumn nights, as they undertook their once in-a lifetime migration to breed. A little bit further you leave the river and start ascending up where you join the Wayfarers walk, All the time ascending up, you leave the Wayfarers walk and walk to Fobdown farm and from here you get a got view over open countryside with water beds in a valley alongside a stream. Turn right here and head up hill yet again and then finally descend down into Old Alresford. on the walk back to Alresford you go right past a watercress bed and some of the streams you can see wild watercress growing. coming into the town you go past the Town Mill and then as you come into Broad Street to the left is the old fire station built in 1881 and the walk past this you come to Old Alresford Pond but it's more like a lake than a Pond with plenty of wildlife and here you can cross the causeway.

We got back to the car just in time as it started raining heavy, but at least we had a sunny walk, we put our macs on and walk up to the station which is known as the Watercress Line, the Line runs from Alresford to Alton where you can change onto the main line that runs into London, The Watercress Line also has two other stations Ropley and Medstead, the ticket you buy allows you to go up and down the line as much as you like all day. We decided to take the steam train to Alton then have a look round there and get the diesel train back to Ropley to have a look round the engine shed but as it had kept on raining and it was really cold we just settle for going straight back to Alresford, when we got there another steam engine was shunting around the station so I was still able to get some good photos of that.