Robust Rambles

Section 48

Whiteparish to Downton

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

Greatstone to Gillingham Robust Ramble

Section 48  Out

Whiteparish to Downton

Map: OS Explorer 131 Romsey and 130 Salisbury

Distance: 6.5 miles/ 3.5 hours

Start: The Parish Lantern pub with car parking for patrons.

Comment: A typical walk in the area with long climbs up large fields and many good views across to Salisbury. This outward section is a good walk with few problems or stiles. The major warning is for the crossing of the A36 which is very busy and the traffic fast; do not take risks. There were major problems on the return section. Please carry secateurs. This is a long walk so allow plenty of time for hill climbs and overgrown paths.

With the Parish Lantern pub behind turn left along the main road. Pass the church, the village shop and The King’s Head pub. Just past Newton Lane on the left , turn right, up between houses to a narrow path enclosed between fences.

Cross a drive and continue uphill to a stile into open country, the path is still enclosed between wire fences for some way.

Eventually wind through a clump of bushes and emerge into the bottom corner of a field, go ahead up the edge with hedge on your left.

At the top of the field, bear left, back into an enclosed path between hedge and wire fence.

At Whelpley Farm keep right of all buildings on wide gravel tracks (These may be permissive but they are clearly waymarked).

Reach a T-junction well past the farm, turn left then, shortly, right to a metal fieldgate.

Here turn left, off the gravel track, down towards trees, then right on the original route of the footpath.

Emerge into a field and go forward down the edge. At the bottom cross a farm track and keep forward, up the next field edge with fence and trees on your left.

At the very top, after a long climb, go forward on a path into woods. Keep forward (left at Y-fork) and soon drop down to a T-junction with a stony byway. Turn left on this for ¾ mile. Excellent views halfway along including Salisbury Cathedral.

Reach the end and emerge on the very busy A36, cross – taking however long it takes – to a byway opposite into woods.

At a Y-fork keep left. Follow track down passing a tall aerial and a reservoir. Keep on down to a T-junction with a cross track. Turn left on this for 10 metres, then right, downhill on another broad gravelly farm track. Keep down this track for ½ mile. Ignore tracks off left and keep on downhill.

Near the bottom, where the track begins to swing right, bear off left on a grassy track into bushes. Soon reach a metal kissing gate by a metal fieldgate and go on along the top of downs.

Keep on for a good distance with great views. Eventually at the highest point reach a metal kissing gate by a seat. Go through and turn left downhill.

At the bottom go through a metal barrier onto a country road and wind uphill for some way. Pass Down House and reach a corner with a road coming in from the left.

Here a sign shows a bridleway off right. This is completely overgrown and impassable. Instead, follow the dog walkers and go on a few paces. Turn right into a field corner and follow the field edge parallel with the path on your right.

At the far corner exit through a gap onto a country road. Turn right and follow the road around and on in the direction as before. Sadly this road is the haven of flytippers and is in a disgusting condition.

Continue to the end (and a static caravan site). Turn left on an enclosed path by the side of a paddock (still full of rubbish). In a short distance turn right into an excellent enclosed path with overarching branches and no rubbish at all ! Keep on this pleasant path for ¼ mile, finally through houses to emerge onto a road, The Sidings, where once there was the old railway station.

Cross the road and go ahead down an enclosed alleyway by a concrete bollard. This comes out into a side road between houses and then reaches a T-junction with a road called Barford Lane.

Turn left, past Hamilton House on the left to soon reach the main road through Downton. Turn right to reach the Wooden Spoon pub and end of section.

Greatstone to Gillingham Robust Ramble

Section 48  Return

Downton to Whiteparish

Map: OS Explorer 131 Romsey and 130 Salisbury

Distance: 6.5 miles/ 3.5 hours

Start: The Wooden Spoon pub in Downton; some on road parking; Google shows two car parks one at the Moot

Comment: Some long climbs on this return and a long woodland section. Many really appalling stiles with vegetation adding to the problem so take secateurs. Farm rubbish and improvised gates don’t help. Ultimately it might be necessary to climb metal fieldgates, although this is easier than some of the stiles. The A36 has to be crossed again. Allow plenty of time for long hill climbs and difficult stiles.

