A traditional geocache located on a permissive path - you can walk alongside the field to reach the cache - we are working with the landowner on a link path to join up to the Meon Valley Trail. This cache is just off the South Downs Way and within walking distance from the Old Winchester Hill National Nature Reserve.
LOCAL INFORMATION
Old Winchester Hill - National Nature Reserve
A wide range of classic chalk grassland plants can be found throughout the spring and summer, such as wild thyme, squinancywort, clustered bellflower, salad burnet, horseshoe vetch and restharrow. Less common species such as round headed rampion and field fleawort can also be found.
Old Winchester Hill is known to be a hot spot for the chalk hill blue butterfly, with many hundreds, if not thousands visible on a peak day at the beginning of August. In all, 37 species of butterfly have been recorded on the site, the less common of which include the silver spotted skipper, dark green fritillary and duke of burgundy.
The reserve is a good place to encounter many of the declining farmland bird species such as linnet, yellowhammer, corn bunting. Raptors such as the red kite, buzzard and kestrel can be seen, as well as summer migrants like whitethroats, willow warblers and blackcaps, and passing visitors including the wheatear and the ring ouzel.
The site is also important for archaeology, with prominent Bronze Age burial mounds and well preserved Iron Age hill fort ramparts.
Disabled access: RADAR key holders can use the easy access trail car park which is accessible from the north gate. The easy access trail can then be used to get to the hill fort. There is a kissing gate with a RADAR lock on it there, to allow easier access for wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
Farming in the Downs
Farming and land management have changed the way the South Downs looks and is used over hundreds of years. Farming also helps to keep many of the special qualities of the park alive. Past agricultural practices have made some very valuable habitats including chalk downland and lowland heath.The open areas of treeless downland were created and used in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Large areas of woodland were cleared for grazing and then agriculture as settlements were made and developed.
During the Iron Age and Roman periods this landscape was then heavily farmed. Hill forts served as political and economic centres and later Roman villas looked after large estates. Over hundreds of years the balance between chalk grassland, sheep grazing and arable cultivation has swung backwards and forwards depending on what is important and wanted at the time.
Many farmers and landowners are helping to conserve and improve important habitats through environmental stewardship schemes. The farming that has taken place in the South Downs National Park has greatly influenced its landscape.
DISCOVERING MORE
South Downs Way
Our ancestors have been walking the ridgeline of the South Downs for as far back as we can discover, all sharing the views that found Virginia Woolf “overcome by beauty more extravagantly than one could expect.” They crossed between Bronze Age barrows, with grassy ramparts still clearly visible at Old Winchester Hill, or as a circle of beech at Chanctonbury Ring and Iron Age hillforts, lit the beacons at Ditchling and Firle to warn of the coming Armada. We can share these experiences and enjoy more modern wonders such as the Chattri, a serene stone memorial and cremation site for the many Indian soldiers who fought and lost their lives in World War I.
The South Downs Way is one of 15 National Trails in England and Wales and was the first bridleway National Trail in England. It is also the only National Trail to lie entirely within a National Park.
Stretching from the ancient cathedral city of Winchester in the west, first capital of England, through to the white chalky cliffs of the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head at Eastbourne in the east, almost all of its stunning 160 kilometre length is blissfully off-road.
Today the South Downs Way offers inspiration and escape as we follow in their footsteps, whether ambling on an after-lunch stroll or rising to the challenge to walk, run or ride it over several days. Whoever you are, there are countless ways to enjoy this trail and all that it connects. It is the central thread running through the patchwork of culture and nature that is the South Downs National Park.
TRAVELLING SUSTAINABLY
Public transport information for the South Downs including timetable and network map.
PERMISSION
Cache placed with kind permission from Buffy Moris, Brocklands Farm