Shawford South
This 4.5 mile walk takes you along the Itchen Navigation south of Shawford, past the waterworks as far as the Brambridge Garden Centre with its Café. There are rustic views of the river and the valley and a nature reserve along the way. Although the return route is along much of the same path you went out on, there a number of loops away from the river you can make to add new interest and the scenery also looks totally different in the opposite direction.
Park in the Shawford Down car park to the west of the railway line and turn right along the footpath just past the Bridge Pub.
In winter this path can be muddy and sections can have shallow flooding -wellies are essential at these times.
1.
Follow footpath along the Itchen Navigation south, past the houses and out into the countryside. This channel of the Itchen is higher than the surrounding fields as it was built to allow boats up the river to Winchester.
2.
At the Southern Water, waterworks, you have a choice of paths. One takes you away form the Navigation, through a small copse and back to the towpath, the other follows the towpath. We took one outward and the other on the way back. there is also a small memorial garden here with a variety of trees.
In winter the towpath is liable to shallow flooding, so wellies are recommend.
3.
Just past Brambridge Lock, the path crosses the road. Here we crossed over, turned left along the road, over the brick bridge and visited the Brambridge Garden Centre Café, where they serve light lunches and drinks. There is also a children's railway, falconry centre and some goats, if they are of interest.
After refreshments, we turned back and enjoyed the valley from the opposite direction.
If you continue past Brambridge, you pass Eastleigh and continue towards the sea.
The Itchen Navigation
"The Itchen Navigation is a 10.4-mile (16.7 km) disused canal system in Hampshire, England, that provided an important trading route from Winchester to the sea at Southampton for about 150 years. Improvements to the River Itchen were authorised by Act of Parliament in 1665, but progress was slow, and the navigation was not declared complete until 1710. It was known as a navigation because it was essentially an improved river, with the main river channel being used for some sections, and cuts with locks used to bypass the difficult sections. Its waters are fed from the River Itchen. It provided an important method of moving goods, particularly agricultural produce and coal, between the two cities and the intervening villages."