Alresford to Almost Alton!

At last 🤗. Day 2 of our Pilgrims' Way, walking from Winchester to Canterbury, with today's intended hike being from Alresford to Alton.
Despite the really low temperature (soooo cold, it was a thermal vest, hat and gloves day!), it was a fantastic day to enjoy a long walk. The sun shone on us and the scenery was just beautiful and, as we neared Chawton, it was most definitely Jane Austin country!
The route took us through some beautiful villages and farmland, but thank goodness Julie had our route on her phone, the description in the Cicerone book was pretty poor 😂 so, fortunately, we were still able to find our way with ease.
We lunched at the church in Ropley which, according to the guide, was a shell due to a devastating fire in 2014. However, it had been rebuilt and reopened in 2022 and is an amazing mix of ancient and modern architecture. It's just gorgeous! We sat outside in the sun to eat rather than inside, but it was a very quick lunch break because of the cold 😂, our hands were frozen! A quick visit to the very modern loos saw us on our way in no time at all.
A walk past Charlie Chaplin (what a shock that was😂), through fields and over bridges, took us to Four Marks and past the garden centre where, next time, we'll stop for cake 🎂. But we were on a mission to walk in daylight and there was no time.
There followed a rather muddy trudge along paths and through a wooded area which led us to Emily and Nelson 🤗 who had joined us from Chawton, and from there Nelson led us all the way back to Chawton - he really did know the way!
We sat for a well-earned break at Jane Austin's house and enjoyed Christmas cake (thank you Julie and Mary Berry!) and a drink 👏 before the final 3km bimble to Alton. Well, our intention was to walk on to Alton, but the offer of a lift back to the car in Alresford was too good to refuse. So that's what we did!
We'd walked about 20km and will start our next leg (to Farnham) in Chawton so we don't cheat. Hopefully, it won't be too long before we're out and about again!Read more