West Meon to The Milbury’s Inn

On another sunny spring day we walked the 3km from West Meon along the disused railway (that ran from Alton to Fareham) now forming the Meon Valley Trail, to rejoin the SDW not far from the village of Exton.  From the railway line the SDW is signposted to the right, following a narrow tree-root covered path beside a clear chalk stream.  The path goes right, to cross a narrow bridge over the surprisingly fast flowing River Meon. The A32 blocks the route into Exton village but having crossed into the village it is surprisingly peaceful.  Walking past large houses you come to a right turn towards the church but we turned left down Shoe Lane to the Shoe Inn for a lunch break in the garden.  If you have stopped at the pub continue on the same direction south then turn right past Exton Manor and turn right again towards the church.  Don’t miss a left turn onto the SDW along this road.  From here the trail begins a long slow climb towards Beacon Hill in a straight diagonal line across several fields.  The path is not everywhere clear on the ground but the stiles in the field boundaries stand out, making it easy to spot the route. A final steep section joins a minor road going right, close to the beacon itself, before leaving again to the right just a few paces further on.  A gentle climb takes you to the Beacon Hill Nature Reserve, fenced off from the surrounding fields and home to several rare orchids as well as some Bronze Age archaeological remains.  The path turns left past a trig point to follow the edge of a wood, carpeted with wild flowers of many kinds, especially bluebells when we were there. Pheasants are noisy in the undergrowth. A single lapwing wheeled above an arable field. At the exit of the Nature Reserve the path joins a minor road going ahead for about 150 metres before the road turns right while the SDW continues straight ahead down a track.  This passes Lomer Cottage and the Meon Valley Studio, beyond which a field contains various lumps and bumps which are relics of the deserted mediaeval village of Lomer. On reaching the large Lomer Farm the track turns left then right through the farmyard to be joined by the Wayfarer’s Walk. Turn left along the edge of two massive arable fields as the track gradually converges towards a minor road with fast traffic, meeting it at Wind Farm.  Cross the road to join an earth path going left, safely away from the road. About 1km further on, past Bronze Age of Mill Barrows on the far side of the road, you come to The Milbury’s, an isolated pub a mile from the tiny village of Beauworth. We stopped here.  Although a bus travels to West Meon on Wednesdays and Saturdays we were there on a Monday so had to call a taxi to take us back to the village.