Robust Rambles

Section 41

Lower Upham to Colden Common

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

Greatstone to Gillingham Robust Ramble

Section 41  Out

Lower Upham to Colden Common

Map: OS Explorer 119 Meon Valley & 132 Winchester

Distance: 4 miles/ 2 hours

Start: The Alma at Lower Upham. Use pub car park if intending to take refreshment there. Village Hall car park is opposite but permission should be sought if possible.

Comment: Generally a pleasant walk in quiet countryside. However this is horse country and sections of the bridleways are very muddy. There are many stiles, some in poor condition. The last field section on the outskirts of Colden Common is very wet scrubland. It may be due for redevelopment which might improve passage in the long run.

With The Alma pub behind, cross the main road and turn left along the pavement. Pass the houses on your right and keep on along the road to a footpath off right into the corner of a field. Go up the edge of the field with the hedge on your right.

At the top corner, by logs, go through hedge to a T-junction. Turn left along a wide path, along the edge of the wood, for 75 metres. Look for a footpath going off right into the wood (there is a fingerpost here). Follow this path to a woodland access track. Cross this and soon reach a metal kissing gate. Enter a horse paddock and bear left across to a second metal kissing gate.

Through this, continue in the same direction, past stables, to soon reach a stile leading out to a road. Bear right across the road to a footpath up a bank. Turn along this splendid path which runs parallel to the road for some distance.

Eventually reach a T-junction in front of a wood. Here turn left along the top edge of a field with woods on your right. After some distance, reach an open area where the corners of several fields meet. Here bear right through a wide gap and cross an open field to a stile at the far side.

The stile leads to a grassy footpath between wooden fences. Follow for some way. Just before a house pass a footpath going off right. Keep forward to soon zig zag around buildings and reach a wide gravel drive. Turn left along this and wind around to a road.

Turn right on the road and follow down to a Y-fork. Bear left and almost immediately turn left, off the road, onto a bridleway. Ignore the bridleway which goes off right, parallel with the road. Instead walk directly away from the road with a tall fence on your right and a hedge on the left. Keep on this bridleway for some time, passing a zoo on your right. Sections are wet and muddy.

Reach an access road for the zoo. Cross and continue on the bridleway with a fence on your right. Eventually emerge onto a road. Turn right and almost immediately turn right again on another bridleway. Walk up to meet the entrance road to the zoo. Cross and continue uphill on a gravel bridleway.

At the top reach another access road to a car park. Cross and continue through the woods. At a junction of several paths, ignore a bridleway off left. Go forward a few paces, then left up a field entrance to a wooden fieldgate. Go through and on, straight up the field ahead (currently a hay meadow and slow going).

At the top reach a woodland copse. Bear right and then left around the top of this and soon come to a junction with a bridleway. Cross over to two gates. Go through the wooden kissing gate and on down a wide path between fences. At the end go through a wooden kissing gate and on down a wide farm track.

At the bottom pass through stables to reach a road. Turn left on the road a few paces, then right, over a decrepit stile in to a field. Go straight uphill with a hedge on your right. At the top cross a stile by Wooden fieldgate.

Bear diagonally left a cross the next field to a stile in the hedge by a metal fieldgate. Keep on across next field aiming midway between two woods. Reach and cross a double stile in the hedge. Bear right down field to the far bottom corner.

Here cross a stile and footbridge in the hedge and continue down field edge to a metal gate into an enclosed path. Walk down this, crossing a horse access track midway. At the far end reach a stile.

Cross into a rising area of scrubland. This area is very wet with extensive growth of reeds and reedmace. A very feint path goes up across the centre of the scrub heading towards a house at the top end of a caravan park. Follow this feint path very carefully.

By the house at the top cross a stile by a metal fieldgate (the site looks ripe for development or extension of the  caravan park) and go through a gateway to a main road. Turn right up the pavement.

Continue up the road for some way. At the top of the hill cross over the road where there is a refuge in the middle, by bus stops. Go on along the road a little further. Just before the entrance to a caravan sales park, turn left onto a path going away from the road with a fence on your right.

