The Ever-Changing, Ever-Charming Forest of Eversley

We're booked in to have tea/coffee and cake at West Green House Garden!

The term 'forest' is misleading, so please don't anticipate walking amid a vast expanse of trees. The word's original sense of 'an area of unimproved land reserved for hunting' is more appropriate, but not much more. The Forest of Eversley was a royal hunting forest, but unlike the New Forest, all that remains of it today are some fragments of ancient woodland. The phrase 'ever-changing', however, is not misleading. In place of the forest is an intricate mosaic of woods, heaths, fields, meadows, lanes and villages, the first constituted by oak and birch, the last constructed from the red bricks typical of this area. This is a delightful district of Hampshire, recognised as a Special Character Area.

The sights:

Hartley Wintney: A pleasant place with not many buildings of interest (big, ugly Victorian church of 1870, indifferent C14 church with over-zealous Victorian restoration), but at its centre a number of handsome commons and heaths which are overlooked by significant properties, many in the Arts and Crafts style.

Hazeley Heath: Managed by the RSPB, their website writes that this 'tranquil heathland is home to some very special wildlife such as nightjars, tree pipits, woodlarks and silver-studded blue butterflies'. The RSPB 'took on the management of the north section of Hazeley Heath in January 2013 and...are working to restore the historic heathland habitat.' There is also a tank testing track from World War II.

Mattingley: A loose collection of farms and cottages around a green. The church is a rarity: late medieval/early Tudor (c1490-1520) built from top to bottom of timber with brick infilling (or 'nogging') in a herringbone pattern. The aisles are Victorian.

Dipley Mill, Dipley: A long, low, grade II-listed 18th century mill across the River Whitewater. The setting and gardens are idyllic.

West Green House: A small but pretty house of 1700-1730 with playful additions of 1905 and the 1990s by architect Quinlan Terry. It has been home to, among others, General Henry Hawley ('Hangman Hawley') who led the cavalry charge at the Battle of Culloden, and Lord McAlpine, developer and advisor to Margaret Thatcher. The house was bomb-damaged by the IRA in 1990. The walled gardens are open to the public (with an entrance fee) and we're having tea/coffee and cake at the tearoom.

The route (please click the link in red to see the route at the Ordnance Survey website):

The Three Castles Path will take us east, then north and over the M3 to Church Lane that leads into Hartley Wintney. At Fleet Road, we'll take Mount Pleasant to the Cricket Green and head northwest, crossing the A30. We'll then follow the Three Castles Path and footpaths across Hazeley Heath as far as Hill Farm and Hazeley Farm. We'll then follow Red Hill, a lane heading south and south west to Mattingley for lunch. We'll head a little way along Reading Road to The Leather Bottle pub for a drink, then head back along Reading Road to the T-junction with the lane to Dipley which we'll take back to West Green. A footpath will link West Green's Thackham's Lane with Murrell Green Road which we'll use to pick up the Brenda Parker Way which will take us south then east back to Winchfield.

Dogs:

Dogs are very welcome on all my walks and this is a very good dog walk, with plenty of woods and heaths for them to run free, although there will be country lanes and livestock in some fields necessitating the dog going on a lead. A dog off the lead must be obedient. 

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(Picture credits: Farmland near St Mary's Churchyard: Photo © Bob Parkes (cc-by-sa/2.0); Pasture, Mattingley: Photo © Andrew Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Duck Pond, Hartley Wintney: Photo © Len Williams (cc-by-sa/2.0); Mattingley Church: Photo © Kevin Barton (cc-by-sa/2.0); Mattingley Church - Interior: Photo © Kevin Barton (cc-by-sa/2.0); Mattingley: Photo © Brendan and Ruth McCartney (cc-by-sa/2.0); Dipley Mill: Photo © Brendan and Ruth McCartney (cc-by-sa/2.0); West Green, Hampshire: Photo © Brendan and Ruth McCartney (cc-by-sa/2.0); West Green House: Photo © Andrew Longton (cc-by-sa/2.0); Cafe at West Green House: Photo © David Anstiss (cc-by-sa/2.0). The images are copyrighted but are above credited to their copyright holders and are licensed for further reuse under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).)