Travel around 2 be happy: 2022

St Swinthun's Way - trip accounts

The trail is quite flat as it goes mainly along valleys so it's easy to walk.

There are some pretty countryside lanes and good views but not stunning views.

It is difficult to book accommodation on the route. Plan well in advance!

Take the route map with you because it is not as easy to navigate with the waymarkers as they say.

Transport:

Train ticket one-way (Eastleigh - Winchester): £6.70
Train ticket one-way (Farnham - Alton): £5.20
Train ticket Watercress Line day-ticket (Alton - Alresford): £52
TOTAL: £63.9

Accommodation:

The White Hart (1 night): £83.39

Food & drinks:

We spent £117.3 on lunch, dinner and teas. Please remember we are not heavy drinkers!

Attractions:

Jane Austen House: £24

TOTAL per person:

£144
€164
$164

St Swithun's Way Day 2: Alresford to Alton

Sunday, 28th August 2022

Distance: 25km

Time: 7h20min (6h10min walking time)

Average moving speed: 4km/h

Elevation gain: 355m

We returned to Alresford by car and set off from the centre.

It takes a while to get to the route south of town and then there is a bit of boring walk along A31. We did however find a solar farm. Who said it's always grey in England?

After Bishop's Sutton, it starts getting more interesting.

The Summer has been so dry that streams have dried up.

Passing alongside a fence I missed Charlie Chaplin. Jorge pointed it out and I jumped as I finally spotted it. It looks so real at first glance!

At the very picturesque village of Ropley we sat on a bench at St Peter's Church for lunch. Mass is ongoing and we can hear the chanting and sermon from our spot.

The bell tower and roof of the church look brand new. Searching online I found out that the church burned in 2014 and was rebuilt 2019-2022. So yes, brand new!

Farm fields. Back gardens and back walls of very good-looking houses. Tree lined pedestrian paths. Some tarmac.

We had been walking for a while and I was in need of rest. We found a spot with a view, had our Tesco-bought lunch and I had a nap.

At Chawton we stopped to visit Jane Austen's House.

This is the house were Jane Austen lived for the last 8 years of her life (1809-1817) and where she wrote, revised and had published all six of her globally beloved novels.

Kitchen

Jane practiced the piano each morning before breakfast.

The Drawing Room

After her morning piano practice, Jane would make the breakfast. This was one of her household duties, along with looking after the stores of tea, sugar and wine. Most food was brought in from the kitchen, but some things like tea and toast could be prepared here on the hob grate set into the fireplace. The wallpaper in this room is an accurate reproduction of a historic paper discovered in this room, dating to the time the Austens were living here.

The Dining Parlour

Seated by the window to write, Jane also had a good view of what was going on in the village.

Jane Austen's Bedroom

The closet used to contain a wash bowl and a chamber pot. The upper shelf is cut away for head room.

Bedroom Closet

A conservatory-style room at the back door.

The Chinese black lacquer worktable dates from the early 19th century and is believed to have belonged to Jane.

Worktable

Topaz crosses: these 2 crosses were given to Jane and Cassandra by their brother Charles in 1801.

Gold ring with turquoise: this ring belonged to Jane.

Jewellery

Jane embroidered this shawl for herself with satin stitch crosses.

Muslin shawl

This coverlet was made by Jane, her sister Cassandra and their mother. The design's left and right sides are identical, even in the placing of the small diamonds in the border. There are over 3000 diamonds in total, all hand stitched together.

Coverlet

Replica of a pelisse thought to have belonged to Jane, style of 1813-1815. A pelisse is an overdress or coat dress and would have been fitted closely to the figure. Jane was slim: the pelisse is a UK size 4-6 (currently) and it indicates Jane was 1.70 - 1.76m (5ft6 - 5ft8) tall.

Pelisse

The House is open for visits 10am-5pm and admission costs £12.

Across the road from the house there is a tea house called Cassandras Cup. We sat for a snack.

There are some nice-looking houses in Chawton.

Not a real cat.

From here onwards it is quite an urban area and a stretch to get to Alton. Alton is not really interesting.

