Winter afternoon on the South Downs in West Sussex. Photo / Getty Images
Winter afternoon on the South Downs in West Sussex. Photo / Getty Images
It's Sunday morning on a crisp spring day – let's call that freezing, actually, with the wind cranking up – out in the Hampshire countryside. I'm at Cheesefoot Head, a vantage point on the South Downs Way with views over the hills and out to Portsmouth in the distance.
This should bring me moments of peace and splendid isolation but no one mentioned the dogs. Gangs of them, fortunately with their owners, shipped in most likely from nearby Winchester for their regular Sunday morning runaround. It's a routine that's clearly well-trodden, with an enterprising coffee van owner doing a roaring trade in the car park.
The views take in three natural amphitheatres that make up this site. Cheesefoot's other claim to fame is that it is where thousands of American troops were addressed by General Eisenhower in the build-up to D-Day in 1944.
I'd stopped here as it's also halfway between Winchester and the village of Cheriton, or more specifically two of my favourite pubs in the UK - the Black Boy in Winchester and the Flower Pots in Cheriton. It's a pilgrimage I felt obliged to undertake on my first return to England from New Zealand in two years.
It was also a homage to many unforgettable cricket games played in quaint Hampshire villages such as Cheriton and West Meon, all within the South Downs.
Ice clings to trees and plants at Cheesefoot Head, near Winchester in Hampshire, after temperatures in the area failed to get above freezing all day. Photo / Chris Ison - PA Images
With such a clear theme laid out, "pubs with rooms" become key to the mission. The historic city of Winchester oozes olde English charm, and in terms of somewhere to stay perhaps nowhere more so than the Wykeham Arms. This wood-beamed pub dates to 1755 and its guest list claims to vary from Lord Nelson to David Bowie. Though no one has ever seen Nelson's remarks in the guest book.
The main bar at the Wykeham is full of curios such as ink-well desks from the nearby college, walking sticks and tankards hanging from the ceiling. Your punters are a heady mix of tweeds, gowns and tourists (yes, American accents were back, though undoubtedly in much smaller numbers than pre-Covid).
The menu is traditional winter-warming English pub fare with some interesting local twists. The nearby River Test, for example, is the source of delicious smoked trout, while beef bourguignon with parsnip is also locally sourced.
The Wykeham's 14 rooms (some are above the pub, others across a cobbled street) come in all shapes and sizes. To get to my room, Chapel View, required climbing two sets of vertiginous stairs complete with padded beam to protect your head as you stoop to get to the second floor. The "View" is of the chapel at Winchester College, one of England's most famous public schools.
The Wykeham's central location makes it perfect for strolling around Winchester's historic centre and the nearby walled Kingsgate. It's within a stagger of Winchester Cathedral (1096) and the ruins of Wolvesey Castle, the residence of the bishops of Winchester in medieval times.
A bonus if you're staying at the Wykeham is an admittedly cramped car park around the back for hotel residents – trying to find parking in olde Winchester's tight lanes is a thankless task.
Head away from the historic centre, past the mighty statue of King Alfred, and you hit the river Itchen walkway. And from there it's a quick hop to the Black Boy. I first came across this warren of a pub perhaps 20 years ago, being the post-match retreat of choice for the merry band of social cricketers, the Plums of Winchester, for whom I used to play. While subtle twists of modernisation have been inevitable, it retains its character. It openly calls itself a "backstreet boozer" and that sells it for me.
The place is full of stuffed animals, model aeroplanes, books and firemen's buckets. As is now the case with so many pubs in the UK post-Covid, much attention has been paid to the garden space, with tall heaters never far away.
From the Black Boy, you can start the approximately 12km walk out of town towards the village of Chilcomb and out towards Cheesefoot. At this point you are in A272 territory – the South Downs Way is rarely far from the main Winchester to Petersfield road.
Pass Cheesefoot and veer north and you're on your way to Cheriton. After tramping through reasonably flat fields you hit the Flower Pots, complete with its own brewery that regularly features in Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) events and beer festivals across the land. The Pots Bitter is its flagship, followed by the Cheriton Porter, a dark stout, and Goodens Gold, a light golden ale.
During my first visits to the Flower Pots all those years ago, August bank holidays saw a five quid curry tent at the front of the 19th-century Grade II-listed alehouse, with campers packing the field out the back complete with purchases of a barrel of beer to be consumed before/during/after a sixes tournament between other nearby villages.
The hot air balloons that would go up from the next door field to distract ale-induced batsmen such as your correspondent are still a feature, though the swish new extension for dining suggests that the days of such revelry at the Pots may be more curtailed. But if you like your English beer, the Pots is still a must-visit.
Equally not to miss, on the village cricket-walking trail, is West Meon, deep in the Meon Valley and full of picture-postcard thatched cottages. The Thomas Lord pub is at the heart of the village – the founder of Lord's Cricket Ground, no less, spent his later years in West Meon and is buried at the local church so it would be remiss of the locals not to pay homage. The Thomas Lord too is a pub with rooms.
Head to the cricket pavilion high above West Meon and you will find plenty more tributes to Sir Thomas if you needed any more reminders that this is a special place among cricket fans.
From West Meon the 17km Meon Valley Trail winds its way south towards Wickham. A pit stop in Soberton is recommended – if you're tall, expect to stoop low to get into the splendid 17-century White Lion pub in this horsey village. This pub has turned old stables into two rooms and a suite, while the kitchen offers high-quality fare.
Perhaps not surprisingly there is an East Meon too, and it's little more than five minutes from its Westie cousin. This village sitting on the River Meon is equally picture-postcard, with numerous thatched houses and a church dating to the 12th century. In terms of pubs with rooms, The George is the place to go for somewhere to stay, while real-ale aficionados will enjoy the Izaak Walton down the road as it is a freehouse.
You're bound to see plenty of ramblers in the village as a great walk from East Meon takes you up to Butser Hill – at 270m this is one of the highest in Hampshire and the highest peak on the chalk ridge of the South Downs. A quirky claim to fame is that an episode of Only Fools and Horses was filmed at Butser Hill. Hang-gliding is very popular from here – I can't imagine Del Boy getting in one of those contraptions, though.
With Petersfield within striking distance, there was enough time to visit the Hawkley Inn near Liss. The Hawkley has six rooms decorated in simple country style offering B&B with en suite and Wi-Fi. Game from local shoots features regularly on the menu, particularly in winter, so don't be surprised if that pheasant you saw scuttling across the country lane ends up on your plate.
Cricket perhaps inevitably gets a look-in here too – Hawkley Cricket Club is around the back of the Norman-style parish church, with its distinctive spire, and locks horns with the Meons and other nearby villages every summer.
To cap off the trip, it was only right that I should spend my last night in another pub with a cricket theme – the Cricketers' Inn in Steep, near Petersfield. Steep is perhaps better known as the home of arts-leaning public school Bedales and the pub is right next door.
I didn't ask if alumni such as Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis and Location Location Location's Kirstie Allsopp ever snuck out for a quick pint or two in their teens but had a thoroughly restful night all the same.
Checklist SOUTH DOWNS DETAILS For more things to see and do in the region, go to visitsouthdowns.com
