Start point – Salisbury, End point – Broughton, Distance – 11 miles, Difficulty – moderate
https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/countryside/walking/clarendonway
So here it is, the beginning of our long distance walks – starting with a not-so-long one! And looking back at the photos, it feels like a lifetime ago. The Tribe all look so terribly young and there is a big hole where the Eldest should have been. I’m so glad that we started though – our current walk, The Pilgrim’s Way, is rather longer and it is definitely more challenging to get everyone involved but the fact that they still want to be involved and walk together, makes me very, very happy. Anyway, enjoy!
At the start of our decision to embark on a long walk, we agree to begin with a relatively short tramp at just over 26 miles according to the documentation, although when you track it, it comes out at somewhat higher mileage than that! The route runs from Salisbury Cathedral to Winchester Cathedral crossing beautiful chalk downs, through pretty Hampshire villages and past fascinating historical buildings. It is well marked and a great long distance walk to start with. Our first leg took us from the Wiltshire start in the city of Salisbury to the pretty Hampshire village of Broughton. You may notice in the photographs that the Boy is carrying rather a large backpack for a day tramp – the reason is that he used the time to practice for his Gold Duke of Edinburgh award. We don’t usually travel with that much stuff!
We picked a sunny day in early July 2020 to start, as Covid restrictions were lifted, and headed to Broughton to drop one car off at the end of the walk before parking the other car in Salisbury. Public transport can be used but as we had two cars and the Littlest was still quite little, we decided to use both cars. Having parked one car at the end of this leg of the route and the other in the city, the route itself actually begins at Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral is stunning and well worth a visit – I have a separate post on it. Outside the majestic building is Cathedral Close, an area of over 80 acres and a wonderful retreat from the bustling streets of the city. There are also works of art in the grounds. Just a beautiful place. The travel writer Bill Bryson, in his book Notes from a Small Island, wrote, “There is no doubt in my mind that Salisbury Cathedral is the single most beautiful structure in England and the Close around it the most beautiful space”. I concur.
We walked through the city and under the ring road with its impressive mural before walking through Milford Hollow, a tree lined canopied path that took us out to Laverstock and over the River Bourne, before we came to the Clarendon Park Estate where the path cut through a crop field and was quite beautiful with holly blue and chalkhill blue butterflies flitting over the wild flowers.
We then came to the extraordinary remains of Clarendon Palace – you could walk past it quite easily as you have to turn off the main path and cut through a gap in the trees to find it. Fortunately we didn’t and what a glorious find it was; together with the very friendly llamas that roam freely around the ruins keeping the weed population under control.
Just as a brief aside here, at this point, just 3 miles into our first long distance walk, ‘we’ discovered that ‘we’ve’ taken the wrong set of car keys with us … we’ve left the other car keys in the car parked in Salisbury. We’d probably only been walking for about an hour, so the Boy and I left the other 3 to go for a very quick march back to the car and back to the Palace ruins. Definitely a steep learning curve – NEVER leave any keys behind; ALWAYS check which keys you have!
Beyond the ruins of the Palace we began walking through woods, including Home Copse, Warner’s Copse and Fairoak Copse – as it was early afternoon and warm, it was perfect as the trees overhanging the path gave shade and a beautiful dappled light. In the scrubby growth there were wild flowers and butterflies. It is easy to imagine hunts taking place centuries ago through these ancient woodlands. Under the canopy of trees it was quite silent other than the occasional hammering of a woodpecker and the lazy buzz of insects. No manmade sounds – utter bliss. As we turned a corner before walking down to Pitton, we come across the most spectacular field of blue – a breathtaking sight of echium. A nectar rich Mediterranean flower – the sound that came from the field was extraordinary. It was alive with insect life and totally joyful to hear! Echium is a good source of omega-3 and is rich in oil and stearidonic and gamma – linolenic acid, which are used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. Spectacular in sight and sound.
The track out of Pitton was dry and dusty and the Littlest was getting tired. In a field close to the Church of All Saints in West Winterslow, we found some hay bales to sit on and have a rejuvenating snack of fruit, biscuits and water. The view was quintessentially English Home Counties. And it was still so quiet! Refreshed, we continued along tree lined paths where the Clarendon Way and the Monarch’s Way (a 625 mile long distance path from Worcester to Shoreham – the escape route taken by the young King Charles II in 1651 after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester by Cromwell), join paths taking us into Middle Winterslow. Winterslow has a fascinating connection with truffles – the type that most people think of pigs, France and Italy, certainly not genteel, deepest Wiltshire. But back in the 1920s a famed truffle hunter, Alfred Collins (following from his father Eli) together with his 2 dogs, would find up to 11kg of this rare ‘black diamonds’ a day. However, Mr Collins, ‘the last professional truffle hunter’, took his knowledge to the grave.
The Roman road continues through Noah’s Copse where, if you listen carefully, it’s said that you can hear Roman soldiers marching through. We didn’t! As it was after 6pm and the Littlest was really quite exhausted, we had another pitstop for refuelling. The walk took us through the Buckholt Farm Estate which was glorious in the early evening light, under a blue sky scattered with cotton wool clouds and not another person in sight. Although I don’t think that the Littlest noticed the glory of the English idyll around her! But finally, Broughton and the end of our first leg of the Clarendon Way. We made it, all intact; just!
