Modest Hills and Daffodils, Pretty Hedgerowses and Primroses - A Mudless Meander for My 250th Lead

UPDATE: You don't need to give a deposit to the pub for the pub lunch on this walk. I apologise if you have tried to. I was misinformed.

Waitlist: This event is fully booked, but if you'd like to attend, please add yourself to the waitlist. Places often become available closer to the date, and you are likely to get one.

If the weather has been dry we'll take fewer lanes and cross the fields instead, but whatever happens, this walk will allow us to explore some delectable downland countryside and the idyllic villages of Froxfield Green and East Meon without getting bogged down in the mud and crud. East Meon is the superstar, a celebrated cluster of medieval, Tudor and Georgian houses on a grid iron pattern with the newly-sourced River Meon running through it. There are two pubs in the village (The George and the Izaak Walton), which have polarised into posh and plebeian. We'll now be in the former for our last pub lunch of the season, as the latter has closed down pending new management.

The sights:

Froxfield Green: A spacious, scattered flint and chalk village, 204 metres up and among the highest villages in Hampshire. It possesses  a fine late-Victorian church and a pretty village green with thatched cottages and symmetrical late Georgian villas around it.

Lythe Hanger: a relatively steep ascent through the bare beech trees and a good view across the Weald. The area is named Little Switzerland, although Little Tuscany might be more appropriate. 

East Meon: A cluster of fine buildings around a very pretty High Street which has a stream running through the middle. Among many elegant and historic houses are The Court House of 1400 which was hall and adminstrative centre of the area for the Bishopric of Winchester and the monks there would host the bishop when he visited. The Court House was also home to Izaak Walton, late in life, at the behest of his father-in-law George Morley, Bishop of Winchester. Walton authored a celebration of fishing called The Compleat Angler. He died, aged 90, on 15 December 1683 and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Another fine house is Glenthorne of 1690.

All Saints' Church, East Meon: Pevsner called it 'the most thrilling village church in Hampshire'. This is a splendid Norman Church of 1150 with much typical zigzag ornament. The church was then updated in an early gothic style and given an elegant, spacious interior that contrasts with its burly tower and spire. Among many prized features is a richly-carved 12th-century font in black marble from Tournai in Belgium showing biblical scenes such as the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The setting of the church is very fine too, with a perfect round hill providing a backdrop.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is very suitable for them with few stiles and busy roads, but there may be a number of fields with livestock. Any dog off the lead must be under control.

The route (click the link to see it):

We'll set out and come back along the A272. At Stroud, we'll turn north along a lane, Ridge Common Lane, then west along Lythe Lane. At the top of the hill, we'll take Broadway west towards Froxfield Green. We'll then follow High Cross Lane south to cross the A272 and follow Park Lane to East Meon. After walking east along the High Street, we'll take Frogmore Lane, Oxenbourne Lane and then Ramsdean Lane back to Stroud to return to Petersfield.

IMPORTANT! Participation Statement:

You MUST complete a Participation Statement, in addition to booking your event space before attending an OutdoorLads event. You only need to complete this Participation Statement once, not for each event you attend. 

(All pictures were taken by the leader on his recce in February 2025. OutdoorLads is welcome to reuse them.)