UK Camino Ingles: Day 3 - The English Way, 11.5 miles

With a long day ahead, Molly and I left our cozy Chapel B&B in Little London early in the morning in the mist, drizzle, breeze, and rain to continue our journey on the Camino Ingles. It was fun to look for all the medallions and yellow arrows placed along the way and they were much needed as our path intersected with many public footpaths, bridle paths, and trails that wayfinding was a challenge. All in all, however, the day was a fine one especially with an afternoon of sun to take in the views and the warmth.

 

Onward - in the rain

Benedictine Priory at Pamber

Our historic church stop for this section was a visit to the Benedictine Priory Church in Pamber, Monk Sherborne, which unfortunately was not open. Instead its imposing Norman exterior kept us gawking through the raindrops for a good while. Built around 1100, this heavy block of Norman stonework includes the tower, chancel, and turret stairs and is all that remains from the fortified "alien" French-speaking cell of the Abbey of St. Vigor in Normandy. Strategically located between the former capital of England in Winchester and the military headquarters in Windsor, this great priory was endowed by Henry du Port and his son, Henry I. The prior hosted many royal families and bishops who traveled between the ports onward to Winchester and Windsor. It survived the great suppression of alien houses in 1414, but suffered steady decline mostly due to lack of house sponsors, bad regional economics, and mismanagement of its farm estates. The Dissolution of the Abbeys did it in for good, sending the monks away back to France and dismantling the stone buildings for repurposing elsewhere. Local parishes kept some form of worship running here through the 1600s with community tithing for a single priest. 

From Grant (2000) "The Alien Benedictine Priory of Monk Sherbourne" (See Notes)

The rain weakened into a pattering drizzle and a brisk breeze began to blow in, pushing the shelf of clouds that had been hanging over us for three days to the east. Little patches of blue sky began to show as a break between storms appeared. We continued on, following the blue and yellow medallions across the countryside, through a farm, and on to a golf course where we were entertained by numerous groups of men braving the weather for rounds of golf. We sat huddled on a friendship bench above the ninth hole and were greeted by smiling golfers as they teased and laughed with their mates for our entertainment. We swallowed some Ibuprofen and snacked a little but soon were cold again so time to keep moving.  

Follow the scallop shell

Holloway 

Keeping to the farm road instead

Familiar yellow arrow in the roughest rough

Snack break, Vitamin I, and entertainment

This morning's walk was one to endure rather than completely enjoy that is until we came upon a kebab van/ food truck along a busy highway. Then, with hot food in our tums and warm tea (for Molly) and a Diet Coke (for me) we were energized for the afternoon. As we maneuvered carefully along muddy field edges the sun began to shine and our moods were lifted! Hello, sun! 

Kebab van and a lovely hot meal on the curb

Our first hour of sun!

Sun dappled holloway

In bright sun we passed near the town of Basingstoke and across the bridge over the railroad where we got an engineer of a double diesel shunter to give us a two-toned horn as he passed beneath us. We dedicated our first trainspotting and tone salute to our favorite trainspotter Francis Bourgeois (of social media fame) and shouted out "Brilliant!" in his honor. 

Through lovely Basingstoke

Trainspotting and a tone!

Before long we had passed along the edge of town and out into a residential suburb of Basingstoke that featured our longest trail section of the day for several miles on a restored Roman road. It now serves as a hike and bike path and was busy with walkers taking advantage of the sun. Like all Roman roads, it was straight as an arrow and knifed alongside the busy town until we reached the charming little thatched roof village of Dummer. Here we had to wait for our ride to take us across a crazy busy section of highway and busy (dangerous) backroads to our lodging for the night at the Wheatsheaf Inn. Thanks to Jane and Peter of Walking Holiday (see Notes) who shuttled us when we needed rides to distant lodging and transferred our luggage (not our backpacks) between stays. Their help on this trip was invaluable. 

The Roman Road

End point for the day to wait for ...

...Jane and the company new ride!

This is my opportunity to give the new Camino Ingles guide and transfer company Walking Holiday a huge shout out. Our trip was planned and supported by Peter and Jane, two of the local folks whose knowledge of the Camino Ingles was of such great help to us. I normally do not use guide and transfer services when I hike preferring instead to do my own trip planning while I try to live out of a single backpack, but for this trip we decided with our lack of knowledge about this new route and having to take extra clothing, boots, raingear, and warm clothes to cover two seasons along with the route's current lack of on-trail lodging options, we'd better consult with Peter. Best decision! Thank you Peter and Jane for the support and excellent service. Highly recommend. 

Fish and chips at the Wheatsheaf Inn was heavenly (Molly had lamb pie)

Notes:

Moira Grant (2000) "The Alien Benedictine Priory at Monk Sherbourne, Hampshire from the Twelfth to Fifteenth Centuries." Hampshire Field Club Archaeology #55. 

https://www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk/publications/hampshirestudies/digital/2000s/vol55/Grant.pdf

This BBC article brought so much attention to the newly re-established Camino Ingles in southern England that everyone we talked to referred to it, especially Peter and Jane and the guys at The Plough Inn who worked with the author, Jessica Vincent, to provide background on the many villages and landscapes it traverses, its churches, and hopes for a boost to local economies. 

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230611-st-james-way-the-return-of-the-uks-medieval-highway

Here's to Francis the Trainspotter and our first horn tone - brilliant! We had fun watching his videos snug in our beds at night, learned a lot about Britain's love of trains, and how to wave appreciatively for a happy honk.