Keep straight down this path, passing caravans on your right, then on, on an enclosed section, to meet a road. Cross and keep on down past allotments to finally emerge onto an unmade road. Turn right and walk down to meet a road at the far end.

Immediately on your left is The Rising Sun at Colden Common and the end of the section.

Greatstone to Gillingham Robust Ramble

Section 41  Return

Colden Common to Lower Upham

Map: OS Explorer 119 Meon Valley & 132 Winchester

Distance: 4 miles/ 2 hours

Start: The Rising Sun at Colden Common. There is a car park here if you are intending to visit, otherwise there is much on road parking.

Comment: This is a mostly pleasant walk with some excellent woodland paths. Inevitably there are wet and marshy sections. In places the path is obscured by new building. There are several stiles.

From The Rising Sun pub, turn back up the unmade road which runs up the side. Keep up to the top, passing allotments. At the end, continue on an enclosed path between fence and hedge, to a road.

Turn left for a few paces, then cross to a footpath through trees. Keep straight on, with a fence on your left. Ignore all side turnings and keep on along a rough unmade path to a cul-de-sac road. Cross and continue down a grassy path.

Reach a main road and turn along it for 10 metres. Turn right and cross to go down an unmade vehicle track opposite. After some distance reach a distinct junction of ways. New building obscures the footpaths here.

Turn right into the entrance to Oakwood Lodge. Cross to a wooden fieldgate into a field. Cross the field to a metal fieldgate. Through this, turn left along the field edge and exit through a gate into a car park. Turn right across the car park to a gate in the bottom corner.

Enter a field and go down the edge towards a distant pylon. Go through a metal fieldgate into an enclosed section. Cross a footbridge. Keep forward, uphill, to a wooden kissing gate at the top.

Through this, turn left (ignoring stiles on your right) along an enclosed path between a wire fence and hedge. At a corner, go through a wooden kissing gate (very muddy).

The route now continues ahead, keeping close to the field edge and wood on your right. However, no path is evident. Do not follow the cattle track swinging away left. The field is wet and marshy. If necessary keep to the higher part of the field and swing back right to a stile and footbridge in the corner at the far end.

Cross and, keeping by the wood edge, drop down to cross a stream, and then up to a footbridge and gate. Keep forward.

Go through two wooden kissing gates and continue along field edges, always with the wood on your right. The going is rough. Ignore a gate into the wood.

Finally pass farm buildings over on your left and reach a wooden kissing gate at the end of all fields and the wood. Go through. Ignore a further gate on your left. Turn right to reach a metal fieldgate on your right at the wood entrance. Do not go through, but turn left onto a wide gravel bridleway.

At a junction, bear left, still on the bridleway, ignoring a footpath off right. Emerge onto a main road by The Fox and House pub. Cross the road to a bridleway opposite.

Keep on this bridleway for over a mile. Halfway along, at the end of an excellent woodland walk, reach an equestrian gate. Ignore a footpath going straight ahead. Instead turn sharp left down the field edge. At a corner soon reached, turn right, still along the field edge, with a wood on your left for some way.

At the bottom corner of the field, leave through an equestrian gate and join a woodland path. Go through another equestrian gate and continue along a field edge with woods on the left.

Go through another equestrian gate into a muddy corner. Turn left, keeping on the bridleway (ignore a footpath going straight ahead). Keep on for some way.

Cross a field entrance by metal fieldgates and keep forward on the grassy bridleway as it winds around a wood. Finally emerge onto a house drive and go down to a road. Turn left and soon reach a junction with a main road.

Cross to a side road opposite, and bear right along it. Where the road swings left, turn right on a byway along the edge of a wood. After some distance, reach the end of the wood and a junction of ways by logs.

Turn right, through the hedge, into a field corner. Go down the field edge with a hedge on your left. Emerge onto a main road. Turn left along the pavement to soon reach the centre of Lower Upham, The Alma pub and the start of the section.