Romsey Breeze: circumnavigating Braishfield

Our route will take us through the narrow country lanes that loop round the village of Braishfield. It is hilly and the roads this time of year can be gritty but the reward is some lovely countryside and very little traffic.

We pass through a series of small hamlets: Pucknall, Lower and Upper Slackstead and Farley, pausing to visit the ancient church if people want. We return down Baileys Down and then through Lower Street and Kiln Lane back to Braishfield pantry for tea.

Several of the hamlets we pass through are named in the Domesday book and there's apparently a (buried) Roman villa and Neoliithic settlement along the way. Although we won't be able to see these things excavations in the 1960s and 70s have revealed them. Therefore we will be passing through an ancient landscape.

There are several very rural lanes passing by farms which are recorded in the Doomsday book and still exist. We will also take a turn up the dead-end to Bailey Down where we may be lucky to spot one of the Bailey-Down farm's second-world war tank collection.

rural lanes