A Castle, a Canal, and a Roam around an Aerodrome

Please note that following the announcement that organised outdoor sports activities are exempt from the 'rule of six', I have raised the potential number of particpants on this event to 20.

A relatively easy Bank Holiday Monday walk in one of Hampshire's least-known but most amiable and affluent areas: Hart District. It may be less well-known because its scenery isn't distinctive, but the countryside of rolling fields fringed with riverbanks and copses is very pleasant. The absence of striking scenery is offset by a show of stylish settlements and handsome houses constructed from red bricks and timber-framing. The canal is the Basingstoke one which is pleasantly overgrown, the castle is the Odiham one which is pleasantly ruinous, and the aerodrome is RAF Odiham which is pleasantly dramatic. Indeed, we may see some of the Chinook helicopters which are based there.

The sights:

Warnborough Green: A hamlet just north of Odiham among the waterways of the River Whitewater and Basingstoke Canal where fords and bridges criss-cross. Some small watermeadows with long-horned cattle and timber-framed cottages. Odiham Castle is just a keep, a picturesque but abstract object of flint with shapeless holes for windows. It was built as a hunting lodge in King John's time, 1207-1212, but fortified during the tumultuous times that followed. Magna Carta was brought there after 1215.

Basingstoke Canal: Completed in 1794 (in the early days of canal mania) to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation. Gradually being restored. We will see the portal to the 3900 feet (1 km)-long Greywell Tunnel which is an SSSI because of its bat populations.

Greywell: A very pretty sequence of brick cottages along one side of a street overlooking fields. The Malthouse is C16 and Prior's House is C15. The charming church of St Mary dates from 1200. There is a boardwalk through the reeds and yellow flag irises of the River Whitewater to Greywell Mill which is C17.

South Warnborough: Pleasant, despite being bisected by the busy Hook-Alton road. St Andrew's is C13 but restored in 1869-70 by noted architect GE Street. The church is nicely framed by tall trees and has a pretty churchyard. The Manor House is early C19 in cream stucco. Blounce House is 1699. 

Long Sutton: Very chocolate boxy, and with many fine C16 and C17 buildings along The Street such as The Old Rectory, Long Sutton Manor and The Court. All Saints is Norman with reused Saxon stones and C13 windows. 

RAF Odiham: The landing lights stretching across fields on stilts lead to an RAF base, started as a simple airfield in 1925, but permanent facilities were set up in 1937 and it was rapidly developed in the early 1940s. Home to the RAF's Joint Helicopter Command and fleet of Boeing Chinook helicopters, which we may see in action.

Odiham: The High Street is one of the most treasured pieces of Georgian small-townscape in the south. The White House is of 1812, Marycourt is early C18, while the George Hotel has a Hanoverian front on an Elizabethan body. Palace Gate Buildings are C17 and The Priory ranges from early Tudor to Queen Anne. All Saints, Odiham is a  large flint church of the C13 with a bulky but rather fine C17 tower. A stocks and whipping post remain in the churchyard, as does Odiham Pest House, a quarantine facility and a rare survival. This one dates from the early 1620s. They were usually built away from communities on the outskirts of towns to isolate the disease. 

Whitehall: A pretty hamlet of tiled and brick cottages. Poland Mill is an idyllic ensemble of early C16 and C18 mill and manor house on the River Whitewater.

The route (please click the link to see it):

Crossing Bartley Heath and a footbridge over the M3, we'll reach Warnborough Green and walk along the canal towpath to Greywell. Having walked through the village we'll then use the boardwalk by the River Whitewater and head south along Ford Lane and Gaston Lane to South Warnborough. Here we'll cross the B3099 and head east across fields to Long Sutton. We will then head northeast along Stapley Lane around the edge of the RAF base and head north along Long Lane. At Readon House Farm we'll take a footpath east to Roke Lane which we'll use to take us to the edge of Odiham, we'll walk along Odiham's High Street back to the canal and pass under the A287 to Odiham Common and Whitehall. A footpath across potentially wet fields will return us to the footbridge over the M3 which we'll use to cross back into Hook. 

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is suitable for them. It is of moderate length and has few fields with livestock. Much of the route will be along country lanes though. Any dog off the lead must be obedient. 

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(Picture credits: Downland near Odiham: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Boardwalk path to Greywell Mill: Photo © Shaun Ferguson (cc-by-sa/2.0); River Whitewater: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Swan family, Basingstoke Canal: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Odiham Castle: Photo © Margaret Sutton (cc-by-sa/2.0; Old Malthouse, Greywell: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Winter wheat in spring: Photo © Sandy B (cc-by-sa/2.0); South Warnborough: Photo © Brendan and Ruth McCartney (cc-by-sa/2.0);  Long Sutton village pond: Photo © David Purchase (cc-by-sa/2.0); Cottages in Long Sutton: Photo © David Purchase (cc-by-sa/2.0); Footpath from Stapeley Farm: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); All Saints Church at Odiham: Photo © Peter Wood (cc-by-sa/2.0); Farnham Road, Odiham: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); High Street, Odiham: Photo © Andrew Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0). All images are copyrighted but are designated 'Free to share and use' under Creative Commons CC BY-SA/2.0 and are here attributed to their copyright holders.)