Byways and Brothers at Bentworth (Hampshire)

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21 km / 13 miles6-7 hours

For January, a jaunt into the heart of Hampshire, an area where the distinctive deep downs are divided by swift-flowing streams and where villages cluster in the valleys, some of them not a mile apart, while on either side the undulating uplands stretch away for miles. Many of these villages boast an ancient church and a historic pub amid the handsome houses of brick and cosy cottages of timber frame. A timeless tranquillity touches all, including the tarmac trackways we'll be taking, but excluding the Sun Inn, of whose fare we'll be partaking at lunchtime.

The sights:

Bentworth: An extensive parish with a good number of fine houses. St Mary's Church is predominantly C13. century and the nearby rectory is very elegant. The Sun Inn (our lunch venue) dates from the early 17th century. 

Shalden: An attractive hamlet of manor houses and farm cottages. Church of 1865. The Manor House itself is C16. The lane through the village is framed by pretty flint walls.

Alton: A prosperous market town and dormitory, well-served by frequent trains, independent shops and characterful inns. Much Georgian bulding in the High Street. The site of the source of the River Wey which will be seen on this walk. If we wait for a few minutes before starting the walk we'll see the 10:50 steam locomotive service depart Alton Station on the Mid-Hants Railway.

'Sweet Fanny Adams': Her name and epithet soon became used as a euphemism and as naval slang (for mutton), but the Victorian public were revulsed by the murder and dismemberment of Fanny Adams, aged 8, by solicitors' clerk Frederick Baker on the 24th August 1867. The water meadows where her body parts were found is on the itinerary and if you want to see her grave, you can.