Fellowship Up upon Watership Down

"Dandelion: [looking at the countryside from Watership Down]: O Frith on the hills! He made it all for us! Hazel: Frith may have made it, but Fiver found it."

Following in the footsteps of Fiver, Pipkin, Dandelion, Bigwig, Hazel et al we'll ascend the gentle dip slope, picnic on the crest and walk along the steep scarp slope of the southern edge of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The ridge overlooks a chequerboard of fields and forests, hamlets and homesteads with steeples providing punctuation. The steeples were also markers for races, because while rabbits are still abundant, the most apparent animals here are horses. As a result, gallops and steeplechases (a term of local origin for a racetrack aligned with steeples and so cutting across hedges and ditches) crisscross the hills on the splendidly springy turf.

The sights:

Watership Down: 237m at its highest point, an escarpment on the North Wessex Downs. Partly a 10-hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest, its chalk downland habitat harbouring rare Adonis Blue and Silver-spotted Skipper butterflies. The hill has a partially completed Iron Age hill fort, and the surrounding area is rich in Iron Age tumuli, lychets and enclosures. Richard Adams, who lived at nearby Nuthanger Farm, developed the stories he told his children to write his rabbit epic of escape, peril, mysticism and survival in 1972.

Hannington: An immaculate and lovely hilltop village centred on a village green, and on the edge of which is All Saints' Church, some parts of which date from the 11th century, but overall looks Victorian owing to a ferocious restoration in 1855. There are also many Grade II-listed buildings in the village.

Quidhampton: Just outside Overton, the three chimneys of the Portals Mill stand out. High-grade papermaking has been a feature of the area since George Portal was commissioned in 1712 to produce the first bank notes for the Bank of England. Nowadays a moden plant produces bank notes fo 150 currencies. 'Quid', a word for a pound has been linked with 'Quidhampton' but this seems fanciful.

The route:

Heading west from Overton Station we'll then turn and proceed north a little way along the B3051. We'll soon turn off this and continue north on footpaths, byways and drovers' tracks such as Court Drove. After passing Willesley Warren Farm and Curlews Farm we'll arrive at Nuthanger Down and Watership Down for lunch. Bridleways and footpaths will take us east along the scarp of the hill and Cottington's Hill. Bridleways will take us south to Hannington and then lanes will lead further south and southeast to North Oakley and Quidhampton, enabling us to get back to Overton Station.

(Picture credits: View east of Watership Down, Light and Shadows on Watership Down and Watership Down: Michael Schnell (used with express permission); Track on Watership Down: Robin Webster; Wayfarers Walk: Michael Hand; Cottage at Hannington: Colin Smith; Field Barn Farm: Colin Smith; Path towards Wireless Station: Logomachy; Freemantle Park Down and Plantation Hill: Andrew Smith (designated 'Free to share and use' under the Creative Commons License.)