Two of the three Winchester golf courses, Royal Winchester Golf Club and South Winchester Golf Club are being crossed on this walk. Winchester’s Hockley Golf club is traversed on walk 5. We make a small detour and walk through Winchester Village, the new housing development between Pitt roundabout and Kilham Lane. Many of us driving into Winchester on Romsey Road will have seen the sign ‘if you lived here you would be home now’.
About a third of the walk goes through residential areas. The urban route goes through green spaces like the woodland next to the Westgate school playing fields (at the northern entrance to Links Road) and the paths behind the council offices in Monarch Way. We suggest walking anti-clockwise and leave the two golf courses to the second part of the walk.
Start and end point: Sainsburys, Winchester
Length: 9.5 km / 6 miles
Time: 2 hour 15 minutes at a swift pace + breaks
Difficulty: Moderate – 194 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 from Winchester City Centre
Highlights of walk#8


Walk 8 contrasts stretches of urban area with the open countryside of two Winchester Golf courses and the fields at Pitt plus a peek into the gardens at Pitt Manor. The lakes at Winchester South are particularly tranquil early in the morning, particularly with a bit of fog.


Here’s an interesting story about the history of the name ‘Pitt’ and the surrounding landscape.




This walk is part of the 12 walks challenge. Photos were taken between April and November 2020.
You can only park for 2 hours at Sainsbury’s and the time for this walk – given is 2 hours 15 minutes.
I guess there is a risk element to parking at the Sainsburys car park and doing a walk that’s longer than the allowed period of time. Thanks for pointing out what the current time limit is. Alternatively park in a permitted area in the neighbourhood as highlighted in the parking notes.
Or….thanks for taking the time to write, photograph and upload this article!