Walks

Continuing to follow An Historical Survey of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway - Layouts and Illustrations and starting at Upton and heading to Compton I continue my walk from Didcot to Newbury. The original Upton and Blewbury station has gone, but you the station building is now a house and much of the local railway land has been sold for housing, so you can't just walk from the old station, but right next to the pub is a footpath that roughly follows the route of the railway.

Start: Upton near the George and Dragon Pub (closest point to original railway that's a public footpath).
Waypoint: Reclamation works near Chilton
End: Compton Station
Distance: 6 miles
Time taken: 2 hours
Elevation change: 30m
Dog walking: All off lead. Few dogs or other walkers.
Track condition: Variable from shallow mud/chalk to good gravel/old rail track.
Accessibility: Some stiles, narrow paths, overgrown in places. No shelter.
Difficulty: Easy romp.

Starting at the George and Dragon Pub, it's possible to follow a newly fences foot path behind the pub and houses to join along side the old railway. It's a simple route from here, follow the public footpath signs. There are long sections of the railway that are not public rights of way. The track conditions are mostly good but narrow, with some muddy patches and a few stiles.



It's a great walk for rolling countryside, open fields, few houses and even fewer people. The first shock of the walk is going near the reclamation works near Chilton. The railway has largely been filled in with rubble and at the time of the walk there was a massive wood fire in the reclamation yard. It's disappointing to see the old bridges covering no cutting.



But past Chilton the walk resumes into rolling hills and open fields. Churn Holt is clearly visible from the path, but 'private no entry' signs are all around the station site. If I get a chance I will find out who owns the land and ask them if I can go and wander. Churn is an odd station as it's in the middle on no where and I'm not joking there. No houses, buildings or real roads approach the station. My guide book tells me that at one point Churn was considered for the Rifle Association, but Bisley was eventually chosen. The station highlights part of the problem with this walk - there is no shelter anywhere on the route. No shelter from the elements could make this route more difficult for some and you might need to think about the weather before setting out.

The walk from Churn into Compton is only a couple of miles of largely flat land. The foot path crosses the Ridgeway and at this point you can take a quicker route into Compton and use the roads or keep to a footpath that loosely follows the railway. I have taken a chunk of journey here along the old railway itself. This is private land and I asked the farmer for permission - please don't go onto private land without permission. There is a suitable footpath following the old railway, check your OS map.

The walk into Compton is, from a railway perspective, disappointing. Most of it is private land and a lot of it has been developed. The station and sidings are now an industrial estate and there is no right of way to walk over the bridges in Compton itself. I ended my walk near the primary school and playground - it's as close to the original station as you can get and a good spot to grab a short break.

The next leg in the journey is from Compton to Hermitage. It's not a long walk, but in places the original railway has been ploughed away and there are no close public footpaths.


Reference material:
-Not high quality photo's, but they give an idea of conditions... Photo Set - Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway. Upton to Compton.
-Wikipedia
-An Historical Survey of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway - Layouts and Illustrations

Posted by Adrian Hollister