CYHA News

The Downs in Winter

The first weekend in February was cold, with a forecast of snow, but we were well prepared when we set out to Wetherdown in Hampshire.

Our Saturday walk involved walking from the hostel and taking in spectacular views of the South Downs. We started with an ascent of Butser Hill in glorious sunshine and made it down to East Meon for lunch, before heading over to Old Winchester Hill. Whilst sunny up to lunch time, it did cloud over shortly after and the weather changed from fresh to decidedly chilly. The full walk was a lengthy 12 miles, so a couple of our party decided to take a short cut. I’m sure this made all the difference to Andrew’s cold, but he and Carol missed out on our unexpected tea stop at the Meon Springs Fishing Lodge. By a stroke of luck the fishing lodge also stocked local beers, so several of us clinked all the way back to the hostel. The last part of this walk was made all the more challenging as the snow started falling. We finally staggered back to the hostel just as evening light fell, in a good couple of inches of snow. Luckily Barbara had packed two delicious home-made cakes, which, with a nice cup of tea, were just the thing to revive us. Several slices of cake did nothing to dampen our appetite for Cynthia’s delicious dinner - this was not a weekend for weight loss. I’m sure Jim’s bed collapsing when he sat on it was completely unrelated.

Luckily the snow stopped at about 4 inches, but this was still enough to make the exit from the car park a little interesting the next morning. We had already decided to head for the coast, but in the snowy conditions it was definitely the right choice. The snow had pretty much vanished by the time we got half way to Porchester Castle, and we spent the whole day in chilly but bright conditions. The tour of the castle, with its historic roots going right back to Roman times, was well worth doing – mind you I did find operating the audio handset with numb fingers was quite a challenge! We finished off with a nice coastal walk and chilly beach-side picnic before climbing back into the cars for the drive back to ice-bound Essex.

Ali

 

A Stroll in Thorndon Park

It was a full car park that greeted us at Thorndon Country Park. There were a lot of runners about and it was unclear whether there was an event on, or they’d all just been lured out by the winter sunshine. In spite of being scattered in the crowds, we all managed to meet up at Thorndon North for the start of our walk.

Thorndon started life as a hunting park way back in the 15^th century and the first part of our walk took in Hartswood, which was owned by the diarist John Evelyn in the 17^th century. It is still a beautiful woodland and in the sunshine seemed particularly spring-like.

We paused at Warley to pick up Charmian and Robin, who had been delayed by their son’s homework. This made our number up to a very healthy 15, ready for breaking out of the woods onto Warley Common.

A swift first lunch was taken a little early to avoid the embarrassment of arriving at the pub before noon, but the Greyhound did provide a timely opportunity for a bit of a warm-up. This succeeded in sustaining us all the way to afternoon tea at the South Pavillion.

The 8^th Baron Petre had something of taste for the exotic, investing in the biggest hothouse in the 18^th century world for the purpose of raising rare plants like cactus, hibiscus and camellia. The tail end of our walk took us through what was left of his menagerie – not that there was much to see other than the viewing mound. I can’t help thinking the residents would have struggled with this chilly February afternoon. It was certainly nice to get back to the cars and throw a few more layers on.

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A Matching Walk

On a particularly sunny morning in January, eighteen of us met in Matching Tye for a lovely walk to Matching Green and back, followed by an equally lovely lunch at the Fox Inn.  As always with Cressida’s walks, we were educated as we walked, learning that the village names have nothing to do with coordinated neck-wear, but are derived from the name for the Saxon people of Maecca, and a Tye is a settlement around a green.  We saw the 15^th Century Marriage Feast House (provided “for the entertainment of poor people on their wedding day”), we crossed one of the largest village greens in Essex, and  passed the former home of the artist Augustus John, famous for his portrait of Lawrence of Arabia, his love of Provence, and his “rampaging bohemian” lifestyle.

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Feasting on Pancakes

Many thanks to Jane and Gordon for their hospitality on “Shrove Wednesday” when ten of us turned up with various types of pancake batter and a selection of sticky, gooey and fruity fillings.  An enjoyable evening, I hope we didn’t leave too much mess!