Ecology and Heritage Walk at Worthy Down Halt
This walk was part of our annual celebration of the Watercress Way, The Dawn to Dusk Day. We had started bright and early at 4:30am with our Dawn Chorus Walk at Sutton Scotney followed by a Railway Heritage walk in Itchen Abbas at 10am.
At 2pm a group of interested local residents joined Railway Historian, Chris Cornell, and Trustees Jackie, Mike and Clive on a walk on the old railway line which had joined Kings Worthy to Sutton Scotney and then on to Didcot and the Midlands. Chris started by describing the history of the Halt at Worthy Down which had serviced the nearby airfield and Army Camp. With the aid of some evocative photographs he brought to life the heyday of the station during WW2. Jackie and Mike then discussed the excellent work of the Worthys Conservation Volunteers in improving the site to enhance the local ecology. By regular clearance of unwanted vegetation, mainly nettles, clematis and dogwood, the site had prospered over the last 10 years. Over 50 different species of plants have been identified and photographed during regular surveys by the WCV.
Since its formation in 2016, the Watercress Way trustees and volunteers have assisted in the continued improvement of the local Ecology. We have just installed a magpost for use of local children along with a bench for parents using a part of a legacy from Alresford Rotary Club.
We then walked down the line towards Kings Worthy passing two pill boxes which had been part of the defence system for the base. An information board detailing the history of the Camp and showing a map of the fortifications has been erected outside one of the pill boxes. We passed two more pill boxes concealed behind vegetation later in our walk.
The walk continued until we reached the two bridges. Chris explained that the two single tracks split here, one went across the 2nd bridge forming the new 1943 spur to connect with the main line. You can see an inscription of the date left by the builders at the Kings Worthy end of the bridge. A much faster construction during war time, unlike some current projects, eg Cross Rail and HS2. The other line the original railway continued to Kings Worthy, passing under the main line.
We then descended from the railway embankment and walked back along the farm track toward our cars parked near Worthy Down Halt. During the walk, Clive had been helpful in identifying a variety of bird song and also helped identify some of the plants along the track which included wild garlic (Ramsoms), speedwell, Garlic Mustard, and Dogs Mercury which is an ancient woodland indicator, although it can colonise new deciduous woodland very quickly, which is almost certainly the case here.
The small group of walkers had been fascinated to learn of the Railway History and hopefully will return for other events we organise.
Mike Collis, Secretary, The Watercress Way
