This year due to the heavy rainfall patterns that we have been experiencing has meant that many of our walks have been met by somewhat muddy stretches at times. This weekend’s walk surely tops the lot for mud. It was also the first time in a long while that we had bouts of water logging to overcome.
A few of us took the train to the start point in Hook, changing at Basingstoke along the way. Most, however, took to cars and we gathered at the car park in the north side of Hook station. We had twelve of us today which included a couple of people returning for their second walk (lets hope they decide to join our merry group!) and a guest appearance by a good friend and ex committee member who now walks with the Berkshire Weekend Walkers.
We set off in a southerly direction crossing carefully the B3349 into Hook Common. The Common, part of which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest is made up of much heath land and home to many invertebrates and wildflowers.
I decided to take a slightly different route to which I chose on my reccy; my navigational skills were playing up slightly then but thankfully we were okay today. Progress was slow due to the mud, something which we would get used to throughout the day.
The M3 motorway, which runs from Sudbury in Surrey to Southampton, greeted us with much traffic. Whoever invented bridges is a genius and even better for us we had one to utilise to negotiate this major road artery. With the sun breaking through we continue through Hook Common and Bartley Heath, with myself keeping eyes peeled as it was very easy to miss the turning that we needed to take into the open countryside.
We progressed towards Lodge Farm, which we would revisit later on the hike, and beyond to Potbridge Farm. If truth be told, the mud had pretty much eased off at this point but our progress was hindered a little by some awkward and slightly clumsy stiles. Kissing gates are always my own personnel preference.
Following a small section on a hard concrete we entered the second Common of the day, this time Odiham Common. Commons can sometimes be a little bit tricky to navigate as you are allowed to walk anywhere within them and subsequently it is often less obvious to pick the required route. In this instance I knew we were okay if we progressed parallel to the main road. On the way through we stopped briefly for one of several drink stops today and Matt kindly shared a tub of mini bites with the group. A sensible choice as it would be a later lunch stop than usual, nearer 1pm so it was nice to have something to nibble on. Thanks Matt.
Odiham Common behind us we traversed a few other footpaths and headed to Basingstoke canal, not without some alarm as at one stile it has been left somewhat waterlogged. We arrived at the canal where I knew we could make quicker progress and I was conscious of the fact peoples tummies were starting to rumble!
Basingstoke Canal was built at the end of the 18th Century to link up with the River Thames and allow boats to travel from the docks in East London to Basingstoke. It was very peaceful and as one person remarked, the canal was incredibly clear. No sign of an abandoned shopping trolley in sight. Before long we arrived at our lunch stop at Odiham Castle. Since I did the reccy late in 2015 a tree had come down within the boundaries of the castle and this made for a good spot to sit down and tuck into our picnic lunches.
The small ruined Odiham Castle – sometimes known as King John’s Castle – was built with two stories and contained a square moat once upon a time. It is perhaps most famous for being considered as the likely point where King John headed off to Runnymead to sign the Magna Carta in 1215.
Having spent a few minutes looking round we retraced some of our footsteps to the swing bridge and turned right to head for a quick drink stop in North Warnbrough at a pub I – and quite possibly our group – had never frequented before. We sat outside in the garden; it wasn’t too cold although the sun was beginning to hide behind the clouds. We were in the company of some chickens but everyone else was inside.
We continued on but I would make a fateful error as missed the planned turning. At the time it was easy to correct and for the second time we re-traced our footsteps along the Canal. However, we turned off and to our dismay greeted with one of the muddiest, wettest fields we had encountered for many a year. Progress was very slow.And that is putting it mildly to say the least. To complicate matters a rider on horseback within a nearby compound was perhaps surprised by our group’s appearance in the mud bath and politely requested that we made conversation to quell the horse’s nerves. To be honest, that was very tricky as we had to take great care in traversing through this field, especially with barbed wire present. Thankfully we coped with it all and no casualties to report! We were starting to think when it (the mud) ever end.
After a short rest bite, which included saying hello to a few Highland Cattle nearby, the mud would return. At times we used our initiative through a wood to get past the mud but what were almost as evil were the brambles! Eventually, we arrived at the M3 motorway again and we were on the homeward stretch. The last mile or so, to the group’s relief, was entirely on concrete without a hint of any mud in sight and before long we were back at Hook Station.
During the walk we had made one or two small diversions to the planned route that may have made the mileage nearer nine miles to the advertised eight. However, as we did not conclude the walk until 3.45pm having started at 10.30am today’s walk must be one of the slowest walks I have been on with the group. It will certainly be a walk that we won’t forget in a while. As usual everyone seemed to enjoy the day despite the odd obstacle to overcome.
Due to the thirty minute wait for the train there was even time for me to have a second pint of the day at the pub next to the station.