Owslebury, Water Lane, Hensting Barn and back again.

This walk is a circular walk starting and finishing in the village of Owslebury at the Ship Inn pub.

Its about three years or so since I have walked along Water Lane so thought it was high time to do it again. 

You exit the pub car park and turn right, the road turns a corner as it starts to decend down Whites Hill, but if you carry straight on you come to the enterance to Water Lane (the left fork in the path).

On the approach to the lane I noticed that the path had had some extensive resurfacing done to it and to my absolute horror found that the work, which has included the digging out of the bottom of the holloway and laying down large quantities of stone finally top surfacing it with fine gravel. It must have taken around threehundred years old of hooves, feet and natural erosion by rain water to form this lane. I couldn't believe the decision to do such a thing or the complete lack of understanding of who ever took this decision of what they were actualy dealing with.

Aghast I continued down the lane finding that this work went on for about two thirds of the way down the lane. Yes some of the branches needed triming to allow passage by horse, as its also a bridleway, but to fill in a holloway??? I hope the first heavy rain falls wash it all away.

At the bottom of the lane you take the right turn and continue decending the unspoilt part of the lane until you come to the road by Hensting Barn. Here a style to your right leads you onto a footpath that takes you across a field heading back up towards Owslebury. Alternatively you can walk around the road getting a better view of the 15th century timber and flint barn and cutt across rejoining the same foot path a little further across the field.

 

This foot path leads back along the edge of the down giving great views both back down to the barn and up along the valley into the south downs national park

After a good twenty minutes to half an hour of walking the foot pathe leads you back into a small lane which rejoins the top of water lane and returns you to the start point at the Ship Inn.