With The Wooden Spoon pub behind, turn left up the main road. Soon turn first left into Barford Lane. Pass Hamilton House on your right and immediately turn right up a rough side road.

This soon becomes an enclosed footpath. Reach a T-junction with a road at the top. Turn left along the road.

At the end of the road, go ahead up an enclosed path. Bear left at a metal kissing gate and continue up the side of the field with hedge on your right.

Go through a metal kissing gate at the top corner and into a further field and on down the side.

At bottom continue forward on a farm track up between long sloping fields. At the top meet and cross a cross track and continue forward.

Reach trees and bear right down the side, keeping close to the bushes and trees on our left. Go through bushes at the bottom and continue to metal fieldgates.

Emerge onto a road by an old railway bridge. Cross and continue along a field edge with the railway on your left.

Go through s hedge and continue on a wide enclosed path towards buildings. Finally exit onto a road. Turn right for ¼ mile.

Where it swings sharp right at a lodge, go straight ahead up a farm drive (ignore two byways off left).

Follow the drive uphill, passing trees on your right at the top, then across open fields ignore a track coming down from the right. Go on, passing a track off left downhill. Go forward to pass a prettily renovated farmhouse.

Continue on a grassy track through trees, then on down the side of a field. In the far corner go through the hedge to meet a cross path in trees.

Turn right on this path through woods for over a mile. After some way reach a T-junction with a farm track. Turn left a few paces, then right, back on the path through woods.

Eventually the path leaves the wood and continues on down a field edge. After a straight section the field edge swings right then left towards woods. Look very CAREFULLY here on your right for a gap in the hedge on the right leading to a track up through trees. THIS IS BEFORE THE FIELD CORNER AHEAD AND MAJOR WOODLAND.

Turn right through the gap and then bear left on a wide track up through trees for some way. Finally exit through a wooden fieldgate to go down through houses to meet a road at Titchbourne.

Turn left on the road a few paces to reach a stile. The path from this stile is very poor. If it proves a major problem the only alternative is to go back and continue up the road for 1 ½ miles to Newton. Cross the A36 and continue up Newton Lane into Whiteparish.

Otherwise cross the stile and go up the field edge to a corner. Follow the edge down left to a corner. There should be access here into the field beyond the hedge but it is not apparent. Continue down the field edge looking for any way through.

If none is found reach the bottom corner and go through to a farm track and turn left over a bridge (if you can get through an improvised barbed wire barrier, it is not actually locked).

Turn right on a farm track down to a farm ahead. Pass through buildings to a T-junction in the farm yard. Turn left. Just past the last building look for a broken stile on the right into a pasture.

Go down past a telegraph pole to a second broken stile by a gateway and continue up the next pasture with hedge on your right to a third broken stile and gateway. Go straight across the open pasture beyond to a broken stile by an old metal fieldgate into woods at the far side.

Cross into woods and go up to meet a cross track. Turn left on this and follow it for a good distance around a huge quarry. The path has been diverted but is clearly signed and fenced.

Finally drop down a bank to meet the A36. Again, cross with patience and care. Do not go through the gap in the hedge immediately opposite (it leads to a garden), but turn left a few paces to a farm entrance.

Here there is a stile into a paddock. Cross diagonally left to the far opposite corner. Here improvised gates form a rough barrier which may involve climbing a fieldgate.

The narrow path beyond is appalling with vegetation and old farm waste, it is a miserable area, of course ending in a broken stile.

Emerge into the corner of a series of paddocks, Go down by hedge on left to a broken stile into the next paddock and on down to a corner, ignore a cross path, and go forward through  metal kissing gate then on across a large pasture to a second metal kissing gate and on up through farm buildings to a stile out to a road,

Turn right on the road back through Whiteparish past pub, shop and church to reach the Parish Lantern and start of the section.