Wherwell

The weather forecast for the weekend was rain and this afternoon was supposed to be quite nice.   However, looking out of the office window I couldn’t make up my mind whether to chance it or not as one minute the sun was out, but the next there were big black clouds.  About 2pm I decided to chance it and get some fresh air and so went on a walk over near Wherwell – Walk 1956 from the Walkingworld website.

The walk was just over 6 miles long and took me about two and three quarter hours – including quite a few photography stops along the way!  The route is quite varied, taking you through countryside and farms, a couple of villages, a forest and a golf course.

Near the end of the walk you had to go through the paddock of a couple of horses.  One seemed particularly friendly and came trotting over to see me… or should I say smell me as he got so close!  He had lots of whiskers around his nose and blue eyes which seemed quite unusual.

The weather did stay dry, but mostly cloudy.  Although for once I was grateful as it meant I had long trousers on instead of shorts – which was a good thing as a lot of this path was quite overgrown!

More photographs on my Wherwell Flickr set.

East Meon

Deciding to get some fresh air and start the weekend early I went to East Meon today which was the start of Walk 2240 from the Walkingworld website.  The walk starts off in the village which has some really pretty cottages in – had I done this walk on a weekend or earlier in the day it would have been nice to wander round the village for a while, or even stop for a drink in Ye Olde George Inn which looked like a nice pub.  However, I wanted to make sure I was home for dinner time… and know that walks always seem to take me longer than planned because I’m busy taking lots of photographs!

After a short wander through the village the rest of the walk is right out in the countryside, at one point going along the South Downs Way.  I grew up living further East along the South Down’s Way so it is quite fun to think that there is a path all the way from here to ‘back home’.

About half way through the walk there is quite a big hill to climb, but once at the top it was worth it for the view which reached for miles.  Sadly today was a bit overcast so not great for photographs as the skies all just appeared white and blown out when I tried.  At the top of the hill I also spotted some cows and a deer, not to mention lots of butterflies. 

For the latter part of the walk you walk down over open countryside back towards East Meon.  It was a lovely view and made particularly nice by the fact that the sun seemed to be shining just on the village and it looked pretty nestled in the hills.

More photographs from the walk in my East Meon Flickr set.