Walking for WinACC

Blimy, what a wet day!

I walked 7.5 miles yesterday to raise money for WinACC and it rained persistently the whole time!

My son Adam agreed, without any coercion, to join me on the walk and we walked into town to the start at the St Maurice's Covert on the High Street about 10:30. Jess Lloyd joined us on the walk and we set off in good spirits at 10:50.

Signing in before we were about to leave

This is taken walking down Christchurch Road. The road was beginning to resemble a river!

Walking up Whiteshute Ridge is supposed to give fantastic views of Winchester and the cathedral. Not today! The low cloud made it impossible to see very far.

Whiteshute Ridge looking back at Winchester in the rain

We weren't the only ones out in the rain. There was a sad looking horse near Oliver's Battery.

Past Oliver's Battery and up Compton Down it started to get very muddy and wet with flooded paths and trees blocking our way. Nature was battling to stop us on our quest!

Rivers and very muddy paths!

These next pictures were in a Yew tree path walking from Compton Hill down to Compton/Shawford. Very pretty but there were 2 fallen trees across the path. Not any of the large, old trees. Just some smaller ones.

The River Itchen was unsurprisingly very full after the rain we have had and Compton Lock was bursting. If only we could harness the relentless power of the water.

Compton Lock

It is a lovely walk along the river between Shawford and Winchester, when the weather is calmer! There has been a lot of work done to the paths in the last few years but they still had some drainage problems!

 The River Itchen looking very bloated.

Walking from the Hockley Link up to St Catherine's Hill we met our match. Our path was completely blocked by a flooded path right to the edges. But we were so wet by then there was no point trying to get round it.

At St Catherine's Hill there are the remains of a water mill. It has the sluice but no wheel or buildings have survived. A barrier has been erected at the edge of the water which today was very relevant. The water had risen right to the edge and because the sluice catches the rubbish floating down the street it was not possible to see the bank and where the water started. It would be dangerous.

Water Mill sluice at St Catherine's Hill

The Winchester College playing fields at Kingsgate (next to tennis club) were flooding because the river water level had risen to the same as the playing fields. I spotted ducks swimming on the puddles!

We were near the end by now and pleased for it. It had been a very wet day. My coat was water proof and did a good job keeping my upper half dry but I had no wet weather trousers and my walking boots were obviously not water proof!

The walk was not as pleasant as it should have been. I'm tempted to do it again in the summer, or at the very least when it isn't raining so much. It was great to walk with Adam and Jess. No one complained. We just had to laugh at the situations we found ourselves in.

We were met by my wife at the finish in town and almost at the same time the rain stopped. How can that be! But it did and there was a pause for a few hours until it started again.

Thank you to everyone that has sponsored me. More sponsors are welcome until the end of June. http://www.justgiving.com/WinACCwalk

Giles