In the southern part of the city, the walk starts with views of the cathedral from Whiteshute Ridge, a stretch of open access land to the south of Badger Farm, just a few minutes in. Take-in the views of the city before dropping down to the river at St Cross Hospital, crossing the disused Hockley Railway Viaduct, before looping back through fields and the village of Compton.
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locate your current position on the map (browser will ask for permission, works best on phones due to use of GPS). We don’t track your location.Start and end point: Hill behind Sainsburys
Length: 7.5 km / 4.4 miles
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes at a swift pace + breaks
Difficulty: Moderate – 128 m total ascent
Parking: Sainsburys car park (though watch any potential time limits imposed by car park operator), alternative street parking in Oliver’s Battery or Badger Farm
Public transport: buses to Sainsburys (bus #5) from Winchester City Centre
The Winchester Tourist office publishes a leaflet with some information about the viaduct’s history. This is part of the Viaduct way, returning on Keats Walk. Walk#5 lead through the meadows below the viaduct.
Highlights of walk#4
The way the M3 motorway cuts through the Down is a little sad and reminds us about the conflict between nature and transport needs. Read about the history of Twyford Down and the motorway construction here. Sabre roads publish a short history of the Winchester bypass.
Whiteshute Ridge
St Cross Hospital and Hockley
Towards Compton
We suggest you walk the route clockwise, if you want to walk it the other way round, the footpath leading from Badger Farm Road to Compton is a bit difficult to find. The entrance looks like this:
This walk is part of the 12 walks challenge. Photos were taken in November 2020.
This is a very enjoyable walk (or cross country run). And the restoration of the viaduct in the last decade is a lovely touch. However, the footpath through Attwoods Drove Farm is a MESS (or at least was when I gave up trying to use it some years ago). It’s essentially a quagmire of cow manure squeezed between the cattle sheds on one side and a tall hedge on the other. Especially after wet weather. If you have wading boots, you’ll be fine. Wellies might be okay if it hasn’t rained for a while. Anything less and there’s no way through without getting very wet and very dirty. If you have a dog, it had better be small enough to carry. Maybe they’ve done something about it since then. I hope so but fear not. It was a perfect advert for the indifference (at best) or contempt that land owners or farm managers can sometimes have for walkers.
Thanks, David. I thought it was ok during the drier part of the year. Additional reports welcome.
Dear Will, very glad to hear it. I will give it another try. It’s a lovely route. Best wishes, David
Hi, David Rock here again. Sorry, I accidentally posted some extra details about a friend’s holiday that was on my clipboard/spell checker. Grateful if you could remove that in moderation along with this extra comment. Thanks, regards, and keep up the good work, David.