A rural bike ride near Long Parish and Whitchurch, Hampshire

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be able to find time to make the most of the dry but cold weather, and took the opportunity for a bike ride down to Whitchurch in Hampshire. I've cycled this route, or more accurately a slightly off road version of it, before but as always each visit reveals new things. The first revelation was a little sad, and that was of yet another closed pub. A couple of summers ago I stopped here mid bike ride for lunch and a pint at the Hurstbourne Inn, in Hurstbourne Priors, but alas those days would now seem to be gone. I also noticed that The Coronation Arms in St. Marybourne had also closed.

The Hurstbourne Inn, Hurstbourne Priors, Hampshire

As my ride continued, I came across more relics of a bygone ear, although these buttresses which supported the bridge carrying the railway line south from Whitchurch towards Winchester would have been closed to business several decades earlier than the pub above.

Buttresses of a former bridge carrying the railway south from Whitchurch

Buttresses of a former bridge carrying the railway south from Whitchurch

Buttresses of a former bridge carrying the railway south from Whitchurch

Buttresses of a former bridge carrying the railway south from Whitchurch

Whitchurch itself is probably about two thirds, or 20 miles, of the way around this particular loop and I'm always pleased to arrive and treat myself to a coffee, and sometimes a cake, at H's. The next two pictures are of the White Hart which I'm pleased to say is still open and sits proudly opposite H's, as I sat on the bench outside the café, sipping my takeaway Americano.

The White Hart, Whitchurch, Hampshire

The White Hart, Whitchurch, Hampshire