Itchen Way again

Click on the image to get to navigable GoogleMap

Despite all good intentions Dan and I hadn’t done the Itchen Way walk for almost 18 months. So a fortnight ago we set out to do the walk with a couple of friends. I thought I’d post about it as my previous post on the subject, Itchen Way: Eastleigh to Winchester, is one of the more popular on my blog.

The last time friends had tried to do the Itchen Way between Eastleigh and Winchester they had reported footpath closures, so we set out on a slightly different route from Eastleigh to Brambridge – shown in green on the map.

If you’re interested in walking the Itchen Way then I’d recommend visiting the What’s Happening – Itchen Navigation website for links to newsletters and a schedule of works to find out which bits of the route are likely to be closed.

Itchen Way: Eastleigh to Winchester

Click on the image to get to navigable GoogleMap

Dan and I walked a section of the Itchen Way today. We took a train to Shawford and ate lunch in the garden of The Bridge pub before walking on to Winchester. In Winchester we had dessert and drinks at the Bishop on the Bridge before taking the train home to Eastleigh.

Usually we would walk from Eastleigh to Winchester, in total about three and a half hours not counting pub stops, but today we got a late start so decided to do the second leg only.

Last time we did the walk it was earlier in the year; the paths were muddy but the vegetation was subdued. Today the paths weren’t muddy, though they were waterlogged in a couple of places where the river had overspilled its banks, but the nettles at each side were like a jungle. Where’s a machete when you need one?

Overspilled banks on Itchen Way

Edit: Banks are fixed to the north of Shawford now. Though a few footpath closures for works. Revisited the walk and have updated the map. See new post: Itchen Way again.