Day 137 - Alresford

A second sunny day in Hampshire with our friends, Jane and Trevor. Today we were going to enjoy the weather by driving to the town of Alresford (pronounced 'Alls-ford'). The town's name is really New Alresford because the Alre river separates the town from the village of Old Alresford, but everyone refers to it as Alresford. Our goal was to walk down by the Alre river with Jane, her daughter Olivia and their dogs.

Trevor you may remember is a retired Army Major and he and I are mutual admirers of fine-tasting English ales. Today he joined the rest of us on our walking trip, but would stay behind and read a paper in the car and then we would all go to one of the locals for some libations and a bite of late lunch.

Jane and myself hugging along the way
and her daughter Olivia playing chaperone.

Alresford had its beginnings in the 12th and 13th century when it was one of six new towns being set up by the Bishop of Winchester. The site lies along the Pilgrim's Way which connected Winchester with Canterbury and was the route by which pilgrims from the Winchester area could get to the shrine of Thomas Becket in the Cathedral at Canterbury.  Becket was the Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered by Henry II in 1160. 

A weir was constructed across the Alre and connected Old Alresford and New Alresford. This created a large pond that exists to this day.  The surrounding lands turned out to be profitable for farming and Alresford prospered as a market town for centuries.

One historic event of note for the town was the English Civil War battle of 1644, known as the Battle of Cheriton. The Parliamentarian Army of Cromwell defeated a Royalist Army under Charles I in woods south of Alresford known as the Cheriton Woods. The Royalists had earlier retreated to Winchester and were confronting the Parliamentarian forces who were chasing them westwards from their previous victory at Alton. The Royalists were defeated and forced to escape northwards toward Oxford.

The Alre river is host to many aquatic birds including some beautiful White Swans.  During our walk we came across a Tudor home that sits across the river just down from the site of an old mill and the weir.

The walk winds along the shore and intersects with the main market street running into Alresford's center. Here we met up with Trevor and went into the Horse and Groom Pub for drinks. This pub has been on this site since the mid-16th century and is now owned by Fuller's Brewery and as such carried all of their brands - and believe me I enjoyed a few of them.

Ale of the Day: Front Row Light Ale, Fuller's Brewery, Chiswick, London