St James Way

This, mainly flat, 19.8km walk starts at the Reading Abbey Ruins and and follows the Kennet and Avon Canal out into the countryside before head south through woodland towards Mortimer.

Park in Mortimer near St John's Church.  There is a car park at the community centre across the road (https://w3w.co/minute.cube.plates). Catch the 2a or 2 (correct as of 25th Ocotber 2023) bus to Reading and get off at the museum.  Walk through to the Abbey Ruins to start the walk.

This 20km walk starts in Mortimer and finishes in Rooksdown, Basingstoke.  It takes in a number of historic churches, a priory and the Roman town at Silchester. 

We street parked in Park Prewett Road, Rooksdown, Basingstoke (Grid ref: SU 613 538).  We then caught the LINK bus to the Basingstoke Railway station and the train to Mortimer.  If you favour a shorter walk, get off at Bramley instead of Mortimer.

To allow for the use of public transport to get from Basingstoke to Mortimer, the route starts at the railway station in Mortimer, takes in the church and a field route, before joining the St James Way at Silchester.  

This 21km stretch starts in Rooksddown, Basingstoke (Grid reference SU 61112 53957, https://w3w.co/starts.asks.debate )  and finishes in the quaint village of Upper Wield.  We could not find any suitable public transport for this stretch, so had to rely on parking a car at each end.  

The route is fairly flat and easy going. It is well waymarked with the Camino markers. When crossing the A33, be sure to follow the Camino markers as these guide you through the safest, if rather wiggly, route to cross and continue on your way.

There were several interesting churches, quaint villages and a chapel on the route.  We found out afterwards that a short deviation in Preston Candover to the village shop will earn you a free cup of tea as a St James' Way "Pilgrim" and they have a stamp to stamp your pilgrim's passport.  There was a pub in Dummer which was closed on Monday.

Starting from Upper Wield, this stretch starts across fields, heads through Old Alresford and disused watercress beds. It then follows the course of a stream into the centre of the historic market town of New Alresford, through the church yard and south west to follow the Itchen to Kings Worthy.