
Walk around the Meon Valley part of the South Downs - Bishops Waltham to Swanmore to Droxford to Meonstoke and back.
In the 6th Century AD a group of Jutes called the Meon Warra settle in the Meon Valley, this is possibly where the area got it's name from. The Jutes were an Anglo-Saxon tribe who settled in England after the departure of the Romans. Today the Meon Valley is a constituency stretching from Whitley and Waterlooville in the south to New Alresford in the north. However, it's more commonly associated with the River Meon which rises one mile (1.6 km) south of the village centre of East Meon. It flows due north, then northwest to West Meon, and southwest to Warnford followed by its characteristic, quite straight, south-southwest course, with many tiny wibbles in short stretches. The river descends through the villages of Exton, Corhampton and Meonstoke, Droxford, Wickham, and Titchfield. The river outflows over 2 miles (3.2 km) of estuary through the marshes of the Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve to enter the Solent through a small harbour at Hill Head.
Add in a bit around the river biodiversity. River : Meon Valley Partnership
Weather, sunny day with intermittent cloud - breezy.
Started at 10.45 am, finished 3.30pm - 15 minute break for lunch. 21 km.
Conditions underfoot, good.