Test Way | |
---|---|
Length | 44 mi (71 km) |
Location | Hampshire, England |
Trailheads | |
Use | Hiking |
Season | All year |
Waymark | |
Website | Official website |
Trail map | |
The Test Way is a 44-mile (71 km) [1] long-distance footpath in England from Walbury Hill in West Berkshire to Eling in Hampshire, which follows much of the course of the River Test.
The northern end of the footpath starts in the car park on Walbury Hill. It passes through the towns of Romsey and Totton and the villages of Linkenholt, Ibthorpe, Hurstbourne Tarrant, St Mary Bourne, Longparish, Forton, Wherwell, Chilbolton, Stockbridge, Horsebridge and Mottisfont. The southern end of the footpath is at Eling Quay.
The trail also passes alongside Horsebridge railway station. Much of the route between Kimbridge and Chilbolton follows the route of the former Andover and Redbridge Railway.
The entire route is waymarked by metal and plastic disks found attached to wooden and metal posts, trees and street furniture. There are several wooden 'finger' signs along the route that count down the number of miles along the footpath in both directions.
This route is shown as a series of green diamonds on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps and as a series of red diamonds on Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 maps
The following places of interest and hills can be found along the length of the Test Way, listed from Walbury Hill:
These maps show the footpath in relation to nearby major roads. Maps are not on the same scale.
The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for 40 miles (64 km) to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. The river's valley gives its name to the local government district of Test Valley. Below the village of Longparish, the river is broadly followed by the Test Way, a long-distance footpath.
The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for 160 km (100 mi) from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Sussex, with about 4,150 m (13,620 ft) of ascent and descent.
The Avon Valley Path is a long-distance path, opened in 1992, which runs for 34 miles through the English counties of Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset.
The Clarendon Way is a recreational footpath in Hampshire and Wiltshire, England. It starts beside the waters of the River Itchen in the centre of Winchester and ends near the River Avon at Salisbury Cathedral. The path passes through the Clarendon Estate and close to the 12th century ruins of Clarendon Palace. The path also passes through Farley Mount Country Park and the villages of Pitton, The Winterslows, Broughton and King's Somborne. The path shares part of its route with the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath.
The Itchen Way is a 31.80-mile (51.18 km) long-distance footpath following the River Itchen in Hampshire, England, from its source near Hinton Ampner House to its mouth at Woolston. The walk finishes at Sholing railway station. The route has been promoted by the Eastleigh Group of the Ramblers with grant aid from Hampshire County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council. The route was altered and improved in 2008.
King's Way or the Allan King Way is a 45-mile-long-distance (72 km) footpath in Hampshire, England. This footpath was created by the Hampshire Area of the Ramblers' Association as a memorial to the late Allan King, a former Publicity Officer who was partly responsible for the formation of a number of Groups in Hampshire. The route runs from Portchester to Winchester via Bishops Waltham and passes by sites such as Portchester Castle, Fort Nelson, and Bishops Waltham Palace
Old Sarum Way is a 32-mile (51 km) long-distance footpath in Wiltshire, England that forms a circle around the city of Salisbury.
St Swithun's Way is a 34-mile (55 km) long-distance footpath in England from Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire to Farnham, Surrey. It is named after Swithun, a 9th-century Bishop of Winchester, and roughly follows the Winchester to Farnham stretch of the Pilgrims' Way. The route was opened in 2002 to mark the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
Hangers Way is a 21-mile-long-distance (34 km) footpath through Hampshire, England from Alton railway station to Queen Elizabeth Country Park where it meets the South Downs Way National Trail.
Walbury Hill is a summit of the North Wessex Downs in Berkshire, England. With an elevation of 297 metres (974 ft), it is the highest natural point in South East England. On the hill's summit is the Iron Age hill fort of Walbury Camp, whilst the flanks of the hill lie within the Inkpen and Walbury Hills SSSI. The hill is one of three nationally important chalk wild grasslands in the North Wessex Downs, the others being in the Rushmore and Conholt Downs SSSI and the Hog's Hole SSSI. The summit of the hill is marked by a triangulation pillar, but lies on private land with no public access, although public access is available to the north of the summit via a byway.
The Monarch's Way is a 625-mile (1,006 km) long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Sussex.
The Wayfarer's Walk is a 71 mile long distance footpath in England from Walbury Hill, Berkshire to Emsworth, Hampshire.
The following are lists of recreational walks in Hampshire, England:
Horsebridge was a railway station on the closed Sprat and Winkle Line which served the Hampshire village of Houghton. It closed in 1964, a casualty of the closure programme proposed by the Beeching Axe which sounded the death knell for many rural railway stations.
The Wealdway, Kent and East Sussex, is a public footpath that runs for 83 miles / 134 km from Gravesend, Kent on the Thames estuary, to the A259 at Eastbourne, 3 km north of Beachy Head.
The Salisbury and Southampton Canal was intended to be a 13-mile long canal in Hampshire and Wiltshire, southern England. Its proposed route ran from Redbridge, now a western suburb of Southampton at the head of Southampton Water, to Salisbury, and connecting with the Andover Canal at a junction near Mottisfont. Another section, through Southampton, was to connect via a tunnel to the River Itchen. Part of the canal was built and was in use by 1803, but it closed amid financial failure in 1806.
Inkpen Hill is a summit in Berkshire, England, with a maximum elevation of 291 m (955 ft). The hill is about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Newbury on the Hampshire/Berkshire border and is part of the north-facing scarp of the North Hampshire Downs, a chalk ridge within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies between Walbury Hill, the county top of Berkshire, to the east and Ham Hill to the west. Parts of the hill lie within the Inkpen and Walbury Hills SSSI.
The waymarked path Darent Valley Path is 19 miles (31 km) long, following the River Darent from the banks of the River Thames at Dartford through the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the Greensand Hills above Sevenoaks. It runs through the villages of Shoreham and Otford.
The Mole Gap Trail is a 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) official walking route alongside the River Mole, linking the Surrey towns of Dorking and Leatherhead. The trail is marked on Ordnance Survey maps. The trail runs through Norbury Park, the village of Westhumble and across Denbies Wine Estate.
The Trent Valley Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in England following the River Trent and its valley in the counties of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.