Pics and words contributed by Peter E.

We arrived at Alton Water’s small car park near Tattingstone and met up with several other party-goers from the night before. Mel and Jayne, our walk leaders, arrived promptly and assured us the dark and foreboding weather would be counterbalanced by the promise of mince pies and mulled wine at our journey’s end.

We set off for Holbrook across muddy fields, with a glorious sun shining down on a chilly, damp day. Most of the walk was spent avoiding oodles of mud, but we were in good spirits – especially by the time we found a very friendly horse, who seemed very happy when we offered him some apple.

Our lunch stop was at All Saints Church in Holbrook, where we munched through our packed lunches and sent those in desperate need of refreshment on to the Compasses Inn. The return to Tattingstone brought us back to the path along the north shore of Alton Water, and not too far to the cars. After our very pleasant ten mile jaunt, Mel and Jayne invited us all back to their stunning home and served up some delightful tasty treats in front of a log fire.

All in all, well worth getting up for. 🙂