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A walk round Kings Somborne.

By Bill Nicholls

Has the sound of a rural community about it and was a place I had heard about for a while as my wife had been there dog training, so when she said she was off there again one Saturday I
said I would come along. I looked on my OS maps for the place to see what was worth visiting and to plan a route to take.
We got to the village hall SU3530 : Kings Somborne Village Hall by Bill Nicholls around 9 and by 9:15 I was checking my map for which way to go and setting the GPS, the offer of going off road in a 4X4 though tempting did not have the allure of the trek I had worked out. First stop was the village church SU3631 : War memorial  and Church by Bill Nicholls which turned out to be very nice having a stained glass window called the Sopwith Memorial SU3630 : The Sopwith memorial by Bill Nicholls (more on that later) once finished there I had to decide which direction I took and noticed a trig point not far do that was the way I went. The trig point turned out to be at the top of a steep hill nearly hidden in a hedge and could only be viewed from the front the top was hidden in the hedge. SU3631 : Trig pillar in the ivy by Bill Nicholls
Back towards Kings Somborne then a right turn along a footpath towards Houghton soon took me down hill to the Test way SU3531 : Along the Test Way by Bill Nicholls. I had spotted this on the map and thought it looked like a dismantled railway SU3531 : Further along by Bill Nicholls, getting there just proved I was right SU3531 : An old Kissing Gate by Bill Nicholls though any relation to the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line was out. Some photos were in order SU3531 : An old crossing by Bill Nicholls then off along the path leading to the River Test which is full of privately owned fisheries SU3431 : Another sign by Bill Nicholls so no walking along the river side SU3431 : Bridge Suitable by Bill Nicholls. Once in Haughton it was heading towards the church for more photos and a benchmark I spotted on the old school SU3432 : The old school by Bill Nicholls. The church turned out to be very pleasant SU3432 : All Saints Houghton by Bill Nicholls with a big rectory beside it. Country vicars seemed well off in the old days.
Back along the road and back to Kings Somborne going over the Test again and joining the old rail line to Horsebridge Station LinkExternal link
Unfortunately the place is not open to the public and time did not allow me to phone and ask if I could get a few photos of the place, heading off from there and passing a pub that was being painted and did not seem to be open SU3430 : Paint the pub day by Bill Nicholls ( I was dying for a drink) it was off along the road to Kings Somborne and a sandwich. On getting back to the hall I noticed two lads playing football, numbnuts would be more to the point as they had no regard for the cars parked behind the goal and I noticed my car get hit so I moved it out of the way; so be warned if you park there, the local numpties don’t care if your car is hit.
After a coffee I went back to the church for a few more internal shots, it was then I looked at the window again then the information typed up nearby. The window was dedicated to Sir Thomas Sopwith who I remember from WW1 and the Sopwith Camel. I noticed no grave in the churchyard when I had been round and found he was buried in Little Somborne. With that I was off on a 2.7 mile walk SU3732 : A long walk by Bill Nicholls SU3832 : The end of the road by Bill Nicholls to the church to get a photo SU3832 : Tommy Sopwith - schoolboys' hero by Bill Nicholls. I got there as it started to rain and found the old church open as well so after getting more photo's SU3832 : View from under the tree by Bill Nicholls the GPS was turned off and I headed back to meet my wife who was waiting for me. I had left the Village at 3:15 an managed to get back at 4:50 quite tired from the walk but pleased with the day.
A Geotrip of the walk can be seen here. LinkExternal link


Loading map...
Marker only shows grid square

When
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 at 18:51
Grid Square
geotagged! SU3530
Chosen Photo

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