Accommodation in Alton is scarce and it was fully booked. I must note that this is not an easy route to find accommodation for.

We stayed at The White Hart in Holybourne. After arriving in Alton we kept walking. It was 2.5km from Alton's centre. The majority of restaurants were closed in Alton, even the fish & chips shop was closed. As we walked to Holybourne we couldn't see any more restaurants. The pub on the way did not serve food after 2pm. We were tired and did not want to return to Alton to have dinner.

Luckily The White Hart started serving food for dinner recently. We were so relieved! We had time to rest our legs, shower and have an early dinner.

St Swithun's Way Day 3: Alton to Farnham

Monday, 29th August 2022

Distance: 18km

Time: 5h36min (4h13min walking time)

Average moving speed: 4.3km/h

Elevation gain: 269m

The White Hart was wonderful. Clean, quiet and comfortable room. Delicious food. Highly recommend.

Passing by Holy Rood Church in Holybourne, I mention that we seem to be passing by every single church on the way. Jorge remarks 'Well, this is part of the Pilgrim's Way so it makes sense, doesn't it?'. Sometimes a smart man can be quite annoying!

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Froyle.

The tombs are unusual. Apart from a headstone, they also have bricks covering the length of the tomb and a smaller tombstone at the foot of the tomb. I have not seen this before.

Sometimes the trail is very well marked.

Sometimes not.

Sometimes even the drivers will struggle.

Lego is conquering the English countryside.

The end of Summer meant that there was a fair number of blackberries ready for the picking.

That speed sign cannot possible be for me?!?

The grass was as tall as me.

On a farm we found some horses, one was keen on cuddles.

There were a lot of fences today and not easy to find a spot to eat. It was also windy so we needed a quiet spot sheltered from the wind. We were almost upon Farnham when I decided to jump a fence and settle on a grazing field, trying to dodge the sheep's droppings. Today's lunch was sponsored by Co-op.

The trail doesn't go past Farnham Castle but we decided to detour and check it out. Alas, little can be seen from the outside and we were on a hurry, so I took a picture from the gate and we carried on.

The castle is on a hill that descends towards the city centre. There are steps near the castle gate called The Blind Bishop's Steps.

Richard Fox (1448-1528), Bishop of Winchester, became blind in the last 10 years of his life, spending much of his time at Farnham Castle. He had the steps built between the castle and the town. 'Seven by seven paces' is a phrase associated with these steps: there are seven sets of seven steps, seven paces apart.

Castle Street

Farnham has many old buildings, including a number of Georgian houses, and it was very busy on a bank holiday.

The sign on top of the door reads: 'These almshouses were erected by Andrew Windsor Esq in 1619 for the habitation and relief of eight poor honest old impotent persons'. This is possibly the most offensive description of an elder I have ever seen.

Farnham Town Council

Farnham train station

We woke up early today, had little breaks and were on the go since the morning. The reason being that we needed to arrive at Alton before 4pm.

For years now we have been talking about going on the Watercress Line's steam train. This line runs between Alton and Alresford and, as we have left the car at Alresford and there is no 'regular' train station in Alresford, our best option is the steam train. The last steam train from Alton is at 4pm.

We took the 'regular' train from Farnham to Alton and the steam train from Alton to Alresford. The 'regular' train took 14min and cost £2.60. The steam train took 38min and cost £26. A huge difference for roughly the same length of line.

The Watercress Line has 4 stops: Alton - Medstead & four Marks - Ropley - Alresford. The line runs steam and diesel train, we were lucky to get the steam train we wanted. We measured the train speed, and the maximum speed was 45km/h (28mph). The ticket is a day ticket, allowing you unlimited trips. So, you could stop at each stop and wander around and then board the next train.

This weekend had a theme: 50s & 60s so you could dress up if you wanted to. There was music at Alresford station to match.

Alton Station represents the era of late 1950s/early 60s.

Tank & water crane

Alresford Station represents the pre-WW2 era of the late 1930s.

Signal Box

We made the most out of the ride to make up for how expensive the ticket was. I think we covered all possible photographic and videographic opportunities!