De-havilland-first-flight-memorial-stone

The Wayfarer's Walk is a

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-co ...

in England from

Walbury Hill Walbury Hill is a summit of the North Wessex Downs in Berkshire, England. With an elevation of , it is the highest natural point in South East England. On the hill's summit is the Iron Age hill fort of Walbury Camp, whilst the flanks of the hill ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, to

Emsworth Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England near the border with West Sussex. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet from the English Channe ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. The north-west end is at the car park on top of Walbury Hill, near the landmark

Combe Gibbet Combe Gibbet is a gibbet at the top of Gallows Down, near the village and just within the civil parish of Combe in Berkshire (formerly Hampshire), England. Location The gibbet is located at , on the Test Way close to the Berkshire-Hampshire bor ...

, and the south-east end is Emsworth town square. The footpath approximates an ancient route that might have been used by drovers taking cattle for export. It passes through the towns of

New Alresford New Alresford or simply Alresford ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is northeast of Winchester and southwest of the town of Alton, Hampshire, Al ...

Droxford Droxford ( Drokensford) is a village in Hampshire, England. Geography The village is clustered with slight ribbon development along its main, north–south, undulating road. It is entirely on the lower half of the western slopes of the Meon ...

, Hambledon,

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England. Nearby places include Portsmouth to the south-west, Southampton to the west, Waterlooville to north, Chichester to the east and Hayling Island to the south. The wider borough ...

and

and the villages of North Oakley, Deane, Dummer,

Brown Candover Brown Candover is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Candovers, in the Basingstoke and Deane district, in the county of Hampshire, England. The village belongs to the parish of the Candovers and its nearest town is New Alre ...

Abbotstone Abbotstone is a hamlet in the United Kingdom in English county of Hampshire. It is located 2 miles from the nearest town, New Alresford, 6 miles from Winchester and 54 miles from London. It lies at an elevation of 67 metres within the district of ...

, Cheriton,

Hinton Ampner Hinton Ampner is a village and country house estate with gardens and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, in the City of Winchester, Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is near New Alres ...

Kilmeston Kilmeston is a small village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire ...

Soberton Soberton is a village in the River Meon, Meon Valley, Hampshire, England, east of the A32 and a few miles south of the village of Droxford. It appears in the Domesday Book as "Sudbertone" or "Sudbertune". For administration, it is in the Hamps ...

, and

Denmead Denmead is a village in Hampshire near Portsmouth, England. It is part of the City of Winchester district. As of 2005, it had a population of 6,457 and an electorate of 4,987. At the 2011 census the population had increased to 6,736. As of 202 ...

. By the path is a memorial to the first flight of

Geoffrey de Havilland Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965) was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer. De Havilland, The aircraft company he founded produced the de Havilland Mosquit ...

. The footpath also passes close to

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natur ...

. The footpath is

waymarked Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

by metal and plastic disks on wooden and metal posts, trees and street furniture, and where this is not possible stickers on lampposts etc. It has also spawned several circular routes that use sections of the main footpath. These are also waymarked. This route is shown as a series of green diamonds on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps and as a series of red diamonds on Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 maps. Walbury Hill is also the start of the

Test Way The Test Way is a long-distance trail, footpath in England from Walbury Hill in West Berkshire to Totton and Eling, Eling in Hampshire, which follows much of the course of the River Test. The northern end of the trail, footpath starts in the ...

and is the start of the

to Overton 16 Mile Trail Race, the first 11 miles of its route being on Wayfarer's Walk.

Places of interest

The following places of interest, hillfort sites and hills can be found along the length of the Walk (listed from southeast to northwest): * Fort Purbrook * The source of the River Itchen * Tidley Hill *

* Ladle Hill and Iron Age hillfort and SSSI * Pilot Hill and Dean Hill *

and the Iron Age hillfort of Walbury Camp * The start of the

Map

These maps show the footpath in relation to nearby major roads. Maps are not on the same scale.

External links

Hampshire County Council information on the Wayfarer's Walk

Wayfarer's Walk
(Long Distance Walkers’ Association)
Overton Harriers & AC
(Combe Gibbet to Overton 16 Route)

(Walking Englishman) {{coord , 51.095, -1.167, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Footpaths in Hampshire Footpaths in Berkshire Long-distance footpaths in England

Places of interest

Map

See also

External links