Day 5 - Upper Wield to Itchen Stoke

The St James' Way guidebook suggests Day Four should be Upper Wield to Winchester (16.5 miles). We decided to take our time and split this section in two - there was more than enough to do in the frist section to justify the time.  

Initially, having been dropped in Upper Wield, we walked to Itchen Stoke, about 9 miles with quite long stops in lovely New Alresford for coffee and lunch. We're not train enthusiasts but we did go to see the Watercress Line in Alresford. They have picnic tables too.  

From New Alresford we were then into the watercress beds of the lovely chalk rivers- you can buy a bunch for 50p (you need cash) as you go by - the water is crystal clear. The Bush pub in Ovington is another half an hour and is situated alongside the picturesque River Itchen for a mid afternoon shandy!  We needed taxis to do it this way. We walked onto the church of St Mary's (lovely stained glass) along the Itchen - this is a picture postcard beautiful stretch of river - and called a taxi from there - just enough signal! There is also a local bus service which connects with Winchester and New Alresford but timings didn't quite work out for us.