Watercress and Winterbournes | 6.2 miles (Walking Weekend)

Stroll along clear winterbourne streams and explore the heritage of Alresford's legendary, thriving watercress industry.

This unhurried circular walk starts near the River Alre and follows it for a short distance before turning north and west up the valley of the Candover Brook - one of the three chalk streams that merge near Alresford to form the River Itchen. The route crosses and recrosses the Candover Brook before climbing out of the valley, turning east then south to skirt Old Alresford before recrossing the Alre and entering New Alresford from the north. The last part of the walk takes in the fine former market place of Broad Street lined with 17th and 18th century buildings, passes the parish church with its unusual split material tower and the station building of the Mid-Hants Railway. From the station it is a short distance back to the starting point of the walk; alternatively participants may wish to make use of the many refreshment facilities nearby. 

The walk is intended to be taken at a fairly leisurely pace with time to look at the scenery and points of interest; we aim to be back in New Alresford after about 3 hours.

The walk passes by, or close to, several points of local historic, natural and agricultural interest - the well preserved relic of a long-vanished fishery alongside a modern intensive one; abandoned watercress beds; a sad reminder of the tragedy and sacrifice of warfare; the remains of a once-thriving community which fell victim to the Black Death; a Bronze Age burial site; a modern watercress farm recently in production; a medieval industrial machine house; the railway which transformed a local cottage industry into one of the first intensive agricultural ventures in Britain.

There will be no scheduled break but plenty of short pauses, so please bring some water or a flask of tea.

Stagecoach's No.64 bus provides half-hourly service between Winchester Broadway and Alresford.