WALKS IN HAMPSHIRE at FINCHDEAN, IDSWORTH & CHALTON (SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK & SUSSEX BORDER PATH)

This is another video in my series “ Walks in Hampshire” accompanied by my Whippet (Logan). In this episode, I take a walk from Finchdean to Chalton – a hamlet & a village on the Hampshire / West Sussex border. Finchdean is located about 5 miles North of Havant.

I park my car at a free car park in the centre of Finchdean and after a quick exploration of this pretty hamlet, I start my 4.5 mile circular route by heading Northwards over a meadow & up a ridge to join the Staunton Way.

After going through a delightful section of woodland, I pass by the Old Idsworth Garden, an ice house & a reconstructed pond before reaching my next destination – St Hubert's church at Idsworth.

The medieval village of Idsworth is long gone but it's enchanting church still survives with it's wonderful 1th century wall paintings.

I continue North along the Shipwrights Way, under the London to Portsmouth railway line (via a tunnel) and climb Chalton Down where I get to enjoy some stunning views of Windmill Hill (in the West) and the Queen Elizabeth Country Park in the North.

Next stop is the lovely village of Chalton with it's church, thatched cottages & one of the oldest pubs in Hampshire – The Red Lion.

After an enjoyable (and long!) lunch by a roaring fire in the pub – a perfect tonic for a bitterly cold January day – I head back South to Finchdean along the Sussex Border Path.

Whilst the weather was perfect for the first two thirds of the walk with bright sunshine & blue skies, the clouds did eventually turn up and it became quite dark for the return journey.

I am sorry for the very bad picture quality for the short video footage taken inside the pub but the light was very low and as a result the camera image stabilization couldn't cope but I wanted to include it as it was such a cosy atmosphere!

Map courtesy of Google Maps.
Aerial pictures courtesy of Google Maps.
OS Maps. Media License.
Music from the Youtube Audio library.
Historic Maps NLS Maps 'Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland'  https://maps.nls.uk/index.html

Information Sources: Wikipedia, Historic England & British History Online.

For further videos in the series, please go to:    / @daveford  

My Facebook page is:   / davescountrysidewalks  

I use a GOPRO HERO 7, 8 or 10 Black Action Camera (sometimes with a Gimbal) & a Rode microphone (either a “Shotgun” or a Rode Wireless Go) together with a Canon Powershot SX530 HS.