Out & About November 2017

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enjoys the delights of hilltop walking and cycling on the Hampshire/Berkshire borders Jonathan Hopson

W ith the highest points in Hampshire (Pilot Hill 286 metres) and Berkshire (Walbury Hill 297 meters), both located a few miles south of Newbury, walkers and cyclists are fortunate to have a varied selection of interesting routes to explore in the local area. Pilot Hill is on the Wayfarers Walk, a 71-mile trail from Inkpen Beacon to Emsworth on the south coast that includes a number of other well-known local landmarks, including Walbury and Ladle Hills and Watership Down. On a clear day, the views from the top of Pilot Hill are stunning and there are often a number of birds of prey wheeling in the breeze, including buzzards and kites. *Walbury Hill is popular with walkers and cyclists alike and many people choose to also take in Combe Gibbet, which is close by. Keen cyclists wishing to stretch themselves can try the annual Walbury Hill Climb (www.walburyhillclimb.co.uk), organised by Newbury Road Club. This year’s race took place on October 3, and I summoned sufficient courage to compete in the informal ‘Come and Try It’ event that took place before the main race, managing to record a time of 7m 58s. To put this into context, the main race this year was won in the extremely fast time of 4m 11s – the course record is held by Tejvan Pettinger in an insanely quick time of 3m 47s. Put another way, cycling up Walbury Hill in under four minutes necessitates an average speed of around 18mph, a speed which the majority of keen cyclists would be happy to maintain on the flat. The Walbury Hill Climb is a very well organised event – the local roads are closed for the duration – with good camaraderie among the cyclists and a great opportunity for a post-event get-together for competitors and supporters in the excellent Crown & Garter pub in Inkpen. I’m planning to be there at next year’s event and will be delighted to complete the 1.15-mile long course in anything under seven minutes.