Whitchurch

Well, what a day we had today. We intended to venture out to the very pretty village of St Mary Bourne, where there are numerous walks and a little village cafe. Unfortunately the weather was against us so we drove to Laverstoke, where we waited in the car in the hope that the rain would ease off.

Laverstoke is a small village in North Hampshire which is perhaps best known as the venue for Carfest South, which takes place at Laverstoke Park Farm (which is owned by ex F1 racing driver Jody Scheckter). It is also the home of the Bombay Sapphire gin distillery which is located at Laverstoke Mill. After the walk we had today a gin and tonic was probably needed, but I digress.

Having sat for about 10 minutes, during which time the rain got heavier, we decided to head to Whitchurch Silk Mill cafe for a cup of tea (and a cheese scone – it was too early for lunch). By the time we’d finished the rain had stopped so we plotted a route from the mill, returned to the car to don our walking boots and collect our sticks and headed off.

Across the road from the Silk Mill we found the footpath and a sign for ‘The Mill Trail’. Our first stop was to look at the River Test from a little bridge, where we spotted quite a few trout in the clear water.

Continuing on the path followed the course of the river. There was a little bit of mud through the trees, but nothing too bad, considering all the rain.

Before long the path opened out into a field and we followed it up hill alongside a field of corn, or maize, or something.

Stopping at the top for a breather and to take in the stunning view from behind us.

As we went through a gate to another field, we could see cows in the distance. It was at this point that we deviated from the planned route, which would have taken us up hill, across the fields before looping back to the start point. However, someone made a suggestion to carry on as the path we were on led to a mill and we could return on the other side of the river. We all agreed it was a good call, especially when we were rewarded by the sight of the lovely Bere Mill.

There is quite some history to the mill, with the construction of a Saxon mill over the River Test in the 9/10th century mentioned in the Domesday Book. Bere Mill was rebuilt in 1712 and leased to Henri Portal for paper making in 1718 (as presumably was the nearby Laverstoke Mill, now home to Bombay Sapphire). In 1724 Henri won a contract to supply bank note paper to the Bank of England. In the late 18th century the mill was converted to a corn mill. It is now privately owned and was largely rebuilt following a fire in 2018.

We found the next footpath and before long we were on the other side of a fence from the cows we had seen earlier, some very impressive Belted Galloway’s.

It was after this point that things started to go wrong. The path became more and more overgrown and we discovered that stinging nettles can sting through jeans and waterproof jackets.

But we could see houses ahead so we ploughed on, only to be faced with probably the wettest, swampiest mud we’d encountered on a walk.

We attempted to find a way round, but no joy so, perhaps foolishly, we decided to carry on. With a very wobbly barbed wire fence on one side and more stinging nettles on the other, I led the way, sinking into the mud with one foot, I could feel the water pouring into my boot and there I stood, literally stuck in the mud. I will admit there was a slight feeling of panic while I tried to work out how to move, but very slowly and carefully we all eventually made it through. We were very muddy, all of us had wet feet, but we made it.

We weren’t quite out of the woods as the path, such as it was, had completely disappeared, to be replaced by more nettles.

Battling on I don’t think any of us have been so happy to reach a road and we squelched our way back to the Silk Mill, paddling in a few puddles along the way to try to get the worst of the mud off our boots.

I would say we all thoroughly deserved our bacon roll and cup of tea.

Back at the car we gingerly unlaced our muddy boots, peeled off our wet socks and rolled up our trousers so we didn’t get too much mud in the car. There were a couple of workmen in vens parked next to us and I hope we cheered up their lunch break. We certainly must have been quite a sight.

Definitely an interesting walk and probably the most challenging, but there was a sense of achievement and relief. I think we might be avoiding Whitchurch for a while (except the Silk Mill cafe as we now have loyalty cards).

I might have to give some careful thought about next week’